There's a Thai restaurant downstairs and an excellent coffee shop across the street, which are my favorite features of my current location. The staff here is always helpful and on-site, as well as friendly. They change the carpets every time a new move-in occurs, apparently, so it was nice and clean when we moved in over a year ago. The overall area around this apartment also has a low crime-rate (especially for Chicago) and is generally friendly and relaxing. It's very convenient if you're a
...Loyola student or you wish to commute via Red Line (like we do.) We can see the Red Line from our Living Room window but it's far enough away the noise won't bother you. Some apartments in this building also have a view of the lake, as I'm told... You can see just a sliver of it from one of our windows, haha. There's also a gym in our building, but you'll have to purchase a membership.
Anyway, on to the negatives... Our kitchen is tiny. It came with a full-size fridge and an oven/stove, so that was nice, but there's hardly any room to do anything in there. Our counter space is so small it's difficult to even do dishes, and we can't fit more than our toaster on there if we're going to use a drying rack for our drying dishes. I feel as if our kitchen was a closet previously. I'd be happier if they knocked out the wall between the living room closet and the kitchen and made the whole thing a kitchen. Our bathroom is very small too, but it's not as noticeable.
The other thing that bothers me is the laundry situation. Maybe we are cursed, but the washing/drying machines on our floor break down pretty often. There's just two washing machines and two drying, and they are constantly being used when we need them by other residents. I guess the building can't have much control over these factors, but it's something to think about when considering moving into this building. I very often have to do my laundry on a different floor.
All-in-all, the pros outweigh the cons in this building, but it feels a tad expensive for its features. Compared to other buildings in the area, the price is steep for its quality. It's always good to keep in mind that living close to the loop will raise the price a great deal. You aren't taking much risk living here, it really is a great building, all-in-all.
Pet count limitation: 2. Pet Rent: $25/mo. per cat.