The Belmont by Reside

The Belmont is an absolutely gorgeous building in an even better location! My husband and I were recently working with Alexis and she couldn’t have been more helpful throughout our process. Although we ended up signing with a different building, we would have been equally thrilled to live at The Belmont. The front door staff was so friendly every time we came and you can’t beat the view of Belmont Harbor from the rooftop. The lobby is beautiful and kept up nicely. 5 stars for The Belmont!

These reviews are crazy. The apartments are beautiful, one bedrooms are very large compared to most. Roof view is beautiful, staff is absurdly friendly, gym on site is nice, couldn’t recommend this place more.

Well, I’ve lived at Belmont By Reside for over a year now and I’m sorry to report that I’ve seen a sharp decline in management’s responsiveness and concern for tenants.
The first sign of trouble came in my second month when a cockroach walked across my living room floor. I immediately emailed the office with a photo of the bug. Her response? «Cute little fella, isn’t he? ;-)» The :-) was hers, not mine.
Needless to say, I did not share a photo of the cockroach with her because I thought it was cute or even joke-​worthy. An exterminator was out on the following Monday. A couple of months later, another cockroach. This time, I did the work: «You guys need to seal the gaps under door frames and wall boards.» They promptly did. No cockroaches since.
I DID, however, have an ant infestation a few weeks ago. The exterminator showed up about 10 days after I notified the office while I was in the shower. «Come back in 30 minutes, please,» I yelled. By the time I climbed out of the shower – and I don’t take luxurious showers – I had already received an email from management: The exterminator cannot come back in 30 minutes. It’ll be two more weeks.
I get dressed, walk out the front door and – SHAZAM! – the exterminator’s unoccupied truck is still sitting in the driveway. «Hey, Ryan,» I emailed,” I noticed the exterminator is still here. Can he swing by my place? I’m gone for the day.” Ryan did not respond. The exterminator did not go to my place. I lived two more weeks with ants who, being ANTS, did not contribute a dime toward the rent.
Exterminator’s conclusion: The ants are coming from an unsealed floorboard that slipped my earlier inspection.
A few weeks ago, without notice, a roofing crew installed a new roof over the lobby area. That roof just happens to be outside of my unit. I learned of this two-​week project by a man chopping the exterior wall behind my headboard with an axe one morning. I closed the windows for just a tad more privacy.
Inconveniently, while the roofing crew was hammering, axing, and melting tar with a blow torch outside of my window, another construction crew was sawing pipes, hammering concrete, and jack hammering in the retail space that is (I now know) directly under my unit. It’s going to be a convenience store.
The work has continued unabated every weekday from 9 a.m. until about 3 p.m. Seriously, on more than one occasion, I thought the work crews might literally hammer their way into my unit through the convenience store ceiling.
So, today, at the conclusion of the third week of this, I emailed the office. «Hey Ryan, I realize they need to do work down there, but do you have any idea of when they might be wrapping it up?» He didn’t reply. Again.
There are other things. My rent check is paid automatically by Chase every month. Has been for years. A couple of months ago, for reasons unknown, someone in the Reside office marked my rent check «return to sender» and dropped it in the mail. Chase even had an e-​copy of the marked envelope.
I learned of this matter a few days into the month when the property manager left a legality-​filled «5-​day notice» at the front desk for me. I immediately wrote a manual check on the spot. The next day, I went to Chase and learned about what happened.
Reside said they would waive the «late payment fee» «one time. «As a courtesy.»
You know, I still feel proud of where I live. I like walking into my building. Having a 24-​hour desk to secure packages is great. Having an online site that allows you to monitor the progress of your individual washing machines remotely from your unit is great.
But when there’s no response to simple, though important, communications and when I am extended a «courtesy» waiver after they marked my rent check «return to sender,» I wonder where this all is heading.

I’m really disappointed in this place. We moved in May 10^th. They certainly lure you in with the nice amenities. However, every other day only one elevator is not working. The halls usually smell like wet dog. The laundry room have several broken washing machines and people are loud in the hallways. When you complain, they say there is nothing they can do. They shut the air conditioning off early in September. We face west and our apartment is blistering hot. Management says to open the windows and turn on a fan. Not only is this advice condescendingly simple, it doesn’t work. Not until 4 in the morning does our apartment get cool. Also, it was nice that they had stone work done next door. The loud sawing really, with the windows open, made for great dinner ambiance. (They own that building too. Great timing.) I will say most of the concierge people are great and helpful. Other than that, just an overpriced apartment with lots of paint to cover up the crumbling infrastructure. I’ve learned my lesson with Reside.

This place is awesome! Nice and elegant while being modern and well maintained. I looked at tons of places in a search for an apartment in Chicago and it was one strike after the other. The agent in another apt company that was showing me a unit in their many run down buildings told me there was a fire and somebody died. Awesome story bro. Where do I sign the lease for this death trap with a free ghost roommate … I signed a lease within 5 minutes of checking out another Reside Property. The leasing agent Lola is awesome and super helpful.

I have lived here for 2 years and it is by far my favorite place, it is well maintained, it’s very safe, the staff is outstanding, the rooftop deck is gorgeous. The floor plans are very open and the renovations are amazing. LOVE IT!!!

I’ve been living in this building for years, so here is the run down.
The place has been under constant renovations for the past few years, and I think they are about done. It’s nice. The lobby is very nice (everyone compliments it), the work out facility is great (and believe it or not its usually empty which works for me), and the upstairs lounge/​rooftop is great too. Very nice décor.
The management isn’t bad. Mark, the building manager, is helpful. If you have a complaint, or a comment, they will hear you out and act on it or tell you the truth. Its a relief from people saying one thing, then doing another.
The actual apartments are nice too. A little pricey for what it is but if you own a pet thats the usual around Chicago. I also like how they have extra storage for rent in the building. Its like $ 15-​$ 30 more a month depending on size, but thats great considering its in your building and the price other storage companies charge.
Otherwise, I also like the fact that Reside throws a «party» of sorts every month. Its usually to promote a new artist or an event, but its still cool. Free beer/​wine + food usually. Nice little perk.
I do have a few dislikes about the building.
— The USPS mail is spotty (at no fault to the building). Meaning, i’ve had problems with them in the past. Lately its been fine. But in the past, i’ve had trouble receiving mail, or receiving mail over a month late.
— The other businesses in the building aren’t very good. THE CONVENIENCE FOOD MART IS TERRIBLE. DIRTY/​OVERPRICED/​RUDE. They have been very rude to me in the past, and they have literally kicked me out of the store because I complained about it to the owner. Check out my review on them for the full details. The cleaners is okay, but the prices are very high as well. Plus, I think they charge me something different every time which is suspect. They do a great job and quick, just be on your toes.
— The laundry room is nice, but small. At least one washer/​dryer is broken at all times. And if you go during a peak time, forget about it. They should really expand it out and maybe put newer machines since its $ 5 a load – and when something doesn’t dry properly, its more.
— In the summer the upstairs lounge is usually booked out (for a fee) on Friday/​Saturday nights, and sometimes during the day. I know some people probably like the ability to do this, but when its every weekend you really can’t even use it in the summer (because it becomes exclusive to the booker). Otherwise, it is nice up their with its own kitchen and stuff.

My friend lives here and while the apartments are nice, the roof deck is bitchin’. Rental prices went up, she’s moving out and I’m a little sad about it. I like mooching.

When I first moved back to the city, I was looking around town for a building in the Lakeview area to live and happened upon the historic Belmont House. Their location could not be any better (close to the lakefront, express buses running down Lake Shore Drive to Michigan Ave and nearby Boystown and shopping) but it gets even better… Belmont House’s fabulous newly design lobby had just been revamped to fit the modern 21^st century. Flat screen TVs, glass panels with LED color-​changing backlighting, touch-​screen concierge, chic yet comfortable coffee lounge/​game room… all this encompassed by the white historic columns and detailed ceilings. It seems as if the designer was influenced by Buenos Aires’ Faena Hotel done by Philippe Starck.
It doesn’t stop there. They also just remodeled the apartments too. Check out the prices on their website. For some new lobby pictures I posted a few on the business listing since the website has still yet to be updated.

It’s very dissapointing to see what is happening to the magnificent Belmont House. It was worth the high rent until a new management company took over. Our fantastic wonderful doormen were replaced with less than professional staff that would never bother to help you much less greet you by your name. And now perfectly fine, attractive hallways that gave the building style and a warm sense of home are replaced with cheap office-​like carpet. Not to mention the lime green trim. And brass door knobs are replaced with plastic card that attach to the wall with velcro. The outside has been «modernized» with containers that take so much away from the old-​style beauty of the building. I don’t want to think about what they will be doing to the magnificient beautiful lobby. Unfortunately I renewed my lease just before the unnecessary and inappropriate renovations started — I would have moved. Its starting to feel like coming into another office building — not a home. Very dissapointing.