The Shelby

This place is going through its third apartment manager. The first two never responded to e-​mails and left janky hand-​written notes in the elevator to communicate important information and issues. The new management company is doing much better responding to e-​mails and the maintenance staff is very friendly, efficient and reliable. The units are new with nice fixtures, there is a great workout facility, and one of the security guards, Venita is awesome! The building would be much better if it were just 4 blocks north, sometimes the crowd outside at night is a little sketchy. The ambiance in the community shared spaces have some questionable interior design choices, but I hear the new management will be working on that.
Most of my beef with this place lies with the old management, but one of the cons is the parking – we are charged $ 185/​month for indoor parking yet there is really no system in place so many people park in the garage for free all the time while we spend 2K a year. The other issue is that the building is pet friendly yet many of the tenants are not. We have a medium sized, very friendly dog and it’s annoying that people literally freak out if you try to get in the elevator with them. Daily, I watch grown adults jump back and sprawl out against the wall when dogs are walking down the halls of the building leashed with their owners.
If you are looking for an updated, pet-​friendly apartment close to the interstate and you don’t mind some sketchy people creeping on your street at night this is a good place for you. It’s close enough to fun things to do in the South Loop and besides the parking it is reasonably priced.

The unit, and only the unit, is great. Kitchen is updated and large (in comparison to every other apartment kitchen in this price range), bathroom is updated with an actual human-​sized tub instead of the tiny things you find everywhere else in the city.
That is where the good ends, not even kidding.
First is the rent. How can you advertise your apartment as «$X per month prorated» but then refuse to prorate it? «But you get two free months and if you do some math, that’s what makes it $X.» How about you just advertise the actual price of the unit?
As the other reviewers have said, there is NO maintenance. Oh sure, you can e-​mail the property manager, but don’t expect anything to happen. Or at best, you’ll get a building-​wide e-​mail month later that, to paraphrase, said that she knows she got a lot of maintenance requests but can’t find them all in her e-​mail so please re-​send it to her. I wasn’t aware that checking e-​mail like a professional is REALLY HARD!
Example: currently, one of the «secure» doors is broken. Rather than fix it, there is a passive-​aggressive sign, written in Sharpie, taped to the door instructing residents to make sure they close the door hard behind them. No mention of when the problem will be fixed, and its been like this for at least three weeks.
On the topic of ‘secure’ doors, they have a doorman as well… sometimes. I had a discussion with one once, and she said they have four people working 6 hour shifts, for a total of 24-​hour surveillance. I am pretty sure I’ve seen the security people at the desk or in the nearby closet all of five times in the eight months I’ve lived there.
And some of the tenants here as HORRIBLY inconsiderate! Despite trying to look like a classy building, the elevator door had some kid tag it with his name… and its still there three months later. People leave trash in the garage, the common areas, they let their dogs pee in the hallway to the gym, etc. How is this acceptable to the management?
Oh that’s right, because the management office is miles away, and this is just easy money to them. I intend to move out immediately once my lease is up!

OMG, Katie took the words right from my mouth. This place is AWEFUL. If you’ve ever watched On the Waterfront — «this place could have been a contender». However, inept management, inconsiderate tenants — to put it mildly, lazy craftsmanship, are the downfall of this place. Upon entering the building one would be awed, inspired, but if you get to spend sometime in this place, you will immediately feel uncomfortable. This place markets itself as something it is not, it tries and appears to be something it is not — a south loop swanky hipster address. Save yourself a lot of aggravation, don’t rent at this place!

Honestly, not too shabby. A little over priced, but other than that