Mont Clare at Harlem Avenue

The only thing good here is the maintenance staff — they are kind and hardworking.
The office staff is run by a very cold, rude manager whom started a ridiculous package policy which makes it VERY hard /​near impossible to pick up anything shipped to you. As they close very early (6pm). Overall the property is run down. There are two towers with 12 floors and yet they only have 1 laundry room with 10 washers. At least 3 washers are always out of order. The laundry room is understandably always busy. Currently, we are without a pool. Part of the reason to rent here is for the pool. However, they just started working on the pool last week. Even though it’s almost July. There has only been someone here actually working 1 day in the last week. I doubt the pool will be open even in July. The MGMT does not care at all if you complain.

Lived here for one year and left right after my lease was up! It’s filled with senior citizens! There’s roaches everywhere! Half the time the elevators don’t work the washing machine’s don’t work the computers in the computer room don’t work it’s just a gross place too be ! The apartments are super tiny your kitchens the size of a closet! One bonus they allow you to have pets which is cool! The maintenance guys were pretty awesome they always fixed anything we had issues with their the only reason I gave this place any stars at all! Lisa the manger the one who is always eating can’t miss her is extremely rude and obnoxious, the nicest one out of all of them was Dorothy skinny polish lady who was very kind and nice! They do have an outdoor pool which is OK but eventually gets filled with scummy people that allow their scummy friends to come into the building! Save your money and rent else were they should change the name from luxury apartments to senior slum housing!

We’ve been living here for over a year now and have been very happy tenants. From the first day moving in the staff has been helpful with getting carts and dollies to help us get our boxes in and shutting down one of the elevators just for our use.
The pool has been fantastic! You’d never know that it was hidden between the buildings until you come inside and see it surrounded by lush plants with everyone sunbathing and floating around enjoying the 10 feet of clear warm water.
Earlier this year we took advantage of reserving the basement kitchen and theater room one night for the Hawk’s and Cubs game. We had a whole bunch of friends over for a great time all night long! There was plenty of room, and the staff was a great help in making sure the party was a success.
We’ve also seen many improvements in the last few months. They just put in a bunch of brand new computers in the computer room and a brand new huge TV in the theater room with surround sound and theater seats. As I type this they are replacing the floor in basement and laundry room.
To add to it all, the neighboring businesses just invested a TON of money in re-​doing their buildings and parking lot. There’s even a Starbucks behind the apartment building now.

ButThere are a lot of problems at the mount Clare the parking the laundry room the halls but I can say kathy is doing a great job trying to put things together. Kathy is very pleasant professional and she has an open door policy for the residence which i think is very helpful and she listens. Tamara is one of the office staff personnel she’s very helpful friendly informative and always has a smile on her face should greet you so warmly every place has its problems but sometimes you have to give the people a chance to make them better BUT at the sometime there are things that need to change Luke why paying all the bills such as the. Gas„ water, heat plus rent .and going up on the rent .the parking lot needs paving pit holes everywhere. and with all this so much to park inn the under ground parking .not good assabulity for the disabled. people will continue to move out …
There are nice people in the office but Dorthy is not one of them she is mean rude. and charges for everything. and lazy .and so is Ricky .the building could use a do over .the only guy who is kind is Gaven he. fixes things the right way .but not that Ricky

If I could give this place a zero I would, HORRIBLE managememt, they want to charge you the full water bill yet they keep shutting off the hot or cold water sometimes for a full week. Too many floodings, backup of the water pipes, pipe bursts, always smells like cat puss and dog sit all over the place, you hear the fire trucks nonstop, the building is gross and moldy you can’t even enjoy the amenities because of how dirty and unsanitized it is, the price isn’t worth the headache here, gave a large security deposit and they made stupid excuses as to things that had to be fixed after my dad and I moved out, when those things were in perfect condition, as a result got a small check for way less than half what was paid. The shower kept getting overflowed, the maintanamce had to be called 6 times in a span of 4 days because of it, the parking lot is hell because you can’t find parking due to the shopping center next door and the employees parking in the apartments lot. Rude people, nasty place, gross amenities, too much cost. Do not waste your time! You can do better.

This place is a joke! My husband and I have been here for 3 months and its problem after problem. When we first moved in our floor had an unbelievable smell, something like a rotting corpse. They told us that it would be taken care of in 2 weeks… It took about 8! The first week we moved in we found out that some of the outlets weren’t working, we put in a work order and it never got fixed. The bedroom doesnt have a ceiling light so unless you have lamps or use the light in the closet its dark. The air conditioning unit is held in by duck tape, so the apartment is only cold when it is on. Once you turn off the air, all the cracks the duck tape cant hold together let all the hot air in. I dont wash my clothes in the laundry area downstairs because after trying it once my clothes smelled moldy. The icing on the cake, the pipe under the sink is now leaking. I put in an emergency work order at 11pm and no one ever got back to me, so i had to go downstairs to make the complaint. Not so much the problem, but the fact that they said they dont know when someone will be up and that i should give permission for someone to enter my home when im at work!!! Along with that they laughed when they saw that i put exclamation marks in my work order not realizing that ive been up all night changing out pots of water! Upon closer look at the pipe it was probably fixed by them again with duck tape! My lease states after 140 days i can break the lease, pay a «fine», and get the hell out of here! Never ever move to this building!!!

It’s alright

The free parking lot is gradually getting fuller and they do nothing to police it. It’s like a giant junkyard, there is one car with no license plate that has been sitting out there for months. I came home tonight and there was not one spot available in the entire lot. The typical person living here is either a senior citizen or a juvenile delinquent hooligan. They sent out a notice a few months ago saying that the gas bill would only be higher temporarily but it has been the same outrageous price for 2 months now. They nickel and dime you on the rent, you have to pay for trash. The laundry machines seem to break frequently. The pool is very nice but sometimes they leave a hose in it for some inexplicable reason and they had to drain it once already this summer, also for unknown reasons. I pay about $ 1180/​month on average, not including cable, Internet, or electric. The maintenance people and the leasing agents are very nice and helpful, and it’s pretty quiet here so I am satisfied overall but I’m very concerned about some of the shady characters I see coming in and out of the building lately. I think the caliber of the typical renter here is going down.

Not luxury at all.
Extremely high Gas bill.
Poor management.
(Dorothy is good, the maintenance guy Ricky is helpful.)

This place is surely not luxury, not even close, it is management apartments less than average. They have the common areas kind of okay and that’s about it. In the fitness room there are two trade-​mills and one of them always broken and of course they are looking into it when you ask. Unit closets and closet doors are old and not functioning properly, I called the maintenance people at least 6 times all they did put the closet doors back on rail which stayed there only few days. You have to use strength to open and close the closet doors. Laundry room is constantly dirty and crowded and of course always some of the machines are out of order. I didn’t even bother to ask knowing that they will not help. People who works there very nice till you sign the lease as soon as the lease is done you meet the real management people, they are surely not professional and sometimes even rude. What ever happens in the building or in your unit they are not guilty and management also not guilty it is always tenants fault, so be careful if you have any issue with them make sure you have the written paper and documentation along with picture. They will try to rip you off. Also the buildings are on the landing way of O’hare airport, it is noisy ²⁴⁄₇ because of the plane landing you will hear plane engines all the times. After all this is an old building and it was one of the worst place I ever lived.

It’s ok. Not bad but not «luxury» as it is claimed. Also, the management staff is not the best. Not «luxury» quality either. They can beautify the lobby all they want, but the apartments have mildew, paint chipping, broken closet doors, broken screens, etc. Not worth the money at all.

PROS (for me):
— Common areas are nice enough and regularly cleaned/​painted.
— Studios actually have counter space.
— Relatively quiet thanks to thick walls and windows.
— Unobstructed views (skyline view if you have a south-​facing unit on higher floors).
— Lots of dining/​shopping options nearby. 2 min. drive to I-​90 & Harlem Blue Line; ~20 min. drive to the suburbs.
— Fellow tenants friendly enough – complete contrast to the reviews elsewhere online, which had concerned me when I researched this place.
— Free outdoor parking.
— Air traffic. I love the planes, but the noise might bother some.
— Pet-​friendly.
— Maintenance quick to respond to any issues.
FYI:
— Breaking the lease is a $ 1500 penalty.
— The building is pro-​Comcast and anti-AT&T. For AT&T techs to come in, you need to be around and leave ID with the office.
— Because of the building’s indoor temp., unit temp. is consistently around 80F – even in winter.
— Fire dept. 2 blocks away and hospital nearby; there will be sirens. Isn’t that big of a deal if you’re at work most of the day and aren’t a light-​sleeper.
— Because of how the ventilation between units is, stronger smells (food, smoke, etc.) will waft into your unit.
— No freight elevator.
— The rent increase (charged by the property management company) wanted 12%! The leasing office was authorizing a more reasonable 5% if you questioned it, but that’s ridiculous to initially try to jack up the price that much.
— Offer extras like a social room, pool, workout room and multimedia theater. Nice to have, but I don’t use/​need any of them.
— Utilities (excluding electricity) are part of the rent bill instead of having separate providers for everything. Usage is totaled among all units and tenants are charged based on size of unit and # of occupants.
— Monthly rent determined by length of lease – longer the length, lower the price.
— Leasing office and maintenance staff are fine. With the exception of two ridiculously friendly maintenance guys, everyone else is kinda standoffish. Meh, only time I talk to the office people anyway is picking up packages.