Flamingo-On-the-Lake Apts

Full disclosure, this review would have been a four or a five until last week. However, TLC Management Co. bought the building from IRMCO on a Thursday and on Friday (2 weeks before Christmas) fired all of the 24 hour front desk attendants, many of whom had worked at the building for years. The building itself is lovely and the former front desk and leasing staff (Liz F. was the best!) was phenomenal, but you pay premium prices for the convenience, security, and peace of mind that come with having 24 hour front desk attendants and package service. By removing this service, TLC is severely lowering the value of everyone’s apartments without lowering rents accordingly.
The dirty secret of the Flamingo is that, despite it’s beautiful lakefront location, there are security issues due to rowdy late night patrons of the Bar Louie downstairs and cruising cars & people in Promontory Point on summer evenings. The friendly front desk staff at The Flamingo knew your face and greeted you by name, but were there when the noise from Bar Louie got too much or loiterers harassed people outside the building. TLC has boarded over the front desk area and replaced it with a digital buzz-​in system. This system is far less secure since anyone can come in when the person in front of them holds the door and many people will buzz in strangers without verifying their identity.
I plan on following up on this review over the next month once the current situation sorts itself out. If TLC addresses the concerns of many residents, I will happily re-​review and give the building that I love four or five stars once again. However, if you are looking for an apartment currently, avoid TLC since they show blatant disregard for their staff and residents!

My husband lived at the Flamingo for 3 years and I lived there for a year. I think this apartment building is one of the best kept secrets in Chicago! The rent is reasonable, the view is beautiful, if something needs fixed it is taken care of right away, there’s a great path for biking/​walking/​running along the lakefront, and there are bus stops and Metra stations within just a couple of blocks to get you anywhere you need to go in the city. Most importantly, the management is incredible! Liz and Gini are not only friendly and caring, but they are professional and will really work to get your needs met. If we hadn’t bought a house to be closer to where we work in the suburbs, we would still be living there today!

The Apartments seemed slightly dirty, but for the price, they were not bad. My complaint would have to be with the leasing agent and her unprofessional conduct. She wrote the wrong time of our appointment down, was not able to even show us the unit we were interested it, and seemed to be completely unorganized, not a person i would want to handle my housing situation.

I stayed here for 1 ½ years while in graduate school. Good price for the facilities, apartment/​building amenities, management and custodial services, and great location with access to buses and trains that will take you easily to/​from downtown Chicago and the south suburbs. Great atmosphere, management was professional, the building engineers were very friendly (Ben was amazing) and courteous. I look back with no complaints on my time here.