River North Park Apartments

I have NEVER had such an positive experience with a property management team as the one at River North Park. I was on a tight bind needing a quick move in (taking over a sublease) and Alyse Young and her team were so incredibly helpful and accommodating. Everyone in the leasing office is immensely helpful and easy to get a hold of — and I called a lot with a lot of questions… sorry for being so needy guys!
On top of that, the building itself is beautiful. The outdoor courtyard is impeccably maintained and has an awesome area for people to hang out in. The apartments are a great size with HUGE closets (necessity) — It really is a top notch building. Best deal in River North.
Thank you again to Alyse and her team for being so helpful!

I have read many negative reviews on here about River North Park Apartments. However we have lived in the building for two years & my post is going to be going down the list of stuff in a recent post from a Jim S with my thoughts. When I read his review his negativity rubbed off on to me and now I’d like to shoot myself. I disagree with many things he said so here is a counter review:
In regards to having people «constantly» in unit– We have never had this issue unless we put in a request for maintenance. Which brings me to, every time we have needed something fixed, maintenance was there and had the issue fixed within at least one business day, depending when we put in the request. Example, our bathroom faucet had been dripping for about two days and the third day I turned on the cold water and the entire hot water handle popped off and water was spraying everywhere. I called down to front desk immediately and someone was in our unit in under one minute. He had the whole thing fixed within 5 minutes and even helped us clean up the water. I find the maintenance workers are extremely friendly and nice.
As for the homeless men on the church stoop, that church does not belong to Waterton. If you pay attention, you will notice that the church often takes in those less fortunate for multiple events/​food. I have never been bothered by either of these men and I have never seen them bothering anyone else, or panhandling for that matter. As for them sleeping there, would you like to let them sleep on your couch? They are homeless, don’t be a dick.
I will say that there is a strong urine smell is present outside the building most days due to owners not walking their dogs away from the building to pee. I have also witnessed people let their dog poop outside the building and just leave it. Now, this is a tough issue because they have sent plenty of emails and notices about people who do this however, their job is not to be on poop patrol. It’s the simple fact that the people who live in the building need to pick up after their pets!
As for other odors, I have maybe ONCE smelt a lingering stench coming from the trash room. Front desk was notified and the smell was take care of within a timely matter. As for marijuana, can’t say that I have this issue either. However, if I did smell marijuana I think I could simply roll my eyes and get over it.
I do admit that the doors to the units are pretty thin in that I can hear anyone opening and closing their doors. I do hear people talking when they walk past my unit but other than that, I don’t hear noise coming from my neighbors when, for example, they flush the toilet or take a shower. And Jim S, you knew you were choosing to live next to the CTA line… not sure what you expected exactly? Although you can indeed hear the train, it is never loud enough to affect watching tv, sleeping or conversing with others etc
’Doormen’ — there is a fob system for the doors for a reason. Safety! If they were to stand up and open the door every time someone walked in, anyone could come knocking on my front door. I think not being lazy as fuck and getting my keys out to open the door is definitely not the end of the world. Also, if I have gone and picked up a package or am clearly arms full of groceries, they do open the door for me. Maybe I’m just polite and that’s all it takes? As for the fact that they can click open the door while sitting — WHO CARES. Their job is to sit at that desk, make sure everything runs smoothly, check in outside guest or delivery and to notify the tenant of said person.
Pricing– you live in one of the best areas! DOWNTOWN RIVER NORTH RIGHT OFF THE HIGHWAY WITH EXTREMELY SHORT COMMUTES TO THE LOOP! A new apartment building just went up a block over. The price of a convertible in that building costs MORE than my one bedroom and is much smaller. So if you think this is not worth your money, then I’m not sure you’re in the right neighborhood. It also makes a difference when you sign your lease. Summer vs Winter. RNPA has negotiated the resigning of our lease with us twice now for lower rent. As for parking, I don’t believe the building has any say in the pricing. It is not owned by the building, it is owned by LAZ. I agree though, LAZ, your pricing is ridiculous. & about the gym — get a gym membership, this is an apartment building. However, they do keep upgrading gym equipment.
Staff — I have had zero issues or complaints about the staff in the leasing office, the doormen, the maintenance staff. I honestly don’t know how anyone could have an issue. As for the doormen not always having the brightest smile, they work long shifts and I’m sure are tired, just as I would be. But when I prompt them with a hello and ask how they are, they smile and are friendly. Honestly, think the only way someone could have an issue with the staff of the building is to be an extremely negative person. If you are friendly, positive and polite, it seems to go further. Just saying.

This place is truly special.
Here are some of the ways that living here is… ‘Special’
1– It makes you appreciate the time you have.
— They only have three elevators. One is usually broken and one is usually reserved for people moving in or out. One working elevator for 400 apartments = mega fail. It’s especially brilliant when they schedule move ins during morning hours when everyone is going to work. You will also be appreciating your time while waiting for the painfully slow internet or waiting for the Dish Network signal to come back on.
2– All the visitors keep you socializing.
— In my 15 unfortunate months at river north park I had building maintenance, dish network, AT&T, and construction crews in my unit no less than 20 (TWENTY) times. Often they will give you less than 24 hours notice; if any at all. For the record only two of these visits were at my request. (Fix the closet doors which come loose and fall off every few months) Oh and if on the off chance you don’t have some type of building staff or technician in YOUR apartment, you can bet you will hear them working on the neighboring unit. Typically that work will include no less than 2 different power tools and often start at 8:30 am on a Saturday. Hope you don’t like to sleep in on the weekends. If you want to get away from the construction noise, go chat with the neighbors. There are two homeless guys that sleep/​live on the church steps right across the street. On the weekends they will literally be there all day panhandling.
3– Living here stimulates your senses.
— Outside the building you will be treated to the overwhelming scent of pis. Apparently the staff is prohibited from using a hose.
Inside the building halls you will enjoy unique odors emanating from the trash chute. If you can’t smell that, it’s probably being overpowered by the smell of weed. If you’re real lucky and its a hot day the scents will combine into one hybrid super funk. In addition to that your ears and auditory senses will get a nonstop workout thanks to the paper thin walls — I sware to god you can hear your neighbors toilet flush… Don’t open the window because the sound from the brown line rounding the merchandise mart corner is deafening.
4– River North Park has trendsetting doormen.
Normally doormen are nice and actually open the door for you. Hence the title doorman. These are more like desk attendants. Most (not all) of them are able to seamlessly combine apathy and discontent all behind one desk. Oh btw they don’t even have to get up to open the door… They keep a clicker in their pocket that opens them automatically. They just choose to not use it. I guess it’s hard to place too much blame on them. As you will see later– the door staff are following the model set by the leasing office.
5– The price teaches you the meaning of value.
Look around. You can find places that are much MUCH better for the same or less per month. The attached garage has the highest prices in the area. But somehow they still fill up. Even if you pay the monthly rent, there is no guarantee you will get a space in the garage. The first time this happened to me I went into the office to ask why there were no spaces. An older woman shrugged her shoulders and gave me a remarkably helpless stare. She literally responded «I don’t know» to all my questions. As I was leaving she said give me a call later and handed me a card for Alyse Young. The next time I went into the office I asked to speak to Alyse and my mind was literally blown. This person was sitting in the same desk and had VERY similar features; but she had gotten 40 years younger!!! I don’t know why they are screwing around renting apartments if Alyse can move back and forth through time.
6– Last but not least, the one of a kind office staff.
I don’t know if one one-​of-​a-​kind really covers it. The two receptionists in the leasing office are rude, slow, and unprofessional. Their business acumen and personalities score a zero across the board. The actual property manager is a large, oafish man incapable of having a conversation for more than a minute or two. After that he’s likely rattling off some crap about «that was managements decision». FYI — By «management» he means his boss, a person with actual authority. If your unfortunate enough to already be living here, do not even attempt to deal with the mammals onsite. They are inept in every conceivable way. If you haven’t already signed on the dotted line, RUN!
I want to say this place is a hopeless pit of disrepair run by fools; but I can’t. That would be too insulting to every other hopeless pit of disrepair run by fools.

Horrible experience. The building is fine and the apartments are a good size but the management is awful. Lived there for a year. When we finally did move out and paid our move out fees on time, Alyse Young (the assistant manager) sent us to collection by mistake and then refused to help fix the issue. She was rude and unhelpful.
I feel bad because the other agent, Julie is extremely nice and help. If your going to live there, only work with Julie.

If you are not home when maintenance is in your apartment you run the VERY high risk of having them throw your stuff out! Yes they throw your belongings out which is better known as stealing. I would rate it negative stars if Unilocal had that feature.

I have been living here for a few months and I must say that this apartment has really been great. Any issue I’ve had it has been addressed and fixed immediately. The front desk team has truly been wonderful, friendly and welcoming. I recently had the most ridiculous event happen when I accidentally dropped my keys between my floor and the elevator. The doorman was super helpful and got me into my apartment in minutes. Also the front desk team was willing to help right away and had a elevator technician grab the keys for me. This type of service is rare and it really makes me feel like a valued tenant.
I’d recommend this apartment to anyone who wants to live in the great River North area just steps from downtown for a very reasonable cost. Keep it up!

I lived here for a week and absolutely love it! the management staff has been great to work with and has been extemely helpful with all my move in queations. Few reasons why i chose this building over others in river north: value, for the price this building is hard to beat, steps from the brown line, close to everything in river north. My 1bdr has a great view and tons of space. I havent had the need to hook up cable and internet as 30 basic cable channels are included in the rent and the lounge on the 2^nd floor has free wifi. Used the gym twice so far, simple, but equipment is new and is open 24 hours.

WORST PLACE EVER, DO NOT MOVE IN HERE
Here is why:
1) They charge you $ 50 if you lock yourself out when the leasing office is not open, and it takes only 20secs for the security guard to retrieve your extra key. Talk about rip off.
2) Out of 3 elevators, usually only 1 works, never more than 2. They pretend they are renovating, but there’s no actual work done. It sometimes takes me 10 minutes to get out of the building.
3) They boast about the swimming pool, but it was closed for tha past year, and they kept lying about it, that it was almost ready. Now that it is open, the water is too cold and it is useless.
4) The gym has only one bench, and many track mills and bicycles, most of which are free all the time, and there’s a line for the bench. Stupid management!
5) They don’t respond to maintanence requests, and when they do, it is never effective.
6) They are always renovating, so the place looks like a ruin.
GREAT LOCATION RUINED BY TERRIBLE MANAGEMENT, IT IS A BAD EXPERIENCE TO LIVE IN THIS PLACE

In the Summer of 2013 I was in a pinch and needed the quickest relocation to Chicago as I could. After I noticed rent skyrocketed in River North, I found River North Park. I was a bit skeptical about the low prices. (Prices are low for a reason, always. Right?). Well, it was sight unseen moving in, and the moment I opened my front door of my convertible studio for the moving men, I was stunned at how the apartment was actually… well…perfect.
They began renovation almost exactly when I moved in which perhaps may explain the super competitive pricing, although over the length of my lease I didn’t suffer due to renovations. Many reviewers complain of the elevators, but as someone who has lived (and worked) in several condominiums in River North, I can say that the elevators are really not a problem at all. Check your privilege people, you live in building with 2 elevators and 1 freight. Do the math.
The staff is incredibly friendly and not antisocial or robotic in the slightest. Everyone at this property is full of life and it is obvious they like their job. People don’t like their job unless they are happy with the building they represent. The leasing office assisted me every step of the way, from moving in all the way until I attempted to find a new unit to stay at the property. (Unfortunately I couldn’t, but really do wish I could). Julie is an absolute joy to work with. She went above and beyond for myself and my girlfriend. Zoran, the property manager was also very courteous and helpful.
BUT…as you can see I only gave 4 stars. Nobody’s perfect, I know, so let me rattle off the only things keeping this from a 5.
–The internet service flat out sucks. If you’re internet savvy, you’re going to suffer. 12mbps download MAXIMUM. Nope, don’t bother throwing money at AT&T, that’s the flat out maximum you can get in your unit… good luck if you use more than 3 devices pulling Wifi.
–The fitness center is seriously lacking. It looks more like a workout room in someone’s home than a fitness center in a modern downtown residential building.
Bottom line though, I’d still recommend the property to anyone. Great staff and a great unit are the most important things to consider when finding a home, and they nailed those.

It is with a sense of profound sadness that I write this review. Emotions that emanate from the feelings of nostalgia I feel when I think about my old digs, River North Park.
Newly renovated, with an attractive location just steps from all that River North nightlife has to offer, living here was a very comfortable and hassle-​free experience.
Having moved back to Chicago after a year in LA, I was looking for a quick place to weather the last minute transition through while I found a more permanent situation. After scouring through the very sparse options that were available in the winter of 2013, I came across RNP and was very pleasantly surprised by the what came with the unit:
–very open layout of my studio unit (almost 600 sq ft and TONS of closet space),
–the incredible view of downtown from the expanse of windows,
–the attentive and hard-​working maintenance crew (worked tirelessly to fix a slight leak in the window),
–the very welcoming and attentive management staff (in the running for most attractive management staff in Chicago)
–the very nice, but, very security conscious door-​men (saved me from some sketchy situations. Thank God for sign-​ins)
I could go on and on, but here’s the bottom line.
If you work in the loop. LIVE here. Your commute will be seriously cut down with the proximity of the Brown Line. Red line is very walkable too.
If you want a quiet community with minimal hassles and a renewed management staff very willing to harness the power of social media and community organization to keep the residents happy, LIVE here!
If you want access to a very cool, newly renovated private park area with tons of layout space and abundance of grills. LIVE here.
If you want access to, seriously, the best gym showers in all of Chicago, and a pretty decent set of work out equipment. LIVE here.
If you want access to a pool, to which very careful detail has been taken to ensure its safety, cleanliness and structural integrity, then LIVE here. (you may not get to swim in it tomorrow, but hey! it’s coming!)
Keep up the good work, River North Management and Waterton Residential. Its been fun. (Need to update these pictures though. They don’t do RNP justice)
You may wonder, who is this effusively positive renovation coming from. Well, I’m not being paid to do this. I’ve just lived in enough rental units to realize what really matters.

If I could give this place a negative star I would. Management is absolutely pathetic. Don’t let the redesigned lobby fool you. Building is shoddy. As mentioned previously the elevators are the worst in the city. Electrical systems negate anything above 1200 watts, meaning a basic hairdryer, microwave, heater will short the system.

Very happy with my living situation. Maintenance is always very attentive and quick, and I have no complaints in any department.

During my stressful apartment search, Alyse at River North Park was professional, accommodating, friendly & not pushy — which is out of the norm for your typical leasing agent/​broker. Simply put, If you are looking for a high rise in River North with all of the amenities, there is no better bang for your buck.

After my apartment application was rejected, this is what I have gone through to attempt to get my $ 400 deposit refunded. I’m copying an e-​mail chain, because I think it speaks for itself. *I’ve changed my and my co-applicant’s name to [Fred] and [Wilma] and the leasing specialist’s name has been removed to protect confidentiality. Everything else remains the same.
Sep 12

to [ Leasing Specialist]
Good Morning [ Leasing Specialist],
[Fred] and I have decided not to submit an application for the town home apartment. We are saddened that we are unable to rent the one bedroom as we had originally intended. However, since our application for that apartment was rejected, we would like to have our deposit refunded. We would appreciate if this could be done ASAP. Thank you for all your assistance.
Kind Regards,
[Wilma]
[ Leasing Specialist]
Sep 14

to me
Hi [Wilma],
I have passed this along to my assistant manager to process. You should receive your refund in about 2 weeks. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Thanks,
[Leasing Specialist]
Oct 3 (13 days ago)

to me
Hi [Wilma],
I have received your refund check at our office. I will send this out to you today.
Thanks,
[Leasing Specialist]
Today (October 16^th):
4:58 PM (50 minutes ago)

to [Leasing Specialist]
Hi [Leasing Specialist],
It has been two weeks since you e-​mailed to let me know that you mailed our refund check, but I have not received it. I will pick it up from your office instead. Please let me know as soon as it is ready. Given that I have already waited over a month to receive our refund, I hope that it can be made ready asap. Thank you.
Kind Regards,
[Wilma]
On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 5:15 PM, [Leasing Specialist] wrote:
Hi [Wilma] and [Fred],

I apologize about the delay in receiving your check. I had requested that the check be mailed directly to you at the address you provided however it was sent to our office instead. My colleague mailed the check last Tuesday. I will speak with my assistant manager when she is in the office tomorrow to see if we would be able to cancel the mailed check and have a new one sent to our office to be picked up. Unfortunately we do not handle the checks onsite and have to work with the corporate office to have these processed. Again, I apologize about this inconvenience and will let you know as soon as I have an answer.

Thanks,
[ Leasing Specialist]
Dear [Leasing Specialist],
I don’t understand why the information you have just provided is different than what you indicated in earlier e-​mails (see below). You previously informed me that the check was received by you on October 3 and would be mailed by you the same day. You also informed me (on the phone) that it was standard practice for Waterton’s main office to remit the refund checks to your office instead of my home address. Now you have indicated that it was not mailed until last week Tuesday (October 9^th) by your colleague instead of you. Why did it take you a week between when you said you mailed it and when your colleague, supposedly, actually mailed it? Why was I not informed of the delay?
Do not cancel the check if it is actually in the mail. I will check my mail again tomorrow for it. Mail typically takes two days to reach my address in Flinstoneville from Chicago. If it has not arrived after a week, I think its safe to say that it was not actually mailed. In which case, I will be by your office to pick up my check in person on Thursday. I suggest that you find it before then.
Regards,
[Wilma]

I am basing my review off a tour of the complex, and the model units that I was shown. Given the assumption that a property would show it’s best face forward in its model units, I am at a loss how this property could ever rent a unit at the price they are listed ad.
I saw ads for River North Park Apartments all over Craigslist, and it was in an ideal area in River North so my fiancé and I checked it out. Disgusting. First of all the units look NOTHING like they do on Craigslist. It should be illegal for a company to misrepresent itself in this way. The units I viewed were listed as 1 bedrooms but except for the walls separating rooms they were nothing more than basic studios. The kitchen had cabinets that were not put on level (even in the model unit!) and if you wanted anything more than a laminate counter you had to pay over $ 100 extra per month (of course the Craigslist ads had granite shown). I felt depressed in this building and can’t imagine ever living there. The only positive thing about the 3 units I saw was the closet space, but unless you want to live in the closet I would not recommend this building.
The most annoying thing about this property is that THERE IS NO ESCAPING IT! Every time I search for an apartment on Craigslist about 90% of the listings are for this building. They have about 10 versions of their listings so you think you’re viewing different buildings, however, I have contacted the agents listing them and sure enough — River North Park Apartments!

I can only review this place based on the tour and pressure to sign that I dealt with. I walked in to look at a one bedroom that had been advertised on Craigslist, and had to fill out a lengthy form before I was given any information about any unit. Not surprisingly, all of the prices had suddenly skyrocketed from what I was quoted just that morning. Luckily, the leasing agent I was with showed proof that the prices were lower when I initially called about the unit just two hours prior. She had no choice but to show me the unit at the cheaper price. The amenities seemed nice, as did the actual building itself. The units were CRAZY small for what they were asking. (How do you call a tiny L shaped studio a convertible?!)
And, as a side note, I emailed the girl I spoke with later that day and asked if they allowed Section 8 tenants to reside in the building. She skirted around the answer, and told me that they consider everyone, although they must meet certain financial requirements. That was all I needed to make my decision. Can’t be honest with me? I can’t rent from you.

Oh my goodness — I wish more Unilocalers lived here — and maybe this place would get its act together.
Yikes…today I went down to do the laundry and the machine that takes your money had been RIPPED OFF THE WALL… ah yes.
do you hear me/​read me RIPPED OFF THE WALL… and I was down there at 1:00 and apparently it had JUST happened the building had JUST been alerted…
YIKERS — that just about explains the building — not the someone ripped it off the wall — but in the middle of the day someone COULD rip it off the wall. Now if you look up there is a 1980 surveillance camera… silly me — I said in my best Matlock meets Law&Order voice «we can look at the tapes.» yeah well apparently the cameras are for show — so ooh I feel safe — so ended up talking to a chick who told me yea her storage locker had been vandalized… sigh… I mean I understand that this stuff happens — but —
I purposefully moved from wicker park — to downtown to be SAFE — i could get robbed in WP and live in a cuter place/​hood…
but no i wanted to be safe…
and lately the smarmy maintenance guys have been getting worse they hang in the lobby likes it a bar and are all over the female tenants, visitors — YEECH
I mean surely I do not trust them at all
Oh yea it is central and CHEAP

I was so excited to move here (2 years ago) because I love the location and could sell my car and walk to work. Can walk to Michigan Ave shopping, grocery (the Jewel on Des Plaines is awesome) and every train imaginable. Courtyard is nice, also it had a fitness center and a pool so I was in heaven. Had nice views (once you reach upper floors that clear some of the nearby buildings and parking garage).
The down side: not long after we moved in, the management company (Waterton) got rid of a really responsive, nice property manager that was one of the top reasons we chose this place over others we looked at. We had no idea why; but it was soon apparent: Waterton is just atrocious to their tenants. They look to nickel and dime you on everything– we were there one year and they wanted to raise our rent 8 percent! This was after a year where the pool was either constantly closed for repairs or FREEZING COLD– and I mean you’d catch pneumonia going in there. I had my neice and nephew in the pool and their lips were blue and they were shaking so went to complain. They could not have been bigger jackasses about it. One guy in the office (Mr. Sarcasm) said «well, what do you expect? It’s not a hot tub!». And that’s the way that dealing with the office pretty much always went down. (Door staff was nice though– although one guy who filled in occasionally shrugged off my husband’s complaint that the elevator got stuck, then the lights went out and it dropped two floors). Hmmm…
If you move in here, count on three things: 1) the elevator is ALWAYS broken and they are never in a rush to fix 2) they are constantly shutting the water down or dealing with some other property related inconvenience generally with little to no notice to tenants and 3) if you happen to be a tenant with pets and have a do not enter order– be prepared to spend half of your waking time at home waiting for maintenance, or the window screen guys, or the smoke detector guys, etc. It seems like they are always coming into your unit.
Final straw for us was the personalities at the office, which I found to be an ecclectic mix of the not so bright and the not so helpful. Now to be fair, I did deal a fair amount with the assistant property manager over our final bill — we were overcharged, which according to Waterton’s Better Business Bureau history is not unique just to us — and she was pretty nice and good to deal with. There is also a new (ish) property manager there and there has been some staff turnover so perhaps that will get better???
However, the Waterton seal means that customer service isn’t a priority top down, so you’re basically rolling the dice to rent with them. When I was new apt hunting, I responded to an ad at Presidential Towers– also a decades old Waterton property that charges ridiculous amounts for a has-​been property (do your homework; there are WAY nicer places in the city for what you are paying at a RNP or Prez Towers) and they essentially had some meat market of a rental staff just looking to herd you in the door like cattle and take as much from you as they possibly could. They actually advertised an $ 1300 monthly apartment, which then 2 days later when I was sitting in the chair claimed was really $ 1800. Typical Waterton. Yeah, every large rental place wants to make money, but in my experience, Waterton is the worst.

Beware of false promises when agent wants you to sign on the place asap.
Maintence requests are rarely completed unless you call back and re-​request them at least 3 times.
Maintenance staff is absolutely awesome and SO nice!
So nice to have a dog friendly buildling in River North, but unfortunately dogs are not allowed in the beautiful huge grassy courtyard. Seems very counterintuitive to me.
Great location, love that it’s dog friendly, awesome courtyard to BBQ with friends at in the summer, good to have a small gym on site. Definitely way overpriced. Had no trouble moving out out after my 1 year lease ended.

It’s mostly a dorm for corporate workers, but with some really diverse tenants. I mean diverse in every possible sense of the word, so go ahead and use your imagination. The neighborhood is great; you can walk anywhere. I’m selling my car.
My apartment is clean (and small), so no complaints really. The doormen are pretty nice too. Decent facilities– pool, workout room, private park area with a grill and pristine landscaping. But it’s the convenience that’s king. 3 stars for feeling like a converted hotel.