This apartment complex was built in the 1950's and is extremely outdated, so the owner, Draper and Kramer, will be tearing it down very soon. You can read all about it in the Crain's Chicago Business articles: go to http://chicagobusiness.com and type lake meadows into the search box, or do a Google search for the terms lake meadows and draper and kramer.

All of the other comments that you see here about some of the lowlife tenants they've allowed to move in, the tiny apartments, the outdated kitchens and bathrooms, and the EXTREMELY poor management, are true. But the main issue is that they've decided to tear the place down. If you move in, you'll either have to move out soon, or live there and be bothered with the construction going on around you. They are going to tear down the shopping center FIRST, so forget about being able to go to the Jewel, Walgreen's, or Blockbuster. The management wants to continue to rent the apartments here while they tear the place down, so you'll most likely be given a line about this taking decades to complete. All I can say is Bull*hit.

So, to sum things up:

The good-
*Lots of green space currently, but they are going to build on almost all of the green space when they start tearing down the existing apartment buildings and redevelop the area.

*Moderate rent prices, but you really do get what you pay for, which isn't much (no doorman which is a huge safety issue - anyone can follow you in, no fitness room - which sucks because there are no gyms in the area, not even ------- air conditioning)..

*Close to downtown and the lakefront, but the CTA bus routes that run through the area are extremely slow and unreliable, EVEN during the morning rush hour. Oh, and don't even think about hiking a mile west to the green or red lines....definitely not recommended.

The bad-
*They are going to start tearing down the place soon, with the adjacent shopping center going first. That means you'll have to go up to Roosevelt Road for the nearest grocery store and other shopping amenities (not that there are many in the existing area now). If you don't have a car, you'll be screwed.

* The apartment complex is old, and the buildings look like public housing projects. Since most of Chicago's public housing has been torn down, your friends and relatives will really think you live in the projects. There is no air conditioning, the heating system (radiators) is erratic, the windows are extremely drafty, and the kitchens and bathrooms are outdated.

*The onsite management is anything but professional. Incompetent doesn't even begin to describe them.

*The complex is unsafe. Because it is no longer a very desirable place to move into and there are a lot of vacant apartments, the management has allowed a lot of people in who you really don't want to live next to.

*If for some reason after reading this and the other reviews you still do decide to move here, don't move into the 12-story apartment buildings. They will be the first buildings to be torn down (after the shopping center). Particularly avoid building # 533 (the building engineer here is very lazy and does not maintain the building very well at all).

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/20/2008
All of this is true. There have also been a lot of shootings in the area. Two of my neighbors have had bullets come through their windows and will be moving out. The management has had problems renting apartments here and has allowed a lot of the people forced out of the CHA (the projects) to move in with the rent vouchers they get. I no longer feel safe living here and plan to move.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/16/2008
I plan on moving in this month. No place is perfect and neither are people. I think it's great that the buildings are being torn down for new construction. I hear lots of complaints , but I also hear a solution and people are still complaining. What positive contributions are you making. If it's so bad why do you continue to live there. People with vouchers are people to and they have to live somewhere and all people from the projects are not bad ,they just can't afford to pay the rent to live in nice places, like lake meadows.I used to live in the projects,not by choice,but now I'm a registered nurse and can afford to live with the best of them.I don't believe they let just anybody move in because they do a background and credit check, and lastly I don't care where you move , there will always be undesirables ,, because where ever you go you take yourself with you, so stop being so jugdemental.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/23/2008
Lake Meadows may be slated for demolition, however none of us know exactly when. No matter how many people post something here, unless you actually work for Draper and Kramer, you should stop causing panic in all the intelligent computer owners who come here to get information if you really do not know. Now do not get me wrong, I live there too and I hear the rumors. I have kids that go to school in the area. I watch the old people who come and go and have gotten used to the so called safety of the gated area and I wonder what will happen to them. Seems a shame to displace all these good folks. Anyway, the bottom line to all of this is that no matter what the great rich Draper and Kramer does, ain,t too much any of us can do about it except plan right here and now and move along when the time comes
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/31/2008
Well let's see, Draper and Kramer themselves have given a deomlition timeline to the public, and Crain's Chicago Business has written articles about all of this. So how are you still left with uncertainty? These are greedy developers with a plan that has been made public. It wouldn't make too much sense for someone to move in at this point. The buildings are from the 1950's (even the Chicago housing projects torn down over the last few years were built in a later era), and on their last leg, so someone who would like a basic amenity such as air conditioning or a place without leaky windows or cracking plaster would be wise to look elsewhere. You already live here and don't plan to go anywhere until you have to since you have kids at the local elementary school, so your point is pretty mute. Your sense of safety is also quite inflated. Why do you think the gates around certain parts of the property went up in the first place? Take a look at the adjacent shopping center and and public housing projects and you'll find your answer. I've been at LM for almost a year and am moving next month when my lease ends. This and the last few posts here have been right on the money, and it's no coincidence that they all recommend AGAINST moving to LM.

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