I started off loving it. The building is beautiful and the area is great. The elevator is old, but honestly it worked better than a lot of modern elevators. The maintenance guy was always prompt responding to my requests. Then they raised rent $100/month 3 out of the 4 years I lived there. I couldn't do it anymore and gave my notice that I was leaving. Suddenly no one had any time for me. The property manager, who was always polite to me before, refused to answer any of my questions about the move out process and when I had to clear the apartment and what needed to be done. He just told me I'd get a document in my online account 2 weeks before my lease was up. I was trying to book my movers and without any information, I just guessed and hoped for the best. Then during my move, I called the office because I was having a maintenance issue. Property manager was pleasant when he picked up the phone, but as soon as I said my name and apartment, he turned ice cold. I asked if maintenance could come up and help, and he was very emphatic that absolutely no one would be available to help. It's a lovely place to live, but only if you're there for a year or two before leaving, and be prepared for them to treat you like the dirt on their shoe when you're moving out. read more

All I can say is do your research. The Managment here is not only rude and passive aggressive he is extremely dishonest. Actually I am not even sure "Ben" is a manager. He is seriously a very unhappy person and that spills into is professional life. There is no reason to walk around mad at the world and treating people so terribly. I read more

Terrible customer service. The operator wouldn't provide any helpful contact information regarding a rental history request . When I told them they were not being helpful his response was: Well, neither are you. Way to stay classy. read more

We moved in March 2019 and we have loved living in these places. The people in the office are great customer service reps and really get back to you quickly. When a maintenance request is submitted, it's quick to get taken care of. Like that day within a few hours usually. We had a flood from the upstairs neighbor overflowing their toilet and the maintenance crew was there throughout the ordeal to help out. The places are about 49 years old and are a bit drafty. But that's to be expected. For the value, maintenance and price, this is an excellent company to rent from. read more

Ever since I moved into my apartment (2 years ago and I just re-signed), I have had nothing but excellent service from Lakeview Associates. Whenever I have a problem they are there immediately to fix it. I can't say I've ever had any emergencies, but once I noticed that the locks were stripped on the doors to get in and I called from work and they were fixed by the time I got home. I was also having a problem with a neighbor at one point, but I didn't want that person to know that it was me who was complaining. I expressed this to Ed and he took care of it without bringing me into it at all. My biggest complaint is the laundry...I pay $4.50 to do one load!!!!!! yikes! I go broke washing my clothes. Oh and the rent has gone up a lot since I've moved in, but it's still cheaper than paying to move. Plus I like my apartment a lot! read more

These guys are unquestionably the most lazy and smug landlords on the planet... We had cockroaches in our unit and they never once showed interest in lifting a finger to do something about it. We have a parking space behind the building, but couldn't access because the other tenants' cars were in the way... and Lakeview Associates hired their thug towing partner to tow our cars away, despite having signs in the windshield and without notice via email, phone, or anything. Then, they gleefully told us to read our lease and didn't even offer an explanation, only that they would continue to do it because that is how they pad their pockets. Their "services" (none), processes, and buildings are decades outdated. They'll try to hit you up for money any chance they get... NOT recommended. read more

I lived in a Lakeview Associates building for about 3 years - they were unbelievable. Seriously, who would be compelled to write a review of a property management company? Restaurants, bars, stores... yes. Property management? Weird. Anyway - whenever I'd call for an issue, it would often be fixed in an hour. One. Hour. That's insane. Everything was kept remarkably clean for 3 years, they're incredibly easy to work with, and do you remember that snowstorm that shut down Lake Shore Drive and left people stranded everywhere? Our place was shoveled & done before all of our neighbors & before the cars had even been dug out & towed off lsd. Couldn't be happier. read more

We love our apartment which was probably an apartment hotel in the 1920s. Attention to detail was made in the renovations. They kept as much of the lovey wood and mirrors as possible but the kitchen & bath are modern. There are lots of cabinets & closets. Our friends always make compliments on the woodwork. Once we asked for a drawer to be fixed in a built in dresser. No management companry ever fixes old built ins! Voila! They fixed it ASAP just as good as new. We had to walk to a conventiently located bar to celebrate! The laundry works which is something you rarely get in any building in this neighborhood. The windows have modern screens & screen windows but they kept the gorgeous large wood frames. Nothing is painted except the walls. You can hear music & TVs when you walk through the halls. Once your door is closed you can't hear a thing. It's your ivory tower. read more

Great, quality management at Lakeview Associates. They price their apartments lower than any of their surrounding neighbors, and offer a standard & fair lease. They also have a very capable on-staff maintenance team that are quick to deal with general maintenance requests. *I also agree the previous reviewer - Lauren is the greatest! read more

I just signed my lease last week and I'm pretty excited. The agents were all very polite and upfront. I loooove the vintage buildings and I think the price is very decent for the size. I'm a little worried about the lease, since I haven't been called yet about everything being okay and the checks haven't been cashed, but so far so good! read more

I love this management company. My fiance and I would love to rent from them again, but sadly they didn't have any 1 bedrooms for us to rent in the areas we wanted. We lived in a studio for them for two years. Everything that you have read before me is true. Every time there is an issue its fixed within 72 hours. I don't mean the shitty quick fixes, I mean they go in there and replace things. For example. When our shower stopped working, they remodeled our bathroom in one day. New Toilet, shower area everything. Heat broken? Someone was there in two hours. Lights went out? Someone was there in two hours. No mice or roaches, at least where we lived at (620 W Belmont). The Laundry room kinda sucked and was expensive but loved everything else. read more

The properties this company manages are really nice. They have those shiny marble lobbies, and they actually clean them every day. SHOCKER! The apartments have this nice vintage look without breaking and falling apart. Sure, stuff happens, but they fix everything pretty quickly from what I've seen. They have 24 hour maintenance for emergencies. One great thing is that they clean the snow on the sidewalk pretty quickly and have large rugs for you to wipe your snowy feet on. That's not something you think about when you're applying for an apartment in May, but it's a big plus. One thing that makes the properties the Surf office manages awesome is that nice manager Ed in the office. I've lived at places where I didn't see anyone but the maintenance guy on site, but it's great to see the face of the person you call up to fix stuff in your apartment. I would think someone you never see is likely to screw you over, but Ed is too nice to be a jerk. read more

Lakeview Associates - 644 W. Surf St. - Apartments Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I live on 429 W. Roscoe, one of Lakeview Associate's many apartment buildings. I do not recommend renting from this company. Here is a summary of some negative experiences: It costs $4.50 to wash/dry 1 load of laundry. No $1 bills/coins accepted. My bike was stolen from the building bike room. My air conditioning unit broke due to building renovations (they dropped cement on it). Elevator is old and sometimes out of order, and hasn't had a city inspection in years. Some friends of mine are scared to ride it after it started shaking while operating. It gets stuck very often. Landlord does not give notice before showing apartment to potential renters, which is against the City of Chicago tenant ordinance. They come in unannounced anytime from 10am to 7pm and also on weekends. You could be doing anything (or not be home) and there's a knock on the door, if you don't answer, they come right in. Inflexible about payment--check only. No cash, money order, or anything else. I had to order checks from my bank for no other reason than my landlord's inflexibility. Communal hallways that are shared with 431 W. Roscoe sometimes littered with trash overflowing from cans. It's gross. Bathtub does not work (does not close), only the shower. There is a utility monopoly in the building--this practice was ruled illegal in a court decision last year. If you want cable/internet, it's Comcast or nothing else. If you want a landline, it's AT&T or nothing else. There is no choice. I wrote an e-mail asking about this and cited the court decision, but I received no reply. I'm due to move out soon and I'm quite happy that I won't be living here anymore. The building and the apartment look nice and spacious but looks alone can't compensate. Oh, and their Better Business Bureau rating is only C+. I'm not sure about other places but at the university I attend that's considered mediocre at best. read more

You know, when my boyfriend and I first started looking for places to move into I was almost certain we'd end up in one of their buildings. They've got some great properties. They also have one of the best websites I've come across. It has all their available properties. They keep it current. They have photos and floorplans for all their buildings. It's wonderful. Big ups for that website... I was in love with the first place we looked at, actually, but my boyfriend didn't think we should just jump at the first place we looked at, which had actually been my advice earlier. The building is gorgeous but there were a couple of things we didn't like. I mean, my boyfriend didn't like some of the features of the neighborhood, such as all the deadbeats outside and the lack of a decent supermarket within a mile. There's also the cell phone tower right above the bedroom but we haven't come to a consensus on how much of a cause of concern that might be. My main concern, even more than the building's checkered past I read about while junior-sleuthing online was the laundry situation. It's seriously $4.50 a load to do laundry there. I'm not making this up. That's deranged. You won't even pay that much in Manhattan! After looking at another property I have to say a big part of the reason we went with another property with another company is that the personal touch is completely lacking. First of all, I found the "welcome card" somewhat intrusive. I mean, just show me the place and if I like it I'll fill out the application. Like the place I looked at today, I thought the one bedroom was a little small and dark for what we were looking for and wanted to see the two bedroom in the building. I was basically told for more than five minutes that it was more than I wanted to pay based on what I put on the stupid card. Seriously. Like I need to explain that what I put on the card wasn't gospel. That when I put I wanted to spend up to $1200 when I was looking at a one bedroom that didn't mean we wouldn't pay $1300 for a 2-bedroom. If there's anything that makes me livid in life it's having someone tell me what I think, what I want, what I need. The last thing I need is for some chach leasing agent to tell me what we can afford when he doesn't know anything about us. Of course, irony arises when it occurs to me that I've made an appointment to look at what I think is another place in the building around the corner with another leasing agent 45 minutes later but it turns out to be essentially the same place. In any event, I wait for the guy, in the wet and cold, sort of checking out the neighborhood, and I'm standing on the corner at the agreed upon time and I get a phone call from the second leasing agent. He's met the first leasing agent and says I've seen the place he wanted to show me and I said, hey that's funny, but I'd like to see the 2-bedroom and he tells me it's too expensive for me. Um, EXCUSE ME???? I'm standing here waiting for you on a cold, wet April evening and suddenly a man who's never met me knows more about what I need than I do. So I say, "That's fine," and hang up. He calls back and I reject the call and he leaves a message about how I'm rude and blah blah blah and he had some other places he wanted to show me and I called him back because I felt like I should have responded with more aplomb when some jerky leasing agent crossed my boundaries and instructed me what I wanted. He didn't answer the call and first I felt bad but then I'm like, DUDE, according to my watch you should be standing in front of me telling me about these other places in person instead of calling me while I'm standing here in the cold, as arranged. And since you should be standing in front of me in front of this building tell me how it's an imposition to spend three minutes showing me this other place even if you think it's too expensive, especially if you have some other places you think I might like. It's like how we met with Nicole from the Homestead Group today and she showed us some things we wanted to see even though she thought they weren't really what we wanted. And you know what? All that 20 minutes of time she spent showing us those other places made us feel really great about this other place we plan on signing the lease for bright and early tomorrow morning. Thank you for making the decision so easy for us. I loved the neighborhood over there but you reminded me of the downside of living in Lincoln Park: the choads who live there... read more

Building is great, most repairs are done very quickly. However there are a few things that really bother me about this company. First, laundry is ridiculous. I drive to my parents house in the suburbs to avoid paying $4.50 to wash/dry. Second, there are certain things that they refuse to budge on, for instance cleaning the windows. I feel that my $1000 in month rent should include annual window washing but that apparently is too much to ask. Guess I'll enjoy my expensive, dirt-streaked view until my lease is up! read more

I live in one of their buildings now and am moving to another one soon. Whenever I have had any problems Ed in the Surf office has always been very prompt with getting it fixed ASAP. However, when dealing with other employees in the company they have not been as polite. Joe in the main office on Belden for one treated me as if I were a burden to be dealing with and was very impolite; I don't know if he is homophobic, but his attitude was unappreciated. Upon my apartment being shown I was woken up by Alana from the Pine Grove office pounding on my door when I was sleeping after working until early in the morning. I later found out it was her when calling to complain and she argued with me about whether or not she was pounding on the door. Which she was. So if you have a choice, work with Edward or Eva in the Surf office read more

i've lived in the same apartment for almost 3 years now, and still absolutely love everything about it. great location, huge apartment, did i mention i have three closets? and beyond the fact that i get too hot in here with my free heat in the winter (i know, cry me a river) everything in here functions appropriately. I've never had any problems to call and complain about, but it's still amazingly clean and friendly. my mom once couldn't get ahold of me for some days, and called ed. he came to check that i was alive, which seems a lovely thing to do. he also responds immediately to email, which is nice. my only complaints are in the pricing department. my rent keeps bumping up quite a bit, $85 this last year, and that makes me really sad. and the laundry. sweet fricking jesus! we did get new washers and dryers but still, it's $2.50 a small load to wash or dry. all the more reason to get it done right downstairs for $1/lb. i'm not sure where the slumlord bits come in, i've read that other places as well, but i've honestly never had or heard about a problem at the oakdale property. (i didn't get paid to write this, but if it would keep them from raising my rent, i'd spread it all over town) read more

I lived at the 644 W Surf St Building for 1 year and moved out on Aug 1st 2011. I have had a good experience at this building for the past year until a week before my lease ended, when one of the leasing agents "Gloria" came over to show my apartment. She kept knocking at my door asking to show my apartment in-spite of me informing her that i am in the shower. I had asked her politely to come back later. Later when i went to talk to her about it, she behaved in the most unprofessional manner, banging on her desk yelling "I have had enough of you". She is the worst leasing agent I have ever seen. It is unacceptable that she treats her clients so poorly. I hope that atleast after reading this review Lakeview Associates employs better leasing agents in future who respect and treats their clients properly. read more

Utterly disrespectful of tenants' rights. In my one year living with this property management company, they have repeatedly failed to notify me or my roommate of apartment tours, and on other occasions, provided only a hour of notice....far less than the 48 required by law. Additionally, this company insisted on "maintaining" our apartment during the last three weeks of our lease - including painting - ...making it very difficult, to well, live in my damn apartment! Absolutely would not rent from them again. read more

We have been just living in their apartment 3 months. But even it is such a short time, I love the W Surf management company. Especially Lauren. She is great, awesome. Whenever I had an issue ( I had only twice) she made a guy come and fix the screen and change my blinds within 15 minutes. I was impressed. Lauren, thank you very much again. But on the other hand, there is only one w/d machine. And it is $4.50 total. If that one is full, you have to wait. It is pretty weird. Instead of laundry thing, everything about the building,apartment or the company is so far so good. read more

My first Yelp review...and it's about a landlord. That's got to mean they are the best, right?? I have lived in their Deming building for 3 years now. The building itself is definitely a vintage property, and had some quirks (intermittently working elevators and thin walls/floors), but if anything was ever amiss Ben and Joe were always easy to get a hold of to save the day. I had several maintenance issues while living there...clogged drains, a drooping cabinet, a broken a/c unit and every single one was resolved on the day which I called. The building itself stayed quite clean thanks to the cleaning crew that regularly comes through to keep the place looking nice. They've also done a great job and keeping the common areas looking fresh and clean. I couldn't have been happier with the professional management and quick responses I always go. I can't say enough about Lakeview Associates. If you want a Property Mgmt company that you can trust and rely on rent through them! read more

Good folk with a no nonsense attitude. Problems are fixed nearly immediately, there are no late rental fee's I've come across (I've had to turn in one months rent three days late, a simple call in and notification was met with a kindly hello, that's fine, we'll call if there are any further issues). Apartment buildings are well cared for and clean. read more

I have lived in a Lakeview Associates building for a few months now and up until this weekend have had a very positive experience. This past weekend changed my entire opinion of them. I came home Sunday evening and discovered I had no running water. I called the emergency maintenance number to inform them of the problem and they let me know someone would be in touch. I had tried to laundry before discovering I didn't have running water and went to check on my laundry and discovered the washing machines had simply filled with rust water ruining some of my clothes. I called the emergency maintenance number back and informed them of the laundry situation and they told me that several people in the building were experiencing the same issue and that they had someone on it. Come Monday morning I still do not have water making it very challenging to get ready for work since I can't flush the toilet, brush my teeth, shower, make breakfast, etc. I email the manager of my building expressing the issue to her and she replies that someone is on it and it will be fixed by end of day. I called at 4:45 p.m. (because there had been no communication to tenants that the water was out or back on) and the manager confirmed that the water was back on. I return home Monday evening and discover there is STILL no running. I call the emergency maintenance number again and the women let's me know that she will pass the message along and someone will be in contact with me shortly. An hour passes and I've received no communication and still do not have water. So I call back, now quite upset, and the operator tells me that MAYBE someone would come out tomorrow. I let her know that isn't acceptable since a building technically considered uninhabitable if it doesn't have running water. She finally transfers me to her boss (Ben) who starts off the conversation by reprimanding me for calling and demanding the water be turned. He tells me he can't get anyone out there tonight (even though this issue was first brought up over 24 hours ago and supposedly already fixed). I tell him that I understand that but he needs to find me an alternative option considering I can't use my toilet or shower or LIVE in a place with no running water. He yells at me and questions if I'm making it up. Finally, he tells me someone is headed over "even though it's raining." Two maintenance men arrive a bit later and let me know that the repairs were not done properly and that they are going to resolve the issue now. I am incredibly disappointed with the way Lakeview Associates handled the communication around this incident. I understand that things break in older buildings and they do not have control of it. They DO have control of informing their tenants of the situation, updating them, and providing them an alternative place to stay when Chicago law required amenities are out. Additionally, the way Ben spoke to me on the phone was absolutely unacceptable. I have left a voicemail with the property manager (Lauren) of my building expressing how upset I am over the situation and have yet to be called back. read more

I've lived here for 6 years; best small studio and 1 bedroom for price in this neighborhood

While examining my apartment before signing the lease I looked around and figured I could make something out of the older, but charming apartment. Not to mention it was spacious for a studio, with high ceilings and large windows. There were a few exceptions though, but I was assured by the lady showing me the place that those changes would be made before I stepped foot into the apartment with my belongings, ready to move in. Flash forward to move in day and no such alterations were made. The woman had apparently promised me something that she didn't communicate to the actual building manager. The change didn't get made until the following week after I moved in. Oh wait, that's not all, my water pressure was so bad that I couldn't take a shower so I had to head back to my parent's house (thank goodness they live in this city) for a few nights until it was fixed. Apparently the gentleman who had lived there for a few years before me didn't shower much. When I tried to wash my dishes, I noticed that I had no drains in my sink and had to request those too. I was also told that the walls would be sound proof? That was a lie. I can hear my neighbor cough from across the hall, the neighbors on the other side of the building who's apartment walls are shared by my closet walls, and the crazy lady above me who yells, sings, argues, dances, and converses with her cat at all hours of the day (even 3:30 am in the morning). I sometimes wonder if I moved into a mental institution. Laundry costs are high for the small sized washers, 8 times out of 10 there is a funny smell in the front lobby like dried urine, liquor, and unwashed body parts, homeless ppl. sleep in the entrance way on Saturday nights, the elevators work at random and sometimes get stuck, and people steal your mail (never happened to me, but they sent out a notice for the perpetrators to stop!). Lol! Some positive things are that the people that you meet in passing are generally nice, the manager is attentive and tries to get things fixed when you request it, and I actually get sunlight in my apartment in the spring. The lady who showed me the place told me that one downside of my apartment was that I wouldn't get any sunlight so I should pay for the pricier apartments on the top floors. Yeah right!! read more

I've lived with them for 3 years. It started out all hunky dorey, and gradually has gotten worse. They are negligent and condescending. It may depend on who your building manager is, but mine has been terrible, even while I maintain a polite and professional approach. I had a terrible person living underneath me who would abuse their child and come up and pound on my door while drunk. Terrifying. The manager did nothing about it, other than write ME up for excessive noise. Walls and doors are paper thin. My fridge continues to break down and instead of replacing it they have maintenance come "fix" it, resulting in huge amounts of food wasted and no apology or accountability. My packages constantly get stolen. Both the freight and service elevator constantly break down at all hours. Laundry leaves clothes with odd stains and is crazy expensive. The "sun deck" is just a roof that is closed more often than it's open. Just avoid it if you can. It's not worth the headaches. read more

Please think twice about renting with them. The apts. are nice and the maintenance is good but the company is deceptive. If you do rent from them make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing and make sure you understand EXACTLY what they are saying. I rented from them for 4 years and as long as I didn't have to deal with the lease office everything was fine, but they like to give you the run around. . I paid them 150 dollars to re-rent my apt. before my lease had officially expired and I'm now 300 miles away getting billed (a month and a half after the rent would have been due) for a month of rent in which I wasn't living there and a late fee because the guy who was going to rent my apartment changed his mind. Apparently he never actually signed the lease so I was still on the hook (at least that's what they tell me, how am I to really know!)...get it in writing and clarify everything!!!! read more