596 W. Hawthorne

Pros: Location. This is what you are paying for. Great neighborhood, quiet residential street. Close to grocery store, restaurants, Wrigley Field, and bus stops (not super close to L stations, though). Chris (building manager) is very responsive and helpful. Quiet community - people generally keep to themselves. Laundry machines rarely break. Some units have updated kitchenettes (I would not categorize it as a full kitchen).

Cons: Cheap building and shoddy construction - plaster walls with... layers of white paint to cover up (literally) the fact that the building is old and needs serious updating. No air conditioning. 250 sq ft Studios. Vacant businesses in the lower levels leads to some issues with spiders, centipedes and roaches. No dedicated package room – packages are occasionally stolen as it’s easy to get in the front door. Call box never worked during the year that I lived here. No amenities. Two maintenance requests went unanswered (one relating to my bathroom sink detaching from the wall, the other relating to roaches). HEFTY utility bills – the building is metered so that each tenant pays a portion of the building’s entire usage based on their apartment’s square footage (so even if you keep your individual use low, you get hit with $100+ utility bills every month for a 250 sq ft studio).

I would put the price in the “Pro” section, but, honestly, after you pay rent + utilities + Internet + electricity, you pay more (or at least equivalent) to other units in nicer nearby buildings. A decent first apartment if you are trying to establish yourself in the city or explore a new neighborhood, but I left after a year. Read More