BJB Evanston

Update: l apologize I, Matt H, do not have a Unilocal account and I posted it from my girlfriend’s account. Everything about this review is legitimate and very true.
Since Dina says she can’t resolve anything until corporate responds to her and «they take forever to respond», I figured someone may see this too to get things going. Since moving in, everything that we have experienced has been extremely frustrating.
BJB rehabbed the Chase bank upper levels in Uptown Park Ridge into apartments. Fabulous, right? Not with this horrible property management. First off, the apartment is literally falling apart within the three weeks of moving in. The work wasn’t finished. The shower head was hanging off the wall. The water heater and the heating in the apartment was installed incorrectly. After using the washroom, the door handle fell off. Many places in the apartment were not caulked. Cabinets were put on crooked and the refrigerator slides in and out of the wall each time we open it.
When looking at the place, the realtor Kris told us when we asked about cable that Direct Tv was an option. Gave us a flier for a $ 99 bundle and moved on. Great –we have been with Comcast and didn’t want to change providers but this was our only option. We contacted Direct TV and were told we can get it installed through them. Even better! Through the company we were able to get a great deal with premium channels and all upgrades. The arrived to install and told us they can’t install it since the property managers have a special contract for the particular bundle. We were forced to sign onto the contract and are paying over $ 100 a month for basic channels without HD. The best part about this ridiculousness is that there is a «Comcast Room» right next to our apartment. Why? And why are you forcing your tenants into a provider without explaining the details upfront?
Guest parking has not be resolved. They refuse to issue an extra key to tenants. They do not respond to anything negative.
The response we finally received today was «It may be best to terminate your lease.»
So instead of getting your act together and delivering a living experience that matches your prices, you would rather have a tenant move out after three weeks.
Deplorable. I’m not done spreading the word about BJB and how horrible they are to their tenants and as property managers.

Beyond glad I didn’t listen to the bad reviews on this property. Whatever was broke they definitely fixed it. Note, I did decide to go with another property but loved what I saw and loved working with Jennifer. Ya know what you meet someone and you feel like they’re your long time pal and you trust their word? She’s kinda like that.
I even got the chance to chat with a current tenant and they had nothing but great things to say. To me the prices were fair for the area and the grounds and buildings were maintained and kept up quite nicely.
Thanks again for a great experience!

A couple of months ago, I signed a lease for a BJB Evanston apartment, and so far I’ve had an absolutely wonderful experience. My leasing agent, Jennifer was a pleasure– she is knowledgeable, flexible, and friendly– and she made the whole apartment hunting and lease-​signing process a breeze. Thanks to her, I saw nearly all of the BJB Evanston properties, and while they’re a little pricey, they all seemed to be in good condition and well maintained. You get what you pay for.
I’m writing this review because when I saw that BJB Evanston had such a low Unilocal rating, I had to step in and give my two cents! Don’t be put off by the low reviews– many of them were written a number of years ago, and whatever wasn’t working within the company before seems to have been fixed. I can’t wait to move into my new BJB apartment!

I don’t believe that this company deserves all of these bad reviews.
My experience with BJB in Evanston was a 5 out of 5, albeit not the most traditional situation.
First, it was very easy to check out an apartment. I checked out an apartment at 860 Hinman, the building was clean, well-​maintained, and the apartment was in great condition.
I signed a lease shortly after checking out the apartment, in late April, and was all set to move in on June 1^st, 2015.
However, due to unforeseen circumstances, I decided not to move from the city that I live in now… this decision came with only 10 days left in the month of May (10 days before move-​in). It was a difficult, and potentially costly, decision however it was made rather easy with this company.
I immediately told them that I wouldn’t be able to move. In response, they quickly sent me an «Intention to Sublet» form which I filled out and e-​mailed back. I then did a couple of craigslist postings for the apartment, and was reassured that their leasing agents would begin showing the apartment to other potential tenants.
Within 2 days, the apartment was sub-​letted to another person, and I was relieved from the 12-​month lease, a particularly tricky situation since I live 700 miles south of Evanston (literally) Not only did I receive a refund for my move-​in fee, I also received back the first month rent payment.
I’m so grateful that they provided the opportunity that they did, and I wanted to share the experience with anyone interested in leasing from them. I found these leasing agents, and the manager, to be accommodating and pleasant, and have great confidence that this experience would have continued throughout the duration of the lease. It’s simple, pay your rent on-​time and you’ll have the opportunity to live in a building like this with good neighbors and a solid leasing company.

I lived in a 1BR unit next to Ridge and Noyes. In the beginning, it was trouble to deal with people in the BJB office. Particulary, beware of the woman named Zumi, who is a pain to deal with. The person who showed me around the apt, signing lease, background check everything went smoothly. The apartment is quite nice, includes free directv, and internet. The rent is on the high end, but since it includes these utilities, its kind of ok. Otherwise they did a good job in sending notices beforehand for any showings or moving out etc. So, overall good management.

Recently I thought I’d check out some of the reviews for my former landlord, BJB Evanston, and was shocked with much of what I read. A lot of the reviews were completely the opposite of my experience with this company. I was a tenant of their 1303-​11 Maple building for almost 8 years (July 2006-​May 2014), and my experience was very positive! I would definitely recommend these apartments to anyone looking to move to Evanston.
As most realtors will tell you, when choosing a place to live, it’s about location, location, location. This is the main reason I chose the apartment I did several years ago. BJB Evanston’s 1303-​11 building is two blocks from the train (Purple line, Dempster stop), two blocks from several bus routes (Dempster and Ridge), and about 4 blocks from the Metra (Evanston-​Davis stop) making travel to the city easy. It’s also about 1.5 miles from Northwestern University (I could walk there everyday) and just a few blocks from the shops and restaurants of downtown Evanston. Additionally, there are 3 grocery stores within a 5 – 10 minute walk. Regardless, if you’re looking for other things close by, BJB Evanston has many buildings in the area from which to choose. The rent can be a bit pricey, especially if you’re from a smaller real estate market, but it’s on-​par with other units in the Evanston area.
Despite location being my primary consideration, I was very pleased to discover, in my time renting from BJB Evanston, that their employees are very helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. They were usually pretty easy to get a hold of during business hours, but, with so many buildings to manage, occasionally I’d have to call a couple times to actually speak to someone about an issue. I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight here that the most helpful, hard-​working employee I interacted with was Zumi. Whenever I had a problem that I really wanted a quick solution to, she was the person I knew I could count on to get the job done.
I placed many maintenance calls during my time with BJB Evanston. (Hey, 8 years and things are bound to go wrong at some point, right?) I can’t think of any time that it took longer than 48 hours for my problem to be fixed. Most of the time my request was actually completed within 24 hours, the exceptions being right after major snowfalls (when maintenance had to clear sidewalks) or over the weekend (when less people were working). These repairs included the mundane to the more complex: unclogging a drain, fixing a broken toilet paper dispenser, replacing a light bulb (after I couldn’t find the right kind anywhere!), a leaking faucet, a leaking, and a broken dishwasher. I did have a bit of an infestation my first year, but within a couple days, the exterminator had been called and maintenance sealed up every hole and crack in the place. I was pest-​free my last 7 years with the exception of an occasional spider.
During my time with BJB Evanston, they also made many building improvements (at least to 1303-​11 Maple), some of which were driven changing regulations, others by tenant surveys. (They actually listen to their tenants!) These include: adding trash cans in common areas, adding security gates to the stairwells behind the building, adding grips to the back stairs to improve traction, replacing pipes, resurfacing bathtubs, installing carbon monoxide detectors, improving TV and Internet connections, and replacing washers and dryers in the laundry area.
There were times where management went a bit out of their way to help me as well. For example, before I even moved in, I received a call from BJB Evanston the day I was going to look at an apartment telling me it had just been rented. However, they showed me another and worked with the current tenant at the time to ensure that I could move in a bit earlier than the unit would have otherwise been available. At the end of my stay, I ended up having to relocate for a new job before my lease was up. Not only did BJB Evanston find someone to sublet, they found someone who could start that sublease within a week of me moving out!
To summarize, my 8 years renting from BJB Evanston was overwhelmingly positive, and I would definitely recommend them if you’re looking for an apartment in North Chicagoland!

Sean Boswell at BJB Evanston goes out of his way to ensure that you have the apartment you want and that all your questions are answered. He is friendly, courteous, thorough. BJB has a wide inventory across town so you should find a unit you like.

I have lived in a studio apt (#525) at the 860 Hinman Bldg for 14 months. Overall very pleased and highly recommend. Big plus is property manager Dina and her staff who are located in building on first floor. Dina has an open door policy and reacts quickly to any bldg issues or maintenance requests.
Apartment (#525) has brand new wood flooring and bathroom has new tile throughout. Although a bit small, two large windows provided great views to the North. Hallway carpet was steamed cleaned and vacuumed on a regular basis. Two elevators made exit/​entry a little quicker than other buildings I have lived in. Located above Brothers coffee and across street from Starbucks. Purple line and Metra one block away.
Laundry room has 12 machines-​I don’t recall ever having to wait. Fitness center was adequate, but I joined gym for more extensive training.
Only negative was street parking in neighborhood. The Evanston parking ticket police team are waiting in the bushes for you to forget what side of street you parked on.
Due to new job had to move out ⁴⁄₃₀ and Dina subleased my unit in under 10 days…

I wouldn’t recommend BJB to anyone! The worst experience I’ve ever had with renting an apartment. First, the apartment was filthy when we moved in. The place had clearly had not been cleaned after the last tenants moved out: the bathroom was disgusting (the shower and toilet were both tainted brown), food was left in the kitchen from the previous tenants, and some of our utilities were broken.
We’ve had random water leaking from the ceiling, mice, and drafty windows (which is not pleasant when it is below zero during the winter). Communication is pretty terrible with the management, and things take forever to get fixed.
Really, stay far far away.

I’d give them 0 stars if I could. They are deplorable. It’s ⁶³⁄₆₄ in here, they dropped off a faucet in January and have to install it. They don’t return calls, emails, etc. August can’t come fast enough!

This management company sucks.
My #1 pet peeve with them: Maintenance calls go unanswered for months.
Seriously, WTF? These are their units that they’re renting out, yet they expect us to go the DIY route for maintenance issues. So we waste money on buying DIY kits to fix the towel racks, the cabinets, the clogged bathtub FOR them and then if it doesn’t work out, then they’ll help us? WTF. This is ridiculous because what happens if we messed up? Then the onus is on us; we’d need to pay them for damages done to their units so that they can rent the place out again when we move out. NO, F THAT SHIT.
Complaint #2: We have to decide whether we want to renew SIX months in advance.
Really? Group Fox’s policy was two months, which is by far way more reasonable than six months. Most people don’t even start searching for a new place until 1 – 2 months before they move out of their old places. There’s no reason to, unless you’re moving here from out of state (or town, I suppose). Further, it’s as if BJB Evanston has so much trouble renting out their apartments that they need a 6-​month running start. Folks, this is a bad sign. Do not rent from this company! They will screw you over.

I can NO say anything but what a horrible customer service and racial people work here. I called the first time to confirm the address and the person just hang up on me. The second time I called I got the new address, I went there and people here were looking at each other and seemed to me that nobody wanted to do anything to help me and my boyfriend find an apartment. They were so rude since the beginning with us giving us bad looks. The girl who works there made us feel bad saying WE DON’T HAVE ANYTHING FOR YOU AND WON’T HAVE ANYTHING. They posted in craiglist they had one bedroom apartment and that is what we were looking for, but surprise!!! when we got to the office they didn’t have anything available what made me think they either post FALSE advertisement or just don’t want to work at all with people of different backgrounds. Too bad there is not an option that I could give 0 stars, because this kind of business is what deserves

The worst experience ever… After I saw a few ads on Craigslist, we decided to check the apartments.
We called asking for the right address and they hanged on us we gave a second chance and we found the office where they don’t even say good morning or afternoon.
They looked on us from up and down and they ask: «what do you want?» We said we want to look your apartments to rent. After that the lady doesn’t even say take I seat. Or even worse take the time to look on her computer to check the apartment for us.
She looked to our puppy. She said:“we DONT HAVE ANYTHING AVAILABLE!” I said: really? We just saw your ad?
And she replied saying: «none of your apartment accept dogs»
If I was the owner of the company I would fire her (obviously I don’t like when people lose their jobs) but blockbusting us completely illegal!!!
I would give a CERO to this company if I could. This company doesn’t deserve to be on business.

Nice, small, overpriced apartment. Management was okay. Sometimes nice. Sometimes rude. If you like your apartment warm in the winter this is not the place to live. Heaters only turn on like two or three times a day! A space heater or two will be needed.

I had the worst experience with an agent EVER with BJB evanston.
I saw a few ads on Craigslist for apartments that looked nice and were within my price range, so I gave them a call. The agent’s name was Tom I think (this was a while ago, I hope that he has been fired by now). We set up a time to view the apartment the next day.
I was staying in the city, and had to take a 45 minute trip on the train to get to the apartment. I get there for our scheduled viewing, and he isn’t there. I wait 10 minutes, and he is still not there. At 15 minutes, I give his phone number a call — no answer. I leave a message, thinking maybe there had been a mixup/​confusion of the time or something. After leaving the message I wait for another 15 minutes until it became clear that he probably wasn’t coming, and left.
Later that night, he calls and apologizes — said he was running late and was sorry. I really wanted to see this apartment so I gave it another chance. We schedule ANOTHER viewing for the next day.
This time, I take the usual train trip up for the viewing and get there on time. He calls me right on the dot of when we are supposed to meet to let me know that he can’t show the apartment today, but would be glad to show it the next day. At this point I was like WTF why did you schedule this showing if you can’t show the apartment, and why wait until the showtime to call me and waste my time?
Stupidly, I agreed to see the apartment the next day, but it didn’t matter because the exact same thing happened — he waited until just before the scheduled showtime to call me to say I wouldn’t be able to see it. Made up some story about how the current tenants needed to be evicted or something and he wouldn’t be allowed to show it until later in the week. I am 100% certain that he was just an incredibly unprofessional and unbelievably incompetent agent and he just made that up to avoid having to acknowledge that it was completely his fault that I had wasted my time with these «showings».
I do not know how this guy had a job at all. Fortunately, I am glad that I only wasted my time and never gave any money to these people.
Long story short — I wasted my time scheduling 3 showings for the SAME APARTMENT that the agent never bothered to come to.

So far so good.
I signed my lease before reading the Unilocal reviews for BJB (didn’t really know property managers had them), so after reading these I’ve become pretty worried.
Luckily, I haven’t run into any problems so far. I’ve gotten paperwork in and the staff have answered all questions I’ve had promptly with the utmost respect.
What I’m really worried about is that weird heater temperature gauge problem during the winter. I’m a California boy, so if that goes bonkers, I’m toast.

BJB is by far the worst management company in Evanston and should be avoided completely. I lived in the 1420 Chicago building for 2 years and was very unhappy with the service the entire time. From the beginning they were difficult to contact and unwilling to work with tenants to coordinate moves. You can tell that the management company is trying to cut corners throughout the apartment: the air conditioning units look over than me, the caulking around the tub had mold underneath it, and the walls had full length cracks lovingly covered up by paint that cracked within a few weeks. The office staff is incredibly rude, unprofessional and cannot for the life of them communicate issues that affect tenants such as: rekeying the building, removing your name from your mailbox months before your lease has ended, coding the door buzzer with your name, or repaving the parking lot during your scheduled move-​out. The «included» internet and cable were of awful quality, the internet went out so often and the tenants complained so much that they ended up posting signs in the building saying they were «working on it»… but as of the time I am moving out they are still working to get quality service for all units. The cable situation is bizarre, I’m pretty sure it is pirated and BJB is getting a kick-​back from some service provider. It is not normal cable from Comcast or DirecTV but some sub-​service that doesn’t have a guide and if you are a normal TV user you will be quite unhappy with it. ESPN for example sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t– unacceptable. All the contractors and service providers are somehow related to BJB employees, and purchasing services outside of their suggested companies is so time consuming or expensive you often lose motivation. Please don’t rent from this company, if you are looking for a value building look at 1500 Chicago or 1600 Hinman.

Very friendly, helpful staff!
I enjoyed living here very much– was just a little too expensive.

This is one unethical company!!! I saw an ad on Craigslist for an apartment and made an appointment to see the apartment in July (I would not have been able to move in until August). I fell in love with the apartment and paid the application fee and left a check for the move in fee on the same day. A day and a half went by and I noticed that they cashed both checks and I never received a phone call from the Sarah, my leasing agent who in my opinion is incredibly lazy and shady as well.
I called Sarah and she said that I had been approved for the apartment and that Dina the property manager was drawing up the lease. A week went by and my move in date was drawing closer but I had yet to sign the lease. I called Sarah and she told me that I didn’t get the apartment. I said how in the world could that happen and why didn’t you tell me. She said that she didn’t know and tried emailing me that I didn’t get it and that a denial letter was mailed to me (this was a lie-​to this date I have never received a denial letter!). I worry about a company that feels that this is they type of news you would leave to email… Plus, why would you cash the check clearly labeled move in fee?!
I believe that what happened is that they were able to get someone in their in July and was keeping me as a «back up» in case that person didn’t work out. I am further under the impression that this is what happened because when I contacted their accounting department to get my refund check (which I don’t believe I would have ever received because Sarah didn’t have the decency to contact me) stated that she had just received the paperwork that I hadn’t gotten the apartment (this mysteriously happened after my phone call with Sarah), despite the fact they had cashed the checks the week beforehand. She had no explanation as to why I was denied.
I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason because I ended up getting a beautiful, cheaper apartment closer to the lakefront. No thanks to BJB Evanston. My advice is to stay clear of this company because they obviously have not mastered the art of communication!

If I could give these people a 0, I would.
Very unresponsive, no respect or loyalty to their tenants (or potential tenants) whatsoever. I called in June 2009 looking for an apartment on Hinman and was told there was one available on August 1. I asked if I could see the property and was told Duncan would get back with me. He never did, despite my repeated phone calls and voicemails. (The place was leased out.) We then hired a realtor (who also turned out to be useless) from Colfax Realty to help us with a unit available on 1 September. She never followed up with us after the walk-​thru and within 4 days, the unit was leased out to another renter.
To add some context, my boyfriend had already signed a lease for another BJB property and we were trying to move from that location so that we could have a dog and move in together. That didn’t seem to matter to BJB — again, they felt no loyalty to us to help us get into a different unit. Duncan’s words: «this isn’t about loyalty — this is a business.» Not a very good one, I’d say!!!