All 22 tenant reviews.

“The internet is abysmally slow. I routinely have to use my phone's wifi hotspot during the day to get my work done. Do not move here if your income depends on good wifi during covid. Forget about streaming anything in high def.”

“Some of the units in this old building were designed as apartments, and some were clearly not, since it is a former hotel. My apartment, for example, would be fine as an hotel room but is bad as a apartment. It is comically small for the price, even compared to other studios. Additionally, the heating/cooling of apartments is poor, since they removed the apartment's boilers to put in a fitness center. All apartments just have old window units for all h/c. Expect to pay at least $20-60 every month during the winter. Apparently people don't want to pay that, since last winter some pipes burst on the 5th floor and they just vacuumed without repairing the ceilings or carpets. Laundry facilities are fine. Trash pickup is included, but clearly inadequate - disgusting mountains of trash fill the small room every week, to the point where you just have to toss your bags in from the door. Security is good at night, but the back door is usually propped open during the day to air out the nasty trash room. Management wants to put money into wine bars and yoga sessions for tenants, but not basic services. Avoid!”

“New Management and redesign make this building a gem! I moved here last year (2016) and it was ugly, not very kept but decent. Just google to see the old photos, it was very dark and spooky looking. But now, wow! It's totally modern and I'm very glad that they treat tenants that have lived in the building before the remodel with respect and gratitude (didn't raise my rent much compared to what the units are now renting for and all the beautiful updates). New doors that use Key-Card access, brand new everything! Pretty safe building and location is awesome. Free internet, free DirectTV (although they took away Bravo ugh!), I have not seen any rats, rodents etc at all which is great and laundry room is ample and brand new. Only caveat I have is it'll be nice if they stepped up security a bit. Not that I feel unsafe but coming home late at night, it would be great for the doorman to be around longer (he leaves around 12, arrives at 5). If he stayed until 2am and was a bit more vigilant that would be great. It would be something I'd even pay extra for! Mandi really did a good job updating the building and I plan on staying here as long as it stays this good and my rent doesnt increase much.”

“The aprtment lets in a lot of cold air in the winter. There was actual frost inside my apartment during a relatively mild winter. The lobby often smells like something has died in the walls for no apparent reason. The internet often goes out. The complimentary cable initially included TBS, USA, BET, MTV, ESPN, CNN, Discovery, E, TLC, Bravo-- ya know the most basic channels that are expected in any cable packages. This year, NONE of these and many others are no longer included which mean BJB does not infact include complimentary cable. The only reason to live here is the location.”

“I have lived here for several months and I really can't complain. I'd rate the place overall with a B . It's an older building, but the price can't be beat for the location and the amenities. The grounds are kept cleaned and the place feels very secure. The Pros: - All utilities included - New DirecTV satellite connection (with ESP, MTV, Bravo, CW, and all the good stuff) - For the location, rent is pretty cheap - I never hear neighbors' noise from the inside - Laundry area is small but there's always a free washer and dyer - There is a doorman that receives packages for you - Guests may be buzzed in from my cell - Location is excellentn (probably the best pro) - There are two major grocery stores less than 3 blocks away - 1 block away from the beach - 5 minute walk to Michigan Ave and the Hancock Tower - Several major bus stops within 2 blocks - 2 CVS and 1 Walgreens less than 3 blocks away The Cons: - Sometimes when I get off the elevator, I can hear a noisy neighbor playing music, but once inside my apt I hear nothing. - Laundry is $1.25 for load - There is no guest parking for when my friends come out of town - Although well maintained, the building is a bit older - Cabinet space isn't very ample - No pool”

“The elevator in this building is ALWAYS out. Parking is a nightmare. You have to have a city of Chicago sticker which costs over $100 per year and in addition you need a residential parking permit which cost more $ and allows you to park in certain areas without being ticketed. The really bad thing though is from Spring until Fall there is street cleaning twice a week. If you do not move your car, you WILL be towed. The problem is that if you didn't find a good spot the night before the street cleaning, you will probably have a hard time finding one the day off. In addition, you have to purchase guess parking passes for visitors or they will be ticketed. No one in the rental office is forth coming with this information when you are inquiring about moving in. The cable television is free, but excludes several popular stations. The rental office leads you to believe that heat is free however, it's not, it's electric via a wall unit that serves as heat and A/C.”

“Imagine this: a Friday night and you're bored and drunk in Chicago. You could spend hours riding up and down the elevators at Elm since they are ALWAYS F****** BROKEN!! It's pretty much pointless as it stops on floors 2,5,7, 9...etc etc...and this cheap---- management won't fix it. The staff are in general rude and have their noses stuck in their air like this is some luxury residence. FYI- it's not. The only thing that makes this place bearable is the fact that it's in a nice neighborhood. I suggest this as a temp residence while you look for a nicer place.”

“Management- fix the elevators...its been 2 weeks and they go up and down all night long! Stop being cheap!”

“this is a great deal.....and guess what YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET.... I would not refer the son of ----- to live in this hell”

“This is the only building I have lived in since moving to Chicago, and it was perfect when I first moved in. At that time ALL utilities (including electric) were included. The location is great, and my apartment was really cute and a decent size. However, over time it has slowly gone downhill. I still love the location, the front desk staff and maintainence are very helpful and always do what they can. Violet no longer works there, and I'm not sure who the new guy is. About two years ago they started to charge everyone for their own electricity, the heat was always very low in my unit so I had $60 bills every month from having to use a space heater as well. Now they have put in these heat/ac window units and tenants are responsible for all of their heating and ac costs. The free cable isn't all that great either. You get HBO and some special ESPN channels, but you don't get channels like E!, FX, History, Bravo, Lifetime, etc. Also, the cable goes out whenever it storms or even if it's a really windy day. I also have had a problem with cockroaches, I haven't seen any for about a year now, but for a while I was having to put traps up and have them come exterminate every so often. It was really gross and embarassing when people came to stay with me and a giant bug was crawling across the floor. My dishwasher backs up all the time, and there has been a couple times where I didn't catch it right away and the dirty water ran out all over the kitchen floor. I have also had problems with my carbon monoxide detector going off constantly. I finally just bought my own, and unplugged the one in the apartment because it was clearly faulty. There is no longer any front desk people on duty past midnight, and there is no one around on Sundays at all. If you get locked out, you have to pay a $50 fee to get let back in. The smoke alarm in the hallway by the laundry room is always going off because of the steam/heat from the dryers. There is no sundeck, which just about every building in the area has. The elevators always seem to be down, and the laundry room is pretty small and gets really crowded. I have been looking at other buildings in the area, and there are much better deals out there. I always feel safe in the building, but I have noticed some newer tennants that give me the creeps a little. I could go on and on, but overall I'd have to say that this place isn't as great as many of the other buildings in the area. I hear they are offering really good deals though, because so many people have been moving out recently. So, if you can tolerate the small issues, and they give you a great price, I would say go for it.”

“I lived in this place for 4 years since 2004. I will say the good things first and then move to the bad things. Very nice and safe area. The building is well maintained. Always clean. Laundry room is ok. Fitness room is ok, even though some equipment can go for months without working. Maintenance staff varied in courtesy and ability to fix things, but in general they were ok. They have free cable which shows some HBO channels (East, West, signature, Family east and Family west). The free internet always worked ok, they block p2p and ftp but I think this is justified. I lived in a studio and payed around $25 Electrical bill. Other tenants are mostly young professionals. Sometimes loud but in general good neighbors. Now, moving on to the complaints: In the beginning, there was still alot of renovations going on, so it was very noisy. I was fine with all the construction noise on weekdays but sometimes they worked on Saturdays and Sundays mornings which really made it hard for a while. On the first day I moved in, I tried to open the window and it came loose in my hands (I am a 120lbs female...not that strong!!) and it fell on my foot. The maintenance came and instead of fixing it, they just put it back in place as it was and instructed me not to try to open it, until they get some parts necessary to fix it. That took 8 months!! This was in Winter, so of course the barely installed Windows were leaking and I had several sessions of complaints and them coming in measuring the temperature and telling me that is the minimum required by law so I have nothing against them legally. I wrote them a letter asking for a discount on the rent since I have been living for months without a window. Their response was that they will not give me a discount, but will be happy to break my lease. No matter who the manager was (Jill, Liz, Violet), they are very rigid people to deal with (Violet being the worst and Liz the best of the worst). I once went to speak to Violet and she was on the phone. I waited for her outside till she finished, and then she came out and those are the exact irritated words she said to me "What do you want"? They only gave me a spot in the bike room 9 months after I asked for one. I used to park my bike outside the building, until one of the staff came to me and very rudely told me that if I don't move it, he will break it and trash it! Violet knew who he was and refused to give me his name as I wanted to complain to her bosses. I spoke to the higher management several times, and they are the rudest people you can talk to and will not try to help you. The toilet flush is very very weak. Towards the end of my stay, it clogged and water would flood on the floor almost weekly. Maintenance do respond but they say that it seems fine to them! It is hot in the summer, and you cannot regulate the heat in the winter but it wasn't too bad. Also, the finishing of the place is very poor (e.g. paint on mirrors) I did have roaches, and when I called them, they didn't bring an exterminator, they just sprayed some chemicals themselves. I didn't see any live ones after that, but I ran into some dead ones. I also saw other insects occasionally, but not very often. As this is an old building, it accumulates alot of dust. There is also alot of mold accumulating on the walls.”

“I love the building, beautiful hardwood floors, dishwasher etc. I was sooo excited to move here. But from day 1, this place has disappointed me over and over. It took until the last minute for them to get the lease ready. When I moved in, the freight elevator was broken- Looks like they have no intention of fixing it. Blinds were disgusting, a work order was taken to replace them and its been 3 weeks and I've reminded them twice already. The closet shelving wasn't properly installed and when I put my stuff up there it all fell down and my clothes are all on the floor now. Told them about it, but they never so I had to fix it myself. Internet doesn't seem to be working correctly, ftp is out, not to mention p2p or any kind of file transfers (ex. internet radio). Bathroom has silverfish, no bug screen in the windows so I cant leave the window open (have a cat). Basically they have ignored all maintenance requests so far and more things keep going wrong and i donut know what to do. I think about how much I am paying to live here and it makes me want to cry.”

“I fell in love with the ELMS, wooden floors, vintage character of the place, general cosyness of the building, price-all included,dogs!Very nice maintenance team. As I continued living there I realized the A/C unit was falling apart and basicly uneffective for one person, not to mention two.When I asked to fill the spaces between the unit and the window the maintenance duct-taped it. Summer was brutal.The dish-washer flooded part of the kitchen over my first weekend, the maintenance took care of it though. During winter, the old style heaters, wall radiators were not "regulatable", I never got cold though.<br>I saw total of 4 cockroaches wandering around, I "slaughtered" 2, when I complained to the management they exterminated my apartment. Also, the building seemed to be constantly repainting perfectly clen walls.(?) If it hadn't been for the infested character of the place and the A/C window unit I would have never moved out...I miss this location,pub-noise, dogs-there aren't really that many renting places allowing dogs. In the overall, if you can endure the heat and insects do not bother you-----GET IT TODAY!!!”

“I lived here for one year and can honestly say, you get what you pay for. For the location (1 block from the beach, right next to great bars and resturaunts and in the Gold Coast, you can't beat that). I HIGHLY recommend 18 E. for young, single men, as there are some ridiculously good looking women that live in the building. People that complain about the noise should have thought about that before they moved in to an apartment a block away from 5 am bars, that is just logic.<br><br>We did have some problem with maintainance but nothing too serious. I'd do it all again and recommend you give 18 E. a shot if you are a young professional with an active social life.”

“This is the best management company owned building I have lived in so far in this city. There is a downside to these larger companies...there can be a bit more red tape to get something done, and service is a bit less personal...but BJB has been great. There is an onsite manager you can talk to, and the engineer is really friendly. The reviewer down below had a great point...any reasonable person will have a great experience here. There are A LOT of suburb girls in this building that are not used to Chicago living who may try to give this building a bad name. My next door neighbor actually bitched that the company would not pay for normal 60 watt replacement bulbs. They'll change them for you, but not buy them. You know, something totally logical. But she was incensed, and called the main office in Park Ridge to complain. So I guess that's my only complaint about this place...too many princesses botching the typically cool and relaxed vibe that permeates here.”

“Well, I don't think it allows me enough space to write all of the things I have had wrong with my apartment during the time I've been here. We were the first to move into this "newly redone" apartment and that's where it all started. First, the closets were built way too narrow and a hanger wouldn't even fit in there. They had to come into my room for two straight days, tear down the entire wall and re-build it about a foot deeper. There was construction dust EVERYWHERE and they didn't clean. Second, we couldn't blowdry our hair and say, run the dishwasher because my ENTIRE 2 bedroom apartment was on one circuit. Our power would go out 4 to 5 times per week and the breaker was in the nasty basement. The maintence got so sick of having to turn it back on all of the time they actually gave me a key to the basement so I could go down there as necessary and not bother them. Somehow this electricity "issue" was found out by the city and I had union electricians in my apartment for about a week during which time I was told that my apartment would be "unihabitable". The electricians were appauled at what they saw and told me I should consider myself lucky I didn't die in this place it was wired SO dangerously. (Apparenly my unit was the worst they'd seen yet). They had to tear all the walls apart which meant even more contruction dust and although they said they had professional cleaning people clean my apartment I still spent 4 hours when I got home just cleaning. I demanded my rent for that week and one extra day back for the mess and it was given to me. In addition we've seen a total of 6 cockroaches, dishwasher still has water pooling in it (they've "fixed" it 3 or 4 times), the kitchen sink "spits" at you occasionally, and if there's a strong wind the free satellite TV goes out and whole channels will freeze for days on end. There's so much more but I'm tired of complaining. I'm out of here soon and can't wait for the day.”

“I have lived here for several months now and I really like it. All my utilities are included and the staff has always been great. When I first moved in there were a few things broken in my apt, they came during the day while I was at work and everything was fixed when I returned home that night. I do wish there were a few more washers and dryers but that's not really a big deal. I've always felt very safe in the building and the location is awesome. It's within walking distance of just about everything I need. There is no security deposit, and they allow pets. I would totally recommend this place to anyone.”

“I have never never never seen an insect in my house. And trust me, if I did I would FREAK OUT.<br>I have lived at 18 East Elm for about a year and have had no problems. In fact, it is the best Chicago apartment building I have lived in. The management and maintenance staff has been great. Case in point: The day I moved in the lock on my door was sticking for some reasons and I could not open the front door. This was a Saturday, so there was only one person working in the building. She couldn't open the door, but called the maintenance manager at home and asked him to come and fix it. Within 30 minutes he was there and fixed the door. I thought it was strange that he was wearing a suit, and when I asked him about it, he mentioned that he had left a family wedding in the suburbs to come fix my door and was going to drive back afterwards. That's service! Not only that, but the person working the front desk went out and bought me and the friends that were helping me move Gaterade because she felt bad that we were held up for a half an hour.<br>Overall, I would rate my experience at this building as great. On the downside, the workout facility is below average and there could be more washers in the laundry room. On the plus side, I don't pay a lot, utilities are included, a deposit is not required, and I live on the Gold Coast. I would recommend this building to anyone.<br>So, I just thought I should add my two cents as a positive reviewer...I know most of the people who post reviews on sites like these are drama queens who find fault with everything. Just a thought to all those negative types out there: Maybe you don't get good responses from the management because you are unpleasant to them. What's the old saying...you get more with honey... Anyway, that's sort of off the subject. Summary: Reasonable people are happy here.”

“The good things about this apartment: they take dogs (but for a fee). The Gold Coast location is great. And the rent is fairly low, and includes utilities.<br><br>The bad things about this apartment: The management is terrible. I moved in July '04, and had a bunch of stuff that needed to be fixed. The maintenance staff is very friendly, although not necessarily skilled. I got most things fixed okay, just the general workmanship is bad- cabinets are crooked, countertops not placed quite right, etc. The real fiasco was my dishwasher. It had this problem where when it was just sitting, not running, it would very slowly fill with water. It was a slow process, but if I let it sit for 3 or 4 days, the water would get high enough that it would leak all over my floor. I immediately asked for maintenance. They couldn't figure out the problem. That meant that every 3 days, I had to remember to run the dishwasher or else have my place get flooded. When I went to my parents' house for the holidays, I had to make arrangements with the landlord for her to come in and run my dishwasher. They said there was a protocol they had to follow, trying every increasingly-expensive option, before they could actually replace the whole unit. They only tried something every 3 or 4 weeks. It was January before they finally replaced my dishwasher- that is SIX MONTHS!<br><br>They also told me when I signed my lease that they were finishing up some renovations. They said I would have electrical ac and heating, and T1 internet lines within 3 months. Well, I lived there for a year and never got the electrical ac/heat. The T1 lines were put in 2 weeks before I moved out. Wow, lots of use those were.<br><br>At one point, I had an infestation of silverfish. I asked the manager if they did their own extermination, and she said yes. So we set up a day, and I had to come home from work in the middle of the day to remove my dog from the apartment (since the chemicals are toxic). No one ever showed up to exterminate. This happened TWICE! Finally, the manager said she would go and walk my dog whenever they DID get around to it. The eventually did, and the silverfish were gone.<br><br>The management here is always saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry about this and that, thanks for your patience" but they don't ACTUALLY care, because they don't change their ways. It is a bad operation. The only reason to rent here is if you can't afford anything else AND you have a dog.<br><br>Oh, when I was moving out, I was almost done loading my moving truck. I told that to one of the 2 women working in the manager's office and asked if they would be around for me to return keys/check out. She said yes. I finish half an hour later, and they had both gone to lunch. I waited for a while, but I had a 15-hour drive ahead of me, so I eventually gave my keys to maintenance worker. I just had to get the hell out of that place!”

“This place is infested with cock roaches. In the winter you freeze because they barely give you any heat. In the summer, the air conditioners are horrible, so you die of heat. The management is very cheap, so they do everything half assed. This place is disgusting and I cannot wait to get out of here. I have heard nothing, but horrible things from the other tenants and I would never recommend this place to anyone. The laundry room only has five washers and they are never available. I have to wait in line in order to get my clothes washed. If you do not remove your clothes prompltly other tenants will take your clothes and move them. There is never any street parking near the bilding for your guests. There is always noise in the building, because they fill this place with young college students who have just moved out of their parents home. This place sucks!”

“I've lived in this building since they converted it from a hotel, so I had to live with all of the water problems (shut-offs) and construction and mess. Now I pay super-cheap, so I guess it was okay in the beginning - let me tell you, it's SO not worth it! I agree with the other reviewer - the building management does not understand the meaning of courtesy. Rude, unhelpful, and only interested in one thing - commission. <br> <br>The apartments are super-cute when you move in but have no wear-and-tear protection. Cabinets are poorly installed, my fridge was installed backwards (so that I couldn't open it), didn't get a screen in my window until over a year later, they've punched multiple holes in the walls for cables. The worst part was the leak in the wall from the radiator - it completely destroyed a 3' x3' section of the wall, and now the painted over plaster is already starting to crack. <br> <br>It is nice not having to pay utilities - that's definitely the best part, however, the cable goes out practically once a week, causing you to miss such events like the superbowl, the sopranos, the last episode of sex-in-the-city (you get the idea). <br> <br>They said they were going to have a roof deck , which was one of the reasons I moved in, after six months of "It'll be finished in a few weeks, then, in a few months, etc.", they finally said they weren't allowed to put one on top of the building due to a city code. <br> <br>The doormen are super nice and really helpful and the location is great, though noisy (what do you expect from living in the city). <br> <br>Overall: Big mistake and bad management.”

“I moved in this apartment in Aug, landload was nice before we signed a contract, but right after we wanted to ask something, she became totally distracted and rude. <br> Bedroom´s heater doen´t work, they cannot fix it, said would provide electic heater, but it has been almost two weeks, still hasn´t come. It is ------- cold. There was no screen in the window, they said they will order, and it came last week after four months, and it was short, didn´t fit th the window. What an inconfident people. I cannot wait to move out. She even told us, if we want to move out, she will release out contract. How kind of her trying to kick us out... <br> Forget about sleep at the weekend night. People are noisy until 5 Am weekend.”