The Sovereign

The first week I moved in, I was forced to undergo not one, but *two* bedbug treatment plans because of my neighbor. I had to put everything I had in the bathroom while my unit was heated to a couple-some hundred degrees to kill these bugs that had been there on a recurring basis before I even moved in. No one told me that when I arrived, but they had to treat my unit, too. While it got off to a horrible start, I was still optimistic –– until I walked in the bathroom one morning to find a cockroach, at least two inches in length. I lived on one of the highest floors, and was/am a relatively tidy tenant, and while I moved out of the Sovereign a year ago, I killed approximately 45 cockroaches in the time I was there. Often found them in the halls, sometimes dead and sometimes alive, too. Pest control did absolutely nothing. I took it upon myself to use every kind of sealant possible, yet nothing. Please don't live here, I'm so glad I no longer do. 45 cockroaches. I wish I were kidding.

You’d think with it being such an old building that the walls would at least be made out of concrete or something thicker but I swear they’re plywood. I can clearly hear my neighbor talking on the phone from 8pm to 2am nightly for the past 3 years I’ve lived here. Who could she possibly be talking to for that long? Also forget about taking a decent shower as the water pressure/temperature is god awful. Do yourself a favor and look for somewhere else to live.

I lived here for 6 months, and I wish I could forget my time here. Everything is very cheaply made/finished. The tile has been painted over multiple times in the shower. What? why would someone even do that? I have found cockroaches in the apartment a few times. They "fixed" my door and now I have to shove my body weight against it to get it to open or close. The management seems to not care all that much. It's insanely cheap, but you get what you pay for. My whole hallway smelt like cigarettes because one tenant is a chain smoker. I reported it multiple times and they did nothing about it. It got so bad that i put a scarf under my door to try to get the smell to go away. I feel gross even being in the building. I wish I had taken more time in looking for an apartment. The only good thing is you can't hear your neighbors.

There's a Thai restaurant downstairs and an excellent coffee shop across the street, which are my favorite features of my current location. The staff here is always helpful and on-site, as well as friendly. They change the carpets every time a new move-in occurs, apparently, so it was nice and clean when we moved in over a year ago. The overall area around this apartment also has a low crime-rate (especially for Chicago) and is generally friendly and relaxing. It's very convenient if you're a Loyola student or you wish to commute via Red Line (like we do.) We can see the Red Line from our Living Room window but it's far enough away the noise won't bother you. Some apartments in this building also have a view of the lake, as I'm told... You can see just a sliver of it from one of our windows, haha. There's also a gym in our building, but you'll have to purchase a membership. Anyway, on to the negatives... Our kitchen is tiny. It came with a full-size fridge and an oven/stove, so that was nice, but there's hardly any room to do anything in there. Our counter space is so small it's difficult to even do dishes, and we can't fit more than our toaster on there if we're going to use a drying rack for our drying dishes. I feel as if our kitchen was a closet previously. I'd be happier if they knocked out the wall between the living room closet and the kitchen and made the whole thing a kitchen. Our bathroom is very small too, but it's not as noticeable. The other thing that bothers me is the laundry situation. Maybe we are cursed, but the washing/drying machines on our floor break down pretty often. There's just two washing machines and two drying, and they are constantly being used when we need them by other residents. I guess the building can't have much control over these factors, but it's something to think about when considering moving into this building. I very often have to do my laundry on a different floor. All-in-all, the pros outweigh the cons in this building, but it feels a tad expensive for its features. Compared to other buildings in the area, the price is steep for its quality. It's always good to keep in mind that living close to the loop will raise the price a great deal. You aren't taking much risk living here, it really is a great building, all-in-all.

My wife and I have been at this apartment for nearly two years now. Great local coffee shop right across the street for those early bird coffee runs. Located in a quiet college neighbor 200 yards from Lake Michigan. Formerly a hotel, the outer walls of each apartment are solid concrete so you get great privacy and separation from other tenants and the inevitable noises. Utilites included!! Trash shoot and laundry on every floor! Highly recommend this apartment!