14 West Elm Apartments

I lived in this building for a month, under a sublease. The apartment had its flaws-​no AC and older structures and appliances.
HOWEVER– you can’t beat the location, the building is very quiet and outside the building is pretty quiet too – I kept the windows open all month and was never woken up by noise.
The building was clean, did not smell, and I never saw a single bug the entire time I lived there.
The rooftop is actually very nice, with a grill, tables, and new lawn chairs!
The staff was wonderful. Especially Michael– MICHAEL IS AWESOME. He is probably the nicest and most helpful property manager I will ever encounter in my life. He helped me move my stuff in on very short notice, and singlehandedly helped me move my mattress out when I didn’t have anyone else to help me. Seriously went above and beyond, and really acts like he cares about the tenants. Also, the doorman (I forget his name) was very nice and helpful as well.
Great place to live if you’re not looking for a brand new, super ritzy place, and if you want a GREAT property manager!

I have lived here for three years and truly am counting down the minutes until I leave. I just do not know where to begin. In the past month I have not had hot water for a total of 8 days and even when the water was back I had about the water pressure of dribbling water out of your mouth. Currently, both elevators are broken and I live on one of the top floors. Yes, BOTH elevators are broken. This building has been nothing but a problem for almost the entirety of the time I have lived here. If you like getting your packages stolen, please do not live here as the office staff will tell you that «getting mail is a privilege.» Yes. A office associate told me that getting mail was a privilege.
The office staff can be very helpful but in terms of the building itself, it is a mess.

The star rating is based upon the living experience several years ago.
Several years ago, 14 West Elm felt like a deal. It was not elegant, but the apartments are/​were at least spacious and the location is/​was exceptionally convenient. You could live in the Gold Coast for not an arm and a leg. Farmers market every Saturday behind the building during the Summer is also great.
The negatives are still the same: the noise pollution (and it’s the same if you live on a higher floor, I can’t imagine how people in this building sleep on the lowest floors) from the bar crowd nearby is awful. I can’t recall how many times I woke up at 2AM to hear someone’s horrific rendition of a Bön Jovi or Britney Spears song from some Karaōke jam nearby. Plus, the yelling and other assorted drunkenness.
At this point, several years later, the same apartment is nearly double when I first started renting there and significantly higher than when I left. It was already getting expensive for what it was when I left, due to significant rent raises every year.
Seeing pictures, it doesn’t appear as if the apartments have changed much. For what they go for now, I wouldn’t recommend it. I know rents have gone up a lot, but running a basic search on a number of apartment websites, I see a lot of examples downtown that are more reasonable or more/​more modern for similar cost.

I have lived here for almost a year. Management-​specifically Michael and Ryan I would rate at a 5! Both guys are extremely helpful and quick to respond. They are so friendly and always ask how things are going, and truely want their residents to be happy. It’s been an overall great experience living here!
Only cons include carpet not being the cleanest, noise from the hangge uppe, and laundry is expensive.

I just barely moved to chicago without a place to live. I was desperately calling every apartment complex looking for an apartment when I called Ryan at 14 West Elm. Ryan was awesome! I felt like he was on my side and worked hard to help me out as much as possible. He found me a lease the same day I called, had me come in for a tour that same day, and got me moved in three days later.
It’s not like living in the Trump, but I like my apartment and so far management (aka Ryan) has been extremely helpful.

First of all, I have never lived in this building. I would like to share my horrible experience during the application process, which I decided to withdraw later. The only lease term is 12 month and I was not sure whether I would stay that long, Therefore, I asked them about my options if I have to terminate my lease earlier. The agent, Ryan, told me I have a buy-​out option, which is one month rent as long as I give them a 90-​day advance notice. I submitted my application based on the information he gave to me. After reading through their early lease termination policy he sent to me later, i was confused as it says the fee will be 1 month rent in summer and 3-​month rent in winter. I asked Ryan again whether it is one-​month rent during winter. He said yes initially in his first email and changed to 3-​month later. I told him I would like to withdraw my application because they misrepresented the information. They still charged me $ 50 application and $ 200 move-​in fee, which they refused to return. I have to go to small claim court to get it back.
My advice: don’t trust what they tell you and you have to read through their lengthy documents to make sure you understand what you are getting.

Great building to live in! We have lived here 3 years already and have positive things to say! The leasing agents and office staff are awesome, friendly and will always aim to please! They work with you to approve a lease, sign it, and with any questions that you may have. Also, they have been really renovating and fixing up the building — have you seen the roofdeck? Amazing!

One Star is being generous. Too much details to explain. Just trust me, avoid this place.

One star is pretty generous, and I guess for the price I’m subletting this apartment for (rent for renewing the lease for this studio is only 40 dollars more a month) a star is all you get. This place sounded amazing to me since I was looking for an apartment in the city that was walking distance from the lake and from the Michigan Ave.
HOWEVER, we are on the cross streets Elm and State St where there are TONS of bars and drunk people. Not only that, it’s next to the Hangge-​Uppe which is an AFTER HOURS BAR. Again, «after hours» = «drunk people looking to get more drunk and rowdy at 4 am.» Hey, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been here once before when I was plastered.
I grabbed this sublet without realizing the exact location and after I signed the papers, I knew I was doomed. I’m awaken to «Woo» girls, guys thinking they’re supermen and wanting to fight each other, people falling over the place, and if you’re coming back to 14 west elm apartments around 11pm on a Friday or Saturday night, be prepared to ask to cut through the line for Hanngge-​Uppe to get to the main entrance of your building.
It’s not only Friday and Saturday night folks. Almost every night do I hear people going to Hanngee-​Uppe (Yes, M-​Th) and so there is a big chance you’ll be woken up to obnoxious people at 11pm, 1 am, 130 am, 330 am… well you get it.
For the price (750), I understand the apartment. My floor isn’t leveled, the bathroom is a broom closet, and I had to pay the owners of the building $ 100 to install the air-​conditioner I had into the window. Which means I can hear more obnoxious people yelling from outside because of the way the air-​conditioner is installed.
If I wasn’t so desperate to find an apartment in the city for 5 months to do my rotations right away, I would have scoped the area out a lot more. I guess I got too excited trying to compete with another person to get the place. Well, it looks like I lost!

Pros of this building:
The location is great, one block from the lake, one block from the el with several grocery stores and lots of conveniences. The maintenance in this building is also amazing, they fix any problems within a day and they always do it correctly, which is important. It’s also nice to have the outdoor space of the roof deck, although the space itself is mediocre. The building is always clean, for the most part.
Cons of this building:
This building is livable but it needs updates badly. Everything is fairly outdated and the price is way too much for what it is, even compared to other buildings in the neighborhood. The office staff is nice and responsive, but also unwilling to accomodate the residents with small things. They charge roughly $ 200 to rent old air conditioner units that they already own; they will charge you to installl one even if you own your own unit. Seems to me like they’re taking advantage of their residents. They continue to raise the rent every year, although the quality of the building does not improve. Another frustrating issue is that the elevators break almost daily. They do make an effort to fix them as quickly as possible, but I’ve waited over 20 minutes for an elevator multiple times.
My advice– If you are looking to live in the Gold Coast, don’t discount this building, but definitely do your research. You can find better for the same price or less.

14 West Elm is the worst place I’ve ever lived. I would rather live in the wilderness in the wild with hostile brown bears than live there again. If for some reason I had the choice going back in time 4 billion years and live then. Even though without a doubt I would die shortly after arriving.
But how could I despise a place that much? Where I would rather fight off brown bears or brave the conditions that exsisted four billion years ago? Well I’m going to explain otherwise this review would be worthless.
Lets start with the basic problems with the apartment. The apartment was falling apart when we moved in. But we were subletting and it came «as is.» So we (my wife and I) shrugged and figured it was no big deal. Then shortly after we moved in our allergies started to bother us. So nartually we cleaned and cleaned away. Since the allergies were to dust and what not. But the allergies still remained. Leaving us to the conclusion that there was something more devious at work within the walls. Mold maybe? I’m not sure the building never fixed the problem for us.
Then lets move to Sam the «manager.» I quoted manager, because he didn’t really manage anything. He sat in the office all day, and I can’t say what he did in the office. But I can say that he’s not very helpful. Because if it wasn’t in his job description then it wasn’t his job. So they have policies they have to follow. Like if you have a package delivered you can’t receive it until past 6 pm, when the night door man shows up. Why can’t you get it before 6 pm, because it’s not Sams job. Oh you have a problem with the management and Sam. Well then you’ll have to fight with Sam for the head offices number. Then after fighting and arguing with him for some time you may get it. Then once you do get the head office number. They are just as rude and ignorant as Sam is.
Oh you want to have a window air conditioner for the summer? Well you can rent one for around 80 dollars (i forgot the exact amount). But what you can just buy your own for that price? Well guess what then you need to pay the building to come and install it. And then pay them a fee for installing it.
The Elevators are terrifying and are about half the size of a standard small elevator. They shake and sometimes the lights are off. And they break down very easily and often.
Now lets move onto the area of Gold Coast.
14 West Elm is right next to all the bars on Division/​State area. And with all those bars comes a lot of drunk people. But how drunk could they get? Well very, on weekends it was very common to see people pissing in the alley and vomiting on the sidewalks. And sometimes just sometimes when I would go out early enough on Saturday mornings around 5 am there would be a strange mix of vomiting drunk people and people that just woke up and are walking their dogs or jogging.
Then lets move onto the homeless that plague the area. But they’re not really homeless, they all will willingly tell you that they’re from Cabrini Green. And regardless of what time you leave. There is the chance that you will be asked for some change. Regardless of how little you walk from the building if it’s over a block there’s a good chance you’re going to be asked for some change. Now not all of them are bad. One was very nice, and just talked to me and would ask me for change like once a month. Which I didn’t mind, because he was very friendly and seldom asked for money. But where he was a shining gem in vagrancy there were others that were the opposite. Which I’ll review you later Tony, I fucking hate you.
Apparently there are many new problems with the building since I’ve moved out over a year ago. I would not move in here unless it’s free, and even then I would be apprehensive.