Hyde Park Tower Apartments

Not such a great place. Refurbished elevators breaking down all the time, noisy apartments (you can hear people talking on their phones). Also, one of my neighbors decided to smoke inside her bathroom and my apartment started smelling like a casino. The windows are old, noisy and leak water. After a year and a half living here, I could keep going about the stuff that goes on with this building. I would check twice around Hyde Park as newer buildings are charging less.

The only value to living in Hyde Park Tower is the location. Otherwise, I can say that this was one of the WORST places I've ever lived! I can't begin to list the problems, but here are a few standouts: 1. there were ceiling leaks in my apartment on three different occasions; 2. the building's boilers broke down on three different occasions - leaving the residents withOut heat for hours; 3. a mouse got into the apartment; 4. consistent fluctuations in the building fees (I referred to as assessments) that increased my monthly rent by $150 - 250 (I could never get a clear answer from the management company about how the fees were divided among residents); 5. the elevator broke down frequently - forcing people to climb the stairs in a 20+ story building.You should review the lease CAREFULLY for details not directly revealed by the management company. I lived in the building for only one year - and it was the WORST!

TERRIBLE PLACE TO LIVE.

The building and property itself is great. No complaints there. This review pertains to upper management.Managing broker is EXTREMELY rude. Why are people in a people based industry if they don't know how to properly communicate? Thought about living here but was immediately turned off by what my broker told me. She allowed me to listen in on a phone call. Needless to say, I do not feel comfortable living somewhere where the person in charge treats people this way.

As an update to my last review, this building still has issues. Residents and their guests are still smoking on the property. Garbage receptacles are regularly overflowing in the garage. In addition to the ongoing renovation of its older units (drilling and pounding noises during business hours), there is also exterior work on all sides of the building that has started and is expected to last throughout the summer. Apparently water is getting inside the units. Lastly, the only three elevators for the building are being replaced. This is being done one by one, but is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Unfortunately for the current residents, only two elevators are operable at any given time. But if there is a move in or out, we have to make do with one. What makes matters worse, during the day, the elevators also have to be shared with the workmen.

You are putting yourself into a big risk by choosing this place! 1) A REMINDER TO U: read every single word in the rental contract, they take no responsibilities for pretty much everything. So be prepared to all kinds of "traps" which will cost you several grands. 2) They recently changed their management, and the new management is very bad. They barely response to any requests. 3) OVERPRICED! They pretty much charge everything they can. The refundable deposit will never go back to you, because they will try their best to charge every penny from it and ask you to pay more! Overall, you avoid this place if you can!

Property Management and Maintenance teams is awesome, unfortunately they don't manage the building in its entirety. Aimco Properties is horrible. Most of the home office employees are not familiar with the company policy, so when you call you'll receive multiple different answers tot he same question and no sense of urgency to help the tenant. The building is expensive and overpriced for Hyde Park.

The only reason this gets one star is that the neighborhood is great and the apartment building is just steps away from public transportation.As the previous poster states, this building is extremely overpriced. The $1600 is actually for a one bedroom which they call a 2 bedroom because apartment features a den that doubles as a living room or bedroom. On top of that, you are charged common area maintenance which fluctuates month to month. THe costs range from $80 to $120. Some of the charges are ridiculous. An example would be charging for gas use when the stove is electric or "cooling" costs that was as high as $60 one month. I rarely turned on the air in my own apartment. When the property manager was questioned about some of the line items they couldn't provide an explanation. The offsite mangement company was contacted and the response was "I'll have to get back to you.", which of course they never did. I made the decision to move after about three months there. Add a parking space( a must if you have a car in Hyde Park) at $150 to $200 a pop and your monthly outlay is easily over $1800! Stupidly, I signed a 14 month lease, which I since found out was illegal. 12 months is the limit. I paid $300 deposit. When I moved out it was quickly apparant that I would never see that deposit again. Your unit is to be professionally cleaned. If not, they charge $140 ( to clean a small one bedroom, mind you). The carpet has to be professionally cleaned, if not, the cost is $60. So you pay for getting the apartment move in ready when most mgmt companies figure that in their rent costs. I was then informed I would be charged for residual CAM costs for the mystery charges I previously mentioned. In the end, I was nickled and dimed for another $45 bucks.Most of the door and maintenance staff were friendly and helpful. However onsite managers are changed there as often as folks change underwear. I was there for a year and saw at least three different onsite managers. The company that manages the place needs to be replaced or they will continue to lose good tenants. They can do so much more in gving tenants the opportunity to meet one another or try to connect tenants to all that's happening in Hyde Park.My advice would be to look elsewhere for an apartment with better value and managment that doesn't look to fleece its tenants.

On our building tour, we specifically asked the manager if there were any additional fees per month that we would be charged, as we had read previous building reviews with unhappy tenants. The manager said there were additional building fees, but they are generally around $50. Over our 15 month lease, these bills have ranged from $88-$140, averaging $117 per month. These fees are mainly for common area heating/cooling/electricity. One month our "trash fee" was $17. These fees are just absurd. This doesn't include the separate electricity bill we pay to a private company or cable and internet.Whatever it is that controls the heating and hot water frequently breaks down, as we have lost heat and hot water several times over 15 months.Our window was leaking, literally soaking the carpet and making the wall bubble. We didn't care about the aesthetics, but wanted to inform the maintenance staff in case there was a bigger problem that needed to be dealt with. The maintenance employee literally just cut the piece of wall out and re-plastered it, without ever attempting to fix the actual problem. Just a bandaid for a larger issue. Our window even grows a thick coat of ice (on the inside!) throughout the winter.The elevators had never worked properly since we moved in, some times we had to push the door shut so it could function. Over the Christmas break, all three elevators broke down for several days. Now, one month later, only two of the three are functioning and they are worse than ever. The doors always need to be pushed shut and the display to show which floor you are on does not work in one. Who knows why the third is still not functioning.After we moved in and paid our pet deposit and dog rent, we were informed while walking through the lobby that dogs needed to be taken out the back door, beside the dumpsters. There was constantly broken glass and garbage everywhere. Many times I found shards of glass on my door mat in my apartment from my shoes after taking the dog out. After a couple months, the back door stopped working properly. Our FOB wouldn't work and the door would jam. Several times we walked all the way to the back door, then found that we could not get in, and had to walk back to the front, only to receive dirty looks from the door man. Once we were told just to keep knocking until we could be let in. I pay rent, and my dog pays rent, there is no reason we should have to face all these issues.Aside from the bathrooms and kitchen, there are no ceiling lights, so lamps are necessary. Our refrigerator didn't have a handle so it was very difficult to open the door with wet or full hands. Some of the door men are fabulous and extremely friendly. Others are cranky and don't so much as look at you and say hello, let alone buzz open the door for you if they are "busy". Sometimes they can be very strict and almost make you feel unwelcome in your own home.We were happy with our individual unit and our view of the city, the park, and the lake. However, after our 15 month lease is up, they wanted to raise our rent by 15%, almost $200 more per month (plus dog rent, plus parking, plus "additional fees"). It's just not practical, nor is this building worth that kind of money.Management changed several times over our 15 months rental period and we could never get help when needed because the policies changed each time a new manager was hired. We moved out at the end of our lease and wouldn't suggest the building to anyone.

The actual Property Management team is awesome. They work w/ the residents and quickly respond to request. Maintenance team in the building is also responsive and easy to work. AIMCO Property Management is horrible. The home office employees do not know the corporate policies. So when you call and ask a question you'll receive different answers. They do not respond with any sense of urgency or consideration. The property has been remodeled and is in better condition than it was 2 years ago, but the pricing is extremely high for Hyde Park and the space you're given.

I lived in HPT for 3 years.First, the good part. Nice view, good location to the U of C and the staff (maintenance and front desk) are very kind and professional.So why 2 out of 51 trust nothing you are told. Make sure you have everything in writing because later on it will just be "oh you did not understand it right" or "no way we told you this". Few examples, you pay utilities that are not reflecting your actual usage, when we were considering HPT we were told that utilities will likely never pass a certain $ amount, they were always about $60-80 more. Another example we were told that the increase of rent is likely to be around 2-5%, and it was about 10% increase.2 this is where they get you. They keep adding all these things you do not need "smart locks" (cause a key is too low tech), face recognition cameras (the one on the main door did not work for over a month and you could not come into the building unless someone was at the lobby). So then when it comes to renew, they added upgrades and such so they have a good reason to increase.3 smoking. As much as they claim to be a "smoke free" they don't do anything about this. They keep saying tell us if you smell smoking we will take care of this. In reality they say that they can't find where it is coming from and just send out an email every so often.4 security deposit. forget about getting all of it. $190 cleaning fee (mandatory that no one tells you about when you sign the lease). Of course the crazy amount of utilities will be added, and maintenance charges. Of course, if they make a mistake and don't give you the right amount you will wait weeks for them to resolve it.... Just try to be late on a rent and see how much they charge extra....5 during the pandemic they closed the access to all facilities (which is of course the right thing to do), but of course your rent kept covering all those facilities you never got to use. Also it took them over a year to have hand sanitizer accessible for everyone.6 It is still not safe. We had some violent crimes in the building. They try to be better about it, but basically the responsibility go to the doorman, and there is so much they can do.7 so much trash outside. This is not HPT fault, a the park across the street + chicago winds, you will be seeing trash all day every day. If you have a dog be ready to hold it close8 you can hear everything. paper thin walls + vents that carry sounds from other apts.9 want to get packages? You got to pay $50 per year for a useless locker. USPS will not use it, fedex will not pick packages from it, amazon will usually leave the packages out and the doorman will have to put them in. So it is secure.... sure.... but most providers won't bother using itSo you pay a lot extra for a newish nice high rise, but you will end up paying between 100-300 more each month on extras in addition to rent (utils $150, parking and electricity that you also pay on your own)If you must live in a high rise it is a nice building with nice location, but be ready for a big rent increase and high utils. There are bigger and nicer properties in the area for a better price.Oh and best of luck getting the money when it is time to get your security deposit

First contact was good, but over a year span things degraded.From start the flat was overpriced ($1600 minimum for a two bedroom, plus charges which easily go up $150), but I was told the rent increase would be small on renewal and the venue looked nice. What a surprise when a year later the rent increase turned out to be $200 a month!!! I had to move out.Among other problems:1) Office staff is friendly as long as they want you to sign. Once you're a resident, the friendliness drops dramatically.2) Time responsiveness of the office staff can be very long.3) Though all payment from the residents are considered late on the second of each month, the security deposit is only given back up to 45 days after move out.4) Front staff can be quite unpleasant. While I locked myself out of the apartment and went to see the doorman so he would let me in, his answer started by: "Oh maaaaaan, oh no maaaan, we gonna have to start charging you if you keep forgetting your keys, that's not possible maaan". This was the first time I forgot my key in 8 months.In a nutshell:OverpricedUnfriendly after signing the leaseNot recommended

"My main issue is that the property is advertised as smoke free but the smell of marijuana is regularly in elevators, on my floor, seeps into my unit through vents, and in the garage. Having a small child, that is something very important to me. Also, management is very quick to try to serve a 5 day notice if payment is a few days late where most other properties have a 5 day grace period before late fees are incurred much less a 5 day notice being served."

Don't poop here because people will get mad at you.