I've lived in the A Tower for 3 years and frankly, I am kind of shocked at all the negative reviews written here. I know that disgruntled people are far more prone to voice their opinions than happy people but still find the overwhelming negativety here very surprising.

First of all - the location here is amazing, best in the city IMO. It's tucked away on a quiet street, but just a stones throw from N. Michigan Ave, Navy Pier, etc.. There is everything you need either in the building or within 1 block radius - tons of great restaurants, the beach is a block away, Starbucks across the street, Dominick's is a block away, etc.. In the building is a dry cleaners, White Hen Pantry, Chinese Restaurant, Dentists, Massage Therapy, sundeck,Doctors, Bank & ATM, etc. There is a Lake Shore Athletic Club onsite is which is great, one of the best gyms in the city. Sure it costs extra but I'd rather have access to a huge full service gym (pool, jacuzzi,tennis,all kinds of classes like Yoga, spinning,kick boxing, etc..) than just a tiny little weight room that was free!

I've never had a problem with Security staff or Front Desk people - always courteous and diligent in their work. The Maintenance people are great - from replacing light bulbs to re-painting and replacing the entire carpet, they have always taken care of everything quickly. Last month the handle on my microwave broke and rather than have me wait two weeks for a new part to come in, they replaced it and gave me a brand new one.

I do have a couple of gripes (many of which were written about by others already):
1. No windows - this does suck I must admit. You just have tiny little slats which means no real ventilation.

2. No dual Climate control - it's either 100% heat or 100% A/C. So there are days in the late spring where its hot, but they haven't switched over to A/C yet. And vice versa in the early fall, there are days where it gets cold outside and you can't turn on the heat because the A/C is still on.

3. Parking - Its Valet parking and sometimes when its busy you wind up waiting 10 minutes to get your car. Also, it's very tight quarters in the garage and they drive your car like maniacs in there. One time there was a dent in my bumper from them, but I contacted the Manager and she paid for the repairs. She also gave me the option of getting a self parking spot (private entrance, no valets, come in/out on your own). This was $35/month extra but worth the cost hands down. If you have a car here, DEFINITELY get the self parking!!


The building has always been clean and well maintained. It actually is in pretty good condition overall for a 30 year old building. The tenants are very quiet, it's mostly professionals and medical students living here (Northwestern Memorial is a block away).

I fully admit this isn't the best building in Chicago, but its just nothing even close to the nightmare all these reviews here portray it to be. Every year before my lease came up for renewal I looked at many other buildings in the city, but i NEVER found one that would give me what I get here for the money. Yes, I found better overall buildings, but they were in lesser locations and/or the rent was dramatically higher. And anything I found in the same price range was a much crappier building and/or location. There are many residents that have lived here for several years, so it can't be that bad, or we'd all leave!

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