Park Place Tower

I’ve lived here for about 1.5 years now, so I felt it was enough time to write a 3.5-star review. (I’d round up if a could)
Pros:
1) Location. If you work downtown or in River North, the express buses are amazingly convenient. The neighborhood is great; I used to live in Albany Parks, so it’s nice to feel safe[r].
2) The views are stellar! Our unit faces south, so we get the awesome skyline and lake. If only the New York Building wasn’t there…
3) Most of the staff is friendly. I say most because the management office has some employees who are pretty curt and rude when you ask simple questions or need help. The doormen are great, though, and the men who work in the parking garage are very nice, too.
4) Amenities: gym, pool, convenience store. All nice to have, although the pool can get crowded and had pretty strict restrictions this year for guests and even tenants.
5) If you take LSD to work, you can just look out the window to see how traffic is doing.
6) The lobby is nice, not that you’d ever spend time in it.
Cons:
1) This is a neighborhood con but there is SO much dog poop on the sidewalks it’s unreal.
2) The windows suck, period. And they take the screens out to wash the windows, but I swear the last two times they were going to do window washing, it never happened. And you have to request your screens be re-​installed when window washing is done, but you’re not notified when it’s complete, so you kind of have to assume your windows have been cleaned and you can put in a work order to get your screens back.
3) Noise! We live on the 48^th floor, but we can hear everything. Dogs barking, car alarms, sirens, you name it.
4) The maintenance guys aren’t very good at what they do, unfortunately. We’ve had multiple repairs that have had to be re-​repaired due to faulty jobs.
5) There are only 2 freight elevators for the building, which is pretty asinine if you think about it. With 56 floors (56^th is storage, but people use it), and everyone with a dog or laundry using these, they can get pretty backed up at times. Most of the time it’s not a huge problem, but I’ve definitely waited over 10 minutes for an elevator before to take my dog out.
6) No vents in the bathroom or kitchen.
7) I don’t know what the deal with the package room employees is, but they’re really unhappy folk. I guess I’d be unhappy too if I worked in a basement, but it doesn’t hurt to say «hello» to someone.
Overall, it’s a good place to live. The cons are really due to how much we pay in rent per month. For that amount, I’d expect many of the cons to be better, but you really can’t beat the view!

The building is extremely well managed and the staff is outstanding. Amazing views from south-​facing units and great amenities. I’ve lived here over 7 years and am convinced I’ll be spoiled for life. Huge pool and fitness center, and a party room and theatre you can rent for parties.

Redline!!! Sorry not sorry. End of story. Go to the highrise next door, youll see the difference.

$ 670.00 dollars a month assessment, wake up in the morning and it is 58 degrees inside Condo.
Hi end luxury living, not even close.
They need to observe city ordinance for heat.
Call 311 file on your own building.
Wake up management.

I just bought a unit in July, and I am really in love with this building.
The real draw is that you get all of the amenities of the gold coast, while paying half the price.
For starters, you get a 24 hour doorman service, who are for the most part are all very nice and courteous. I don’t own a parking spot, but the building does offer spots with 24 hour valet service, and the garage attendants are extremely nice too. The garage attendants will let you park in the loading and unloading area for free for half an hour, without any issue. This was crucial for me when I was just moving in!
There is a 24/​hour gym, which is never too crowded and has a good selection of machines (treadmills ellipticals, and several stairmasters!!) with a nice size free weight area. On top of that, there is an olympic size swimming pool which is amazing, and also a jacuzzi area. There is a basketball court, which I’ve never used, and is currently closed because of construction, but I’m sure my boyfriend will make use of it at some point.
For all the lazy daisies such as my self — there is a convenience shop that has just about everything you might need on hand. It’s expensive, but usually has pretty good deals on wine. It’s a pretty good place to hit up when you don’t feel like changing out of your pajamas to get something to eat/​drink. In the laundry room, there is a dry cleaner’s and a wash-​fold drop-​off service offered. I like to do my own laundry, but I know people who love having a drop-​off service so close by.
Other stuff they have but I’ve never used — a yoga studio, a hair salon, a nail salon, and several doctor’s and other commercial offices.
Of course, the best of all is the proximity to the lake and the VIEWS! My view is what really sold it for me, Check it out!

Great service from the doormen to the garage attendants to the maintenance crew. All are there to help in anyway. A particular shout out to Roberto in maintenance that is always smiling and working hard. And to Terrence that brings a positive attitude day in and day out. We love the service so much, we bought a second unit in the building!

The Maintenance staff and doormen are extremely kind and courteous, but I have been here two months already and well… First, the building is doing façade repair all summer. This was not disclosed when I moved in. Loud drilling and men on scaffolding right outside my window all day long. During the day you have to wear earplugs. Dust gets inside from the sandblasting unless you tape the windows shut. There are holes in the wall where you can see sunlight coming through. They won’t clean the windows until the end of the summer, so they are filthy. Also, the amenities that they used as selling points such as the sundeck and basketball courts are closed until they finish.
They advertise the swimming pool, but have severe restrictions on use. No visitors in the evenings or on weekends. The only time you can have visitors is Monday — Friday 9 – 5. So forget about having a pool party! Also, there is a clause that says that they may restrict tenants from pool use on occasion on weekends as well! Wow.
The unit has no exhaust vent in the bathroom (= painted over mold) or in the kitchen (don’t burn anything!!!). No plans to rectify this.
One of the other selling points of the building was a full laundry room in the basement with an additional wash and fold service. Seems pretty nice, right? Half of the machines are always broken. The laundry room uses a system that requires you to load cash onto a card that you use to start the machines. (exorbitantly expensive, by the way) I put cash on my card and washed my clothing and went to put it in the dryer. My card read «Error». I asked the employee Naomi for help. She verified that there was cash on the card. I asked for her help but she said there was nothing she could do. The owner Haim Gabi is out of the country in Egypt for two weeks. So, here I am with loads of wet laundry begging this woman to help me. I have to go to work in just a few hours. She would not help and told me that Mr. Gabi would also not give me a refund as he hadn’t to others in the past and also that he was mean to his employees. When I pointed out that this was theft, she said rather sheepishly, «Well, yeah.» I asked for his phone number. When I called, there was no voicemail and it said «Call can not be completed as dialed.»
I went to the management office to ask for help. The employee Stephanie also said that there was nothing they could do. When I asked to speak to the building manager, she said «I’ll see if she has time for this.» — so that lets you know where the tenants rank on their list of priorities… The building manager also said that there was nothing she could do since they had no control over who rents space in the building. However, the Park Place is happy to advertise laundry as an amenity of the building… funny how they reap the benefit while taking none of the responsibility… She had the worst customer service and basically sounded irritated that I was bothering her. She said that she would take it to the board of directors, but had no solution for me in the moment other than to buy another card and hope it works. When I pointed out that I would potentially be wasting more money that might never be refunded, she said that there was nothing she could do. She confirmed that this problem had indeed occurred in the past with others. She told me to call the laundry room manager. When I told her that I had done that already, but the number was not operational, she said «Yeah, well that happens when he is out of the country.» This tells me that she was already aware of the situation, yet had not bothered to proactively fix it.
I have worked in customer service for many years. There was plenty she could have done. Most offices have petty cash. She could have purchased a card herself and worked it out with the manager of the laundry on her own later. She could have shown more patience. She could have offered to walk down to the laundry with me and help negotiate with the laundry room employees to find a solution. But her only desire was to get me off of the phone and go about what she deemed to be more important business.
I started feeling good about this building, but now as time goes by, I am feeling worse and worse now. Let’s see what disappointment next month holds.
Update: Haim Gabi returned from Egypt. I asked him for a refund. He refused and said I was lying. When I started to call the police for theft, he finally agreed to go to the basement machine and verify that there was indeed cash on the card. He argued with me and called me a liar and horrible names the entire time. We put the card in the machines and verified that it had cash on it, but was not working. He insulted me more, gave me a refund, then banned me from doing laundry there. So now I cannot even use the amenity that I am paying rent for.
Park Place sucks.

Robert who works in the service elevator area is always so pleasant and is super helpful when the service elevators or full, non-​functional, etc. He is quick to help out and get you on your way. There are several changes being made within Building Management and I am interested to see the outcome.

Seriously this building is such a gem in North Lakeview! I have lived here for a year & a half and haven’t regretted it for a minute. The neighborhood is a perfect mix of city-​livin’ & a neighborhood-​y feel; it’s definitely up & coming! The building has amazing amenities (with the best pool in the area), an onsite grocery store (very pricey but hey! it works), dry cleaners onsite & best of all– it’s a dog friendly building with an awesome dog run. There is no policy for pet lbs/​breeds, which is nice for the bigger pups.
The building also has friendly doormen & is so conveniently located to the lake! You truly cant beat it.
The only small negative is– last summer at the pool, I overheard someone who works in the management office talking loudly about other tenants (pretty unprofessional)… but besides that I believe all the maintenance & cleaning crews are great!

My girlfriend and I have lived here for just over a year, and have been absolutely delighted ever since our moving truck arrived.
Fantastic amenities, convenience to the lake, stunning views, friendly and attentive staff, what more could one really want when living downtown?
If you’re considering this building as your next residence, I would advise you not to hesitate. It may be north of Lincoln Park/​Old Town/​River North, but that also means that you get more for your money and the proximity to Lake Shore Drive and multiple forms of public transit along with the unbelievably fast taxi light in the driveway make this building only a few minutes from downtown at any given time.
I couldn’t be happier with my decision to move here and would be perfectly content staying for many years.

What’s not to love about this building? It has everything a city dweller could ever want:
1. One of the best pools in Chicago! No. Seriously, it is amazing.
2. Outdoor (communal) Weber gas grills
3. Sundeck and basketball court
4. Indoor gym
5. Laundry
6. Grocery Store in the building. OK it’s mostly alcohol, but it has the necessities when you can’t or don’t want to walk to Walgreens.
7. Yoga Studio
8. Dr. Offices on the 2^nd floor
9. Doormen and package services
10. Business office
11. A dog run — liberal dog policy
12. Indoor parking
13. Hair salon
14. Dry Cleaners
It is wonderful to live so close to the park and other wonderful neighborhoods. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

I’ve lived here almost a year and have little to no complaints. Gym is nice, the parking is ideal and the views of the lake are great. Management has been very responsive to me. The building could buy new mats for the gym but I’m fine bringing my own.

I’ve lived here for over a year and I must say this building has everything you could ever want. The proximity to the lake, great restaurants, Wrigley, and public transportation are a few of the pros. Throw in the well maintained gym, pool, and sundeck and you’ve got a place that would cost a fortune to live in downtown. Rental and Listings a fair for the area. Garage parking is a necessity in the area due to how hard street parking is, but renting a spot is fairly inexpensive and many units sell with a garage spot. The biggest con to the building is there is no in-​unit laundry (which is the case in most buildings built before the 90s). All in all, great location, great units, great views, great amenities.

Ok so I’ve only been living here for about 3 months, but considering I left a much warmer climate in Dallas, Tx to endure the worst winter ever in Chicago; I felt entitled to write a review.
I LOVE this place. I love that the views from my bedroom, living room, and den. I see the gorgeous city lights at night and the beautiful (if mostly frozen) lake during the day.
Yes, the heat is a bit oppressive. Crack a window, it’s PERFECT! The convenience is awesome. I’m almost 40 and let’s face it; I’m totally ok paying a little more for a bottle of wine without having to schlep down the street in sub-​arctic weather. Maybe the convenience mark-​up is a factor for some, but seriously, if I can afford to live in this building I can afford to pay 20% more for last minute «necessities». Yes, the dry cleaner is a little pricier than others. Once again though, I’ll gladly shell out and extra 20 to 30 cents a garment for the on site convenience. The location is amazing. I love being so close to the water! The gym is (shrug) meh, ok… but I’ve never LOVED a gym, so don’t take my word for it.
I haven’t been here for the pool season yet, but I’m absolutely mad with anticipation. Truly looking forward to friend’s hanging out at the pool with me. Some people mentioned the $ 5 guest fee as an issue. Really? If you’re embarrassed to ask your friends to pay it, then pony it up yourself. It’s $ 5 for goodness sake.
Ok…now for the negative. It loses a star because my neighbor across the hall smokes. Not occasionally either, all the freaking time. I am now the proud owner of not one, but THREE air purifiers and I’m still convinced I’ll get lung cancer. I’ve started putting a towel at the base of my door when I’m home, and this seems to help. I don’t mind sharing the laundry elevator with 90% of the dog owners, but the other 10% REALLY need to give those poor pooches a bath!!! The smell can sometimes make your eyes water. Ugh!!! Can you imagine what their homes smell like? Icky!!! Kinda makes me want to hug my smoker neighbor and thank them for not being a smelly pet owner!!! :)
Most of the doormen are awesome. One guys is a bit abrasive and my friends are rather frightened by him, but overall they’re super nice and very helpful. I’ve never had a problem with management. They too were very helpful during my move in.
In all honesty, I almost want to give this place a bad review just hoping the prices would go down. I’ve already decided to stop
renting and buy when my lease is up.
Clean, reliable, and convenient!!!

I’ve lived in Park Place for about 8 months now and wanted to write a review before summer and people start moving in/​out. I read these reviews prior to moving in myself and some of them worried me.
Things I like:
1) The units. I face south (pool/​city view!) and unlike other reviewers, find my apartment to be a very good temperature most of the time. If it gets too hot or cold, turn on the AC/​heat or open a window. Some of the other reviewers apparently don’t know how to properly regulate temperature in an apartment and blame it on the building. It’s not the building’s fault — it’s theirs. And I love the view. On a clear night, the city looks absolutely spectacular looking south. I’ve also heard that apartments on the north/​northeast side of the building have an awesome view of Montrose Harbor/​beach.
2) The proximity to the lake. If you’re a runner/​biker/​beach goer, this place is perfect. My fiancé and I take full advantage of the Lake Shore Trail, which is literally one block from the building.
3) The pool. In the summer, the pool is a little piece of heaven. Bring down a cooler with some beers, hot dogs, etc. and you have yourself a stay-​cation every Saturday and Sunday. There are families in the building, so expect some kids at the pool. Lots of young professionals boozing with friends as well.
4) The amenities. My fiancé commutes to and from the suburbs for work, and the indoor parking garage, while a bit expensive, is comparably priced to area garages, and is so convenient in the winter. Especially the Winter of 2014. The dry cleaners and convenience store are also a tad expensive, but they’re very convenient when you need a loaf of bread or whatever. The gym is a little small, but has *almost* everything I need (a squat rack would be nice…). Never used the salon or yoga studio.
5) Proximity to CTA buses. The 135, 148, and 136 are all right by the building and get on Lake Shore Dr. to take you down to the loop. Very easy commute if you’re used to CTA buses.
Things I don’t like:
1) The smell in the summer. Occasionally in the summer, the smell from the garbage chute would leak up and into the hallways. This wasn’t an every day thing and I attribute most of it to people not closing the chute itself.
2) $ 5 charge for pool guests. I feel like an ***hole asking my friends to cough up money to come to the pool, so I normally slip the lifeguards the money so they don’t have to worry about it.
3) Management admittedly can be douchebags. I showed up to move in and the owner had left the keys inside my unit and cleared it with management prior to the move-​in date. When I showed up, they tried to charge me a $ 50 lock-​out fee as if I had lost the key. Really? I’m brand new to the building and you’re going to charge me a lock-​out fee when it’s really YOUR fault for not communicating the prior arrangements we had made to the staff? I haven’t had any problems since then, but that really pissed me off.
Last thing — I think other reviews blow the dog situation way out of proportion. Yes, this is a pet friendly building, so expect to see dogs. I don’t have one myself, but I don’t mind them at all. Dogs are required to be taken up/​down on a separate elevator, so I don’t see why so many people care that there are a lot of dogs here.

I think the reviews here are kind of outdated. I’ve lived in this building for just over one year and have very few gripes with it.
The doormen are awesome. After I got to know them, they’re wonderful and I love getting home from work and chatting with them. I haven’t had much interaction with the building’s management office and I’d almost always feel more comfortable asking the doormen for anything.
Downstairs, the mailroom was recently reorganized (thank god) because it was a huge mess. My boyfriend has in-​unit laundry so I’ve honestly never done my laundry in this building but the one time I tried, the machine which distributes cards to use on the machines didn’t work. I really like the gym and I have found it is always kept clean.
Within the last year, they must have hardcore cleaned the freight elevators/​trash rooms because it doesn’t smell like… dog and trash anymore. All dogs are to use the freight elevators now so if you want your dog fix, hop on these ‘vators! I dog-​sit from time to time and have met lots of people from my building in the dog area just outside of the garage. HOWEVER… that area smells like straight-​up dog piss (you’re essentially standing in it) so I really rather just walk the dogs around the neighborhood.
Park Place Market puts the «convenience» in «convenience store», but I only go here if I have a beer emergency. Due to its convenience, the prices are a little ridiculous and unless I had an extremely dire bread/​cheese emergency, I would shell out $ 6 for a loaf/​brick. The owner is very nice and the store is clean.
There is a yoga studio, dry cleaner and salon in the building as well. I have not used any of these, but I’m sure they’re lovely. I have heard that the dry cleaner is more costly, but that’s the price for convenience.
The pool area is great in summer! There are 8 gas grills and a patio area — you just need to time when you want to grill because it gets quite busy after the workday and on weekends. The only thing I wish there was more of in this area is lighting at night. The pool is fun, of course, but the lifeguards on duty need to agree on the rules. One day you’re allowed to throw around a water football, the next day you’re not. Heads up — most people sit at the edge of the pool bitch about not wanting to get wet, but I guess that’s what happens when they think they live at the Four Seasons.
They recently finished (finally!) renovating the exterior of the building and have, within the last month, re-​carpeted and painted all of the hallways. During the «polar vortex,» there were lots of heating issues (ie. with heating units, pipes bursting, flooding), but I thought the building management did a good job sending Emails about the progress of the clean-​up. Right now, the clean-​up of the lobby is taking quite some time, but I have heard that is because of the people Park Place Towers has contracted to handle this. It doesn’t inconvenience my day, so I don’t much care.
In terms of other maintenance requests, I think the building maintenance fellows are pretty good! They are rather prompt, you just need to specify what you need them to bring (ie. I don’t have a ladder, so I had to let them know to bring one!). One window in my unit currently lets a little bit of air and although I had someone shut it… better…for me, something or another needs to be replaced but they have to wait until spring to do so. The heat in my unit is outrageously hot, though so I’m not too torn up about a little fresh air even if it’s 0 degrees out.
Sometimes I can hear the dog down the hall bark, but I don’t really care about that. I do care, however, about the folks next door that smoke cigarettes and whatever else starting at 6am until about 1130pm. I absolutely hate the smell of cigarette smoke and the smell fills my entire apartment. I urge you to meet your potential neighbors before moving in.
There are lots of young people in the building, but lots of families as well. All in all, I’m pretty happy living here for now! I consider the rent I pay versus my friends around Chicago and although I live in a studio and they may have a 1-​bedroom, I get all the amenities I mentioned above and at the moment, that’s hard to give up. I would definitely consider checking out a 1-​bedroom in this building if I were to stay here longer!

This building isn’t the Ritz Carlton residences, but for reasonable rent amounts, you get a lot. First of all, it probably has the best views on the north side of Chicago. Both the south facing and north facing views are stunning. Check out some of the corner units with windows on multiple sides.
You also get a cozy gym (and it is never too crowded), a wonderful pool and sundeck, BBQ grills, an outdoor basketball court, and the opportunity to rent a space to park your car in a huge (and newly renovated) garage.
I’ve found maintenance and management to be really nice.
The windows can be a bit drafty in the winter, but the very intense heating system more than makes up for it. Even on days with near-​zero temperatures, turning on one out of the three available heating fans is more than enough.
The building also recently installed new elevators and carpets in the hallways. They are currently in the middle of a multi-​million dollar project to fix the façade and any leaks in the windows.

I did read the other reviews-​and I couldn’t agree more with ALL of them. First thing I must say is, there are more dogs in this building than people. And the worst is you have to share 1 of 2 elevators coming up from the laundry room with all the dogs in your building. All with a smelly, wet, sloppy sniffing dog or dogs and your clean laundry in an ill-​ventilated elevator. Nice. What makes this building is the views, amenities-​such as the pool (amazing!), gym, convenience store, and the employees (aside from the management office). I feel the management office employees are all immature and goof off as much as they can. You never get the same answer twice. They should find a new package room system-it’s quite awful and unorganized. The smells in the hallways and chute room are incredibly horrible.
The doormen are wonderful and so friendly and helpful. The residents are pretty friendly and I did always feel safe here. It’s a very young crowd. A majority of the building is 25 – 45 yrs. old. The location is great! It was good for the time I was here, (about 2 years) but I’m happy I’m out.

Building is nice when its not under construction!
Nice pool, mostly everyone is nice.
Maintenance Crew so nice, doormen awesome, garage attendants also so nice.
MANAGEMENT SUCKS!

I live in this very large building, right near Lake Michigan. It is fun to drive down Lake Shore Drive or approach the lake from the west and be like «see that tall building! that’s me!» And then everyone’s like «oh what floor do you live on!?!» and I have to awkwardly admit… not very high up. Not telling you where, because that is just inviting weirdo stalkers.
So. 24 hour doorperson (no sexism here). I love this. They make me feel safe. I’m living alone for the first time ever and having a doorperson has made this transition easier. One time I smelled smoke in my apartment and a doorman came up and smelled around and investigated with me. Turns out it was me. Like, I made tea. And there was some grit on the bottom of the kettle. And it burned up on the electric stove. Could not have been less of an emergency but he came up anyway.
Lobby is beautiful. Fitness center is super convenient, not hugely stocked, but there’s a handful of strength training machines, four treadmills, maybe four bikes, three ellipticals, something like that. Small area for free weights, a few mats and exercise balls and things like that. Pretty standard but easy enough to get a workout, and it’s RIGHT THERE. You have no excuse for not exercising if you live here. Also the lakefront trail is like two feet away, so there goes your other excuse.
The pool and grill area looks really nice, but I admit I have never been there despite living here almost two months now. I know! I suck! But like… I don’t really like lying outside in the sun? I like walking outside. And sitting outside in the shade with food and a drink. But I live alone — I’m not going to grab a sandwich and a margarita and bring it down to the pool by my lonesome! But seriously, it looks awesome. Most people would be there every day. I’m a weirdo. I like to sit inside in the air conditioning, and if I’m outside I don’t generally like to be lying motionless near a pool.
Speaking of air conditioning — air conditioning! Duh, it’s like 60 floors high, can you imagine if they didn’t have it? But my old apartment didn’t have it and I doubt I’d have survived the summer. All the units are different so I can’t comment on that, but the building is quiet. Since many people own their units, there’s a higher level of responsibility (I think), resulting in almost zero annoying sound violations. Oh but they’ve been doing construction on the building during the day which does make noise and is annoying. But it’s over by 4 or 5 pm. But if they could start after 9 am instead of between 730 – 8, I’d rather appreciate that. The construction seems never ending. Again, I’ve only lived here two months, I doubt they will be continuing the construction literally forever. But it is moderately annoying. They’re doing a lot of work in the parking garage and I’ve had to move my car to weird alternative spots occasionally. But whatever — at least there is a garage! Because street parking here is freaking impossible. The Cubs/​Lakeshore combo is deadly. Also there is usually one elevator that is under construction too. But that still leaves like four elevators you can use, so no biggie.
Without setting foot outside, you can get to a yoga studio, a salon, a dry cleaner, and a highly overpriced mini-​grocery that I’d only recommend going to if you NEED to buy something NOW, or it’s like pouring outside. Or you’re lazy and don’t mind paying a $ 2 upcharge on like everything. Seriously, their prices are STUPID. But it’s awesome to be like «oh gee I need a bottle of wine/​container of sour cream/​frozen dinner/​box of pasta/​bottle of sriracha/​red box DVD/​anything else you can think of.»
Laundry is in the basement. You put money on a card and use the card in the machines. $ 2.50 per load including both wash and dry. It’s nice not to carry quarters around. The laundry people were hard to track down at first (you have to call the number on the door to get a laundry card) but once you get a card, you can refill it in a machine.
Anyway, it’s perfect for me right now. I can’t afford to rent my lovely furnished studio anymore after my sublease is up in February, and I know I’ll miss it. Anything else will feel like a downgrade. It is, frankly, a somewhat luxurious place to hang your hat.