Grace Street Towers

I must say, I have had 5 wonderful years living at Grace Street Towers. I moved out less than a year ago due to job relocation. The building has had many improvements. Maintenance staff is exceptional. Work orders are taken care of within 24hrs. If ever I am back in the area this is where I’ll go back. Rents are reasonable for the area. I wish they could bring back the night security guard.

Living in this building will severely dampen your Chicago experience. For a building that has studios that rent for over $ 1,000, the upkeep is terrible.
Other than the assistant manager Christina, management of the building does a terrible job. While she is great and helpful, the rest of the management staff ignores problems. For example, we had one of the elevators broken for about four months. The working elevator broke at least 4 times during that span, which means there was no working elevator for a 19 floor building. When you asked staff for an update on the status of the elevator, you would receive an attitude and hear about how frustrated they were from being constantly asked about the status by different residents. Apparently they thought having a working elevator is an unreasonable request. The elevator was an amenity I guess.
The laundry room was frequently unusable and at one point 4 of the 8 machines were out of order and not being promptly repaired. I emailed the building manager and was responded to with «It is, my understanding that all equipment is currently in working order and that our staff cleans the inside of the equipment on a regular basis.» I went down to the laundry room and sent him a video showing how filthy it was as well as the out of order signs on half of the machines. After that point, he never responded to any of my emails.
Towards the end of my lease, a vent started making a new noise in my unit that didn’t go away. I called emergency maintenance around 9pm and didn’t get an answer. I called back around 9:45 and still nothing. The sound didn’t go away and it was impossible to sleep, so I called again at 1am. The maintenance person told me it was 1am and he wasn’t coming out, even though I had called multiple times before that. I ended up having to miss work the next day to help him get this fixed in the morning.
Even moving out is a hassle here.
They only allow you to move out Mon-​Fri before 5pm and on Saturday by noon, even though none of this is stated in the lease. You cannot move out on a Sunday. I had to come back and move out at a time that was convenient for them, they do not allow you to return your keys and laundry card via the drop box. They took over $ 100 out of my security deposit as payback.

Good community. Nice apartments. High rise. Laundry in building. 50% seniors so quiet. Next to lake shore drive with access to Bus and close to Train. Nice staff. Reasonable rent. Parking garage for extra per month. There is a small fitness center however the treadmill has been broken for 3 months and they haven’t fixed after repeated requests. That would be my only issue.

I just started my 5^th year in this building so that means something. The longest I’ve ever lived anywhere other than with my parents. Also, I just don’t like moving. This building used to be a senior citizens home and there are still plenty (ok, a alot) of them there but it was opened up to anyone. There is an on-​site management office that is open M-​F when most non-​retired adults are at work and sometimes on Saturdays so it can be difficult speaking to someone in the office face-​to-​face if you need to. They accept and deliver packages received during the week so having something delivered by UPS or FedEx won’t be a problem even if you are not at home. (There was a turnover in the management office recently which is less than helpful than managers in the past. It can take a few «requests» to get a package delivered.) There is a community room with a computer (and Internet), a TV (with digital cable) and books to use at any time. Also a patio with tables & chairs and a grill for your use. They have a continental breakfast once a month, the bookmobile stops there, a monthly birthday get-​together, Friday night bingo and other things that are more catered to the seniors, very rarely will someone in their 20 – 30’s at the breakfast or any events for that matter. On-​site laundry includes 7 washers and 7 dryers, all $.80 (uses a smart card system). They just opened workout room which includes a treadmill, bike, cross-​trainer, free weights, a large weight machine and a plasma TV. My rent has only gone up $ 30 in 4 years and rent is pretty inexpensive compared to other places in the area (includes basic cable and gas). Apartments are 1 bedroom and studios with different layouts and amenities. There is storage and a bike room on-​site. Complaints are that the heat cannot be controlled in each apartment so it gets really hot during the winter and window air conditioning units (rather have central air!). Also, they could use snack machines or something of the sort. They are currently replacing windows in all the units. Parking garage on-​site for additional $$.