University Park Condominium Association

I like the others love the apartment, but can’t stand the staff.
Simply put, they don’t treat you with much respect. They love to treat you as if you don’t pay to live here & you’re some how below them
Keith Llyod is the security guard from hell.
Management gets an attitude & Is willing to argue with you about anything you bring to their attention.
Move in day will be one of the worst days you will have here. They had me in tears & even yelled at me. My roommate had an equally horrible move in day… Along w everyone else I have asked.
Less than accommodating.
The apartments are nice though w beautiful views of the city. I believe all the units have air-​conditioners in them. There are some nice floor plans in UPC. Also underground parking is available (for a fee of course) outdated, used-​up lobby furniture.
The court yard is outstanding and gorgeous especially in the summertime. I love that UPC is almost more like a gated compound in the middle of Hyde Park.
The swimming pool is really nice. Goes 3 – 8 ft deep w a life guard on duty. I love that. pool and pool area are nice & clean. The showers could use a cleaning/​update because they are Very dingy.
The health club is more like a room w a mirror, (a whole walls length) bathrooms & 6 pieces of work out equipment. Out dated carpet & every time I was there during the summer, it was boiling hot because they don’t put air on in there. It works for $ 75/​year. I’d love to see it updated.
So I hope that helps. It’s not the worst place to live. It would be near fantastic if management started treating tenants with dignity.

I’ve enjoyed living at UPC. The apartments are reasonably priced, light and airy, with a lot of closet space. The staff is very helpful. The architecture (an I.M. Pei design) is elegant. The complex is attractively landscaped. UPC has 24-​hour security, an outdoor swimming pool, and a health club.
Also, the location is a big plus. UPC is on the 55 and 171 (to the U. of Chicago) CTA bus routes. It’s two blocks from the University Park Metra station (55^th-​56^th-​57^th St. station). It’s just two short blocks from the Hyde Park Shopping Center.
In response to Helena, Anne and Allison:
Yes, UPC did have bed bugs in fall, 2014. So did many Chicago apartment buildings. UPC was thoroughly inspected and exterminated and we got rid of the bed bugs.
Staff moved around every six months? Why would any management company do that? That has never happened. Our current Property Manager has been here for three years, and our Assistant Property Manager longer than that.
Swimming pool never seems to be open? That is just not true. This summer, our pool will be open from noon until 8 PM, every day of the week.
I’m a member of the UPC Board of Directors so I might be seen as biased. But facts are facts.
About all fees being paid with a money order, that is only true for renters. There is no other good way to handle fees. But owners can have fees added to their assessments.
For more information on UPC, see the review that was not recommended. There’s a link to it under the recommended reviews. (I don’t know why it wasn’t recommended.)

I agree with everything Allison said!
I loved our landlord and our apartment, but I hated the building and the management. I really wondered if they were trying to drive people so crazy that they moved out.
The staff in the management office for the past few months has been wonderful, but they said that the company usually moves staff around ever 6 months (to different buildings). So who knows how much longer they will be there for! This means that even if the office staff notice problems with the building, and want to fix them (which is already a major feat), they may not have time to solve the problem before they are moved to a different building. This leads to a lot of issues going unresolved.
At least they got rid of the rude, racist security guard. But that still took a year!
I will never live in a high rise again. There’s too much bureaucracy!

My review on UPC is rather mixed. My roommate and I lived in UPC for 2 years and we both really loved our space. It was HUGE, bright, had a great kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and large bedrooms. We also had a good working relationship with our landlord. therefore, nothing in the review is a reflection of him.
As a condo building, run by a condo association, there were certain peculiarities the we encountered regularly. As first glance the building seems wonderful; spacious courtyard, gym, swimming pool, 24 hour security. However, as you get to know the place, you soon discover that there are rules. Now, I am not a complete anarchist. I fully understand the need for some control in the space. However, UPC has a laundry list of rules that are completely arbitrary, vaguely fascist, poorly communicated, and sporadically enforced.
–The business office is open 9 – 5, M-​F. which doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But in a condo building, it means most people have to take time off of work to get anything done with them.
–All fees can only be paid using a money order. Really? A money order? Who uses those these days anyway? So now I have to make a second trip to the post office or currency exchange just to purchase a $ 5 guest pass for the pool.
–The pool never seems to be open. And is not usually open on weekends. Why have a pool if you’re not going to open it on weekends.
–When we moved out, we paid a fee. Which I understand, they have to hire extra security to open the big doors and the gate, etc., and monitor our big furniture as it went down the hallways. Still, we got interrogated by security every time we simply tried to carry small boxes out the front door. How dare we remove small items from our apartment without their express permission.
–While I liked most of the security people, there were a few individuals who are no longer there who were really rude to friends of ours when the visited. Interrogating them as to our racial background and questioning whether or not they were telling the truth as our friends were not necessarily the same racial background as us.
Individually taken, these are only minor annoyances, but after two years, the really seemed to add up and make the living situation a pain in the butt.
They have a new management company now and things seem to be getting better. But they seem to change management companies pretty quickly. So we will see how long they last.