New Management, Ltd.

I was a photographer. I rented a loft in the Haymarket loft building. I spent thousands on a build out. Sujin rented the loft below me to a career criminal who was dealing coke out of his loft and beating his girlfriend on a regular basis. I called police on one occasion when he was beating the girlfriend. The dealer threatened me. Management wouldn’t do anything. They rented the unit above me to three college kids that thought it was a frat house. They even put a basketball hoop up and played basketball at all hours! Ultimately I had to move and they wouldn’t even refund my deposit. I heard the dealer screwed them and never payed his rent! Bottom line; living in a loft sucks if the management is greedy and doesn’t vet their tenants. I moved to another building near by on May street with great management. I never had a problem there and my neighbors were very civilized! So, all the negative stuff about loft living is bullshit if ya have good management! New management provided me with the worst experience I ever had in 30 years of loft living.

Yes, these are true, somewhat raw lofts, with all the associated noise & climate control issues. Yes, it’s an old building with all the associated problems. BUT those who complain about price haven’t compared them to what a newer, more finished place of equal square footage costs in this neighborhood. As far as response to repair need: As of late 2011, the new crew is infinitely faster and more competent than the old one.

For the most part, not bad. We have lived in one of their buildings for 6 years (mostly cuz we hate moving). They take forever to get back to you on many issues. But =v found the more I call and nag the more they respond. I just have to stay consistant. They have slowly been trying to improve the building, but its taking forever. I will be making some more suggestions to them for sure. So I suppose all in all they are probly worth checkin out.

Am a licensed broker. Sent the agent from this company two phone messages and a text to see her listing on Armitage with my clients. Finally got a response via text later in the day. Fine. Made the appointment for the next morning to see a two bedroom apartment for my clients. Arranged my day around her availability. In the morning, the agent from New Management texts me and asks ME which address to meet her at! Ok, that’s a bit strange since I never asked her about any other address. We get there on time, meet her, and go up and see a ONE bedroom. I’m representing two… straight…dudes. «Where’s the second bedroom,» I ask. Oh, that one was rented yesterday. WTF! As if a ONE bedroom apartment would be fine to see since the TWO bedroom I called about was taken. She wasted MY time and the time of my clients. The lack of professionalism shown is what gives my business a bad name. Fortunately, my clients were very nice, but honestly, its tough enough to make money in this business these days without dealing with people like this. Clueless. I probably got more upset than I should have, but this crap doesn’t cut it.

So far, I am very happy with my experience and quality of living. Having lived in Wicker Park, Bucktown, and Lincoln Park, this loft is the best product I’ve seen at this cost.
Its a dog friendly, clean building that has been tastefully renovated and that is maintained on a daily basis. The entrance, hallway and elevator are cleaned everyday and my neighbors are very polite, respectful and reserved. The demographics of the renters in these live/​work lofts vary between the ages of 28 – 40, consist of entrepreneurs, artists, and young professionals.
In my apartment, I have a brand new stove, and a well maintained refrigerator. The floors were redone before I moved in, and the walls are white and neatly pained. Unlike other Chicago buildings, the windows are new and energy efficient, and the front door is pretty new as well. (Although this building is right next to the brown line tracks, I can bearly hear it when my windows are closed). The brick wall hardly sheds as it has been sealed and is not much of a problem. When I was locked out, the staff was very friendly and efficient with helping me (I was back in to get my keys within minutes).
My only complaint is that my neighbor smokes way too much (probably with the windows closed), and so the smoke sometimes seeps into my loft and triggers my asthma. Ugh.

Their apartments are very cool lofts with a lot of neat features including original wood floors, wood beams, high ceilings, etc. They are pretty response when it comes to fixing problems and we’ve had no issues in the two years we have rented from them. Their prices are also reasonable and fair, in fact I am renting from them again next year.

Love my building, Love my neighbors. One of the most dog friendly neighborhoods and buildings in the city (and I have 2 BIG ones!). Everyone is thoughtful and responds immediately to requests for maintenance. This is not a rehabbed apartment but the space is HUGE and the look is ultra cool. All of my friends and family compliment me all the time and jealous of my place.

I think people who give New Management bad reviews just don’t understand old warehouse loft living. People watched all these movies about artists living in huge lofts in NYC and started thinking how great it would be. It is great… for artists. It has nothing to do with quality of the space, it’s the expectations of what that kind of living is like.
The beauty of the spaces in New Management is it’s a true loft, it’s not some fancy rehabbed stainless appliances, granite counter tops, whirlpool bathtub kinda place… if you want that there are tons of those around… and you’ll get it for lesser space and a higher price too. Yes there are some quirks to the building like noise transfer… what do you want, the building was built in 1897 and was never meant to be lived in… but that’s part of the charm.
These spaces are probably better suited for the fix-​it-​yourself types. My husband and I Ioved the fact that we had found a space that will let you build walls or a loft (keep in mind you need to actually know how to do this yourself), really make the space our own, a lot of places won’t allow that. So we take the good with the bad. I for one have not yet had any real issues with plumbing, electricity, windows, heating/​cooling, etc… and the only minor issues we’ve had that we couldn’t do ourselves, they did fix for us.
So to those that give New Management a bad review, I have some news for you… this kind of true loft living just may not be for you.

Well honestly, this building is great the people are great, I have had zero issues with anything at all, I currently live in one of their units. I am not sure what these people are talking about that are so frusterates. The strange thing is, I am not sure who these people even are. These are the best buildings in the city. A previous reviewer wrote that the the heat and a/​c is somewhat «rigged», you should expect that these buildings are not ultra lux. They are creative work and living spaces, perfect for those looking for a bit of inspiration from their surroundings and those around them. There are no buildings like this in the city that are not at least a little «riggid» but everything in every unity I have been in, mine included works just fine, and that is the opinion of everyone I have met.

Meh. Their buildings are unbelievably cool, you cannot find authentic and huge lofts like this anywhere else in the city. I was sold by the hardwood floors, huge windows and awesome views of my place.
After actually moving in, you realize there are a lot of problems and management is less than helpful in dealing with them. The place was unbelievably dirty and dusty, the heat and a/​c is somewhat «rigged,» etc. Half my windows don’t have screens or don’t open, and one of them simply caved and fell into my unit.
Essentially, the place is a «handyman special» that required weeks of repair and cleaning at my own expense before I could consider it to be liveable. You also have to be willing to put up with hearing your neighbors have sex, talk, have people over, play music, etc., as if they are in your own apartment because the building is so old and rigged.
Worth it? My friends certainly think so when they see the place, but they don’ t have to live here and put up with the bullshit. Like I said, the apartments themselves are amazing they just require a lot of work. I’ll stay for 2 years tops.

Where do I begin? Probably the worst management company EVER.
First: The brick on the top floor in my building is crumbling so badly tenants have to sweep and vacume twice a day or more. Mold grows on the walls every time it rains. The windows are old drafty and leaky all over the building, and they refuse to fix them. You cannot rest any furniture against a wall or put it anywhere near a window without it being RUINED.
Really, it’s like living in an old falling down warehouse, and yet they are charging for a penthouse. The rental rates are unbelievable for what you get.
Maintenance is completely unresponsive. Nothing happens unless you call three people five times and then they begrudgingly come in, look at the problem and tell you they’ll get someone else to fix it. Which of course NEVER happens.
It took an entire YEAR to get a rotting bug infested hole in the bathroom floor fixed. Even then, they tore up the walls, promised to repaint them, and then were never heard from again.
They definitely do no cleaning before you move in (In addition to years worth of grease, I found old photographs and dog toys behind the stove from previous tenants). When you are able to get them to paint before move-​in they do the crappiest job I’ve ever seen, dripping onto baseboards and timber, leaving obvious streaks everywhere where the two shades of white don’t match. They make tenants sign something that says we won’t paint over wallpaper, and then they do it themselves!
The plumbing is messed up. Water pressure in the kitchen of many units is barely a dribble. Their response. The same old «We’ll get someone to fix that,» and then it never happens.
The appliances are old. To top it off our clothes dryer is vented INSIDE the apartment. Yep. No outside vent for the dryer, just a plastic box to somehow collect the lint. Doesn’t work and the laundry closest is perpetually covered in lint.
Our ceiling floods periodically in one of the bedrooms (once we came back from vacation to find a bed ruined. Our friends on the top floor have to cover their computers when not in use because bits of wood shavings from the timber ceiling rain down on a regular basis.
The location and view are really the ONLY good things about this space. It’s a slum. Our neighbors blast their stereo at 4 and 5 in the morning with their door wide open to the hallway. Another neighbor gets drunk and runs naked vomiting in the hallways (yes, I’m serious).
And the rents keep going up.
New Management are the ultimate slumlords.