This website is not run by the management office and is not affiliated with the Residences at the Grand Plaza. This is a place where unit owners can gather to share their thoughts. If you have specific comments for the webmaster, please post it in this section. Otherwise please place your posting in the relevant sections below.
To the management of 545 Grand Plaza (West tower) and the management of 540 Grand Plaza (East tower), please take some time to read through the issues your residents are having. We all want this building to be one of the best places to live in downtown Chicago so please heed our comments and take them seriously. Both management offices will always have an open invitation to respond to the comments from residents listed on this website.
Thank you,
47 comments:
We live is the east tower. Since U.S. Equities assumed managemnet last year from Near North Properties the quality of life has declined considerably(e.g. windows haven't been washed in a year, furnace/AC filters also not changed). However the most absurd policy U.S. Equities has is regarding what to do about noise problems from a neighboring unit. Near North would personally speak with the offending tenant as should be the case. Amazingly U.S. Equities says that to solve a neighbor noise issue we should call 911 !! Obviously this is not practical and in essence means that we have no choice but to tolerate noise. Does anyone know who in Chicago city government we should contact? We would like to report this issue to the city since it highly doubtful it is legal.It should be the repsosibilty of management rather than the Chicago Police Department to deal with type of problem.
I agree with your points. The quality of the building has been steadily decreasing. I have once posted an ad on craigslist bitching about all the problems I was experiencing and therefore I am looking for a new luxury apartment to rent (Post it in the section "Housing Wanted"). Many real estate agents responded and said they were not aware that the Grand Plaza was like this, but my point is the only way you can get back at U.S. Equities is if you get the word out and if it starts affecting their business or word gets back to them that these issues are being made public, maybe they will start to give us better service.
Second thing, you look at your lease contract and see if there is anything about noise or other factors that state that will be enforced by the leasing office. If so, perhaps you can make U.S. Equities to read it.
Third, you could always call 911....hear me out. I know it is not practical, but if you call them enough and they actually come, they will reach out to the building management and advise them that if they do not manage it the building will be charged a fee if they are called out again and there is no emergency. The police department has similar policies regarding alarm systems for homes and commercial store fronts. So that is one way to stick it back to U.S. Equities. I am pretty sure if you call at least once every week for a month, the Police will leave the leasing office a notice advising of execisive visits without an actual emergency and therefore future visits would result in a fee.
Fourth, you can call 311 to find out if there is a better way to handle the situation.
Fifth, you can blast your TV and radio while you are out to get back at your neighbor and hope they complain to you and then you can work out a deal with them.
And finally, I heard a rumor that they are thinking about going condo just like the West tower starting in a few months, so you would think they would not renew the lease of your noisy neighbor.
Hope this helps as I feel your pain since I have gone through it too.
Also, i have neighbors on my floor that loves to slam the door at 3am when they come home. I just reciprocate by slamming my door when I get up at 6am.
:)
I just moved in .. also east tower..this is certainly not a luxery building. ALL others (granted rent is a few hundred higher) have disposals, no trashin halls, maintainence staff responds quickly. Unfortunately I needed a spot quickly.
Renters and buyers, hopefully we have all learned our lesson. I am definitely going to google the address and/or name of the building I am renting or buying to make sure I find all the truth about the building that the management office won't tell us.
I would definitely have thinked twice before moving here or at the very least questioned the management office regarding all these complaints posted here. I feel like I was stupid and didn't know the right questions to ask.
I did google, but didnt see many complaints.. even with the special rents , I didnt get any special deals ...
there are so many kids in this building.. I agree with the postings and everyone else..management needs to get a handle on this
I just did a google search cuz I couldn't remember this website address. Did you know if you google "545 Grand Plaza" this website comes up as the second search result listed, right behind a corporate rental company. That is pretty impressive. Maybe future renters will start to see all of our complaints and maybe management will start addressing them.
The "quality" of this building continues to spiral downhill. When Near North Properties managed the building it was spotless. Now it is becoming a pig sty. The carpet on our floor hasn't been vacuumed for weeks. The common areas are much dirtier than they used to be. Our windows have not been washed for almost a year. Apparently U.S. Equities thinks this is a commericial building not a residential building that requires 24 hour service. Profit is far more important than satisfying tenants
To all the disgruntled residents (myself being one of them):
Obviously we are all not satisfied with management's handling of day to day operations of the building. It seems some people have tried to approach management and while they might not know of every single incident out there, I believe they know we are not as satisfied.
The million dollar question is why they do not care to address our concerns and needs. Perhaps the other poster was correct, maybe they are in the process of converting the east tower into condos and therefore they want all the current tenants to move out. How do you pursuad tenants to move out? Offer them bad service!
My question to them is, how are they going to be able to sell these units if the building is in bad shape and what would they tell their prospective buyers if they google the building and find all these resident's complaints?
So many questions, like usual no one to answer them.
Regarding the east tower another problem is no one seems to be "in charge". Under NNP, communications from management were alway signed with the name of the manager . Now when we receive memos (which is rare comapred to NNP) it is merely signed "Grand Plaza Management". We should NOT have to talk to the doorstaff whenever we have an issue. Given the high rental rates here someone in management should be responsive to our requests/complaints
I meant you can contact the door staff during off hours. Most of the comments posted on this website sounds like it is happening during off hours when the management office has closed. Also, we all work, who is available to go to the management office to talk to them. Therefore it makes more sense to talk to the door staff and rely on them to pass on the message. Afterall, didn't you give them a Christmas bonus? Let's make them do some work for you. Also, just because memos are signed doesn't mean you can't find out who's in charge. When you call the management office just ask to speak to a manager, just like you would ask to speak to a manager at a restaurant or store when you are disatisfied with service.
On more than one occasion I have been told that no one in management office is available. Even the doorstaff is unsure of who is in charge. The name of the company should be changed to U.S. Equities Mismanagement
To webmaster: Please do not delete my post eventhough it does not relate to the Grand Plaza, I feel it is important that residents know my experience with Dry Clean Direct on W. Huron (across from Whole Foods) as many people probably use them.
Dry Clean Direct is by fair the worst store for customer service. The employees working there have attitudes and all of them seem like they do not want to be there. Whenever a customer walks into the store they have an expression on their face like we are a bother to them. There would always be long lines, they would close early, the computer would be down so we cannot pick up items, etc, etc. I am ready to go back to using a regularly priced dry cleaning service because after a point the savings is just not worth the additional headache. So if you are thinking about trying them, don't. It is terrible and I challenge anyone to say different.
Residents, please share your frustrations at the monthly board meeting. Anonymous posts do little good and mostly foster frustration amongst other residents.
Renters, please share your issues with your landlord, who should forward your issues to the management company.
Seems like everyone is barking up the wrong tree.
The previous post sounds like it was from someone related to either the Board of Directors or from the management and/or sales office as it was posted in multiple sections on this website.
What they do not understand is that many people who complain on this website have already approached the management office and their issues were not addressed to satisfaction therefore they resort to online venting.
If you are from management posting on this website, please leave a contact name, number or email instead of posting anonymously. Like you said anonymous posts do little good so we were disappointed to see you did not sign your post. We do not need the "general" management office number as many of us already reported issues but nothing has been resolved. We need an escalation policy. Why not step up and take some responsibility if you truly want to improve the conditions at this building.
I have decided to leave this building due to the incompetenece of current management so have been looking at several luxury apartment buldings such as The Bernardin, The Tides and AMLI 900.
Since the topic of coffee has been brought up before ALL buildings (except here) offer complimentary coffee morning and evening and in some cases (e.g. AMLI900) all day . Apparently U.S. Equities is so CHEAP they can't offer the luxury of coffee for more than 4 hours per day.
To the above comment:
This is no luxery building- sorry I moved in here. ALl buildings have garbage disposals, double sinks, and spray nozzles,etc. The Streeter is also a great building with better ammeneties and better prices. Good luck :)
People should read this.
I live in the west tower and have none of the complaints you guys are having over there in the east. I have been in Grand Plaza for over two years now.
To all the unhappy residents in both towers go to management and complain about what is wrong with your home, noise, neighbors, not as clean as it should be, etc, keep a list of everytime you go to them and they do nothing,time, date, who you spoke to, what was said, how they responded to you, you are the boss this is your home, you can go over their head to there boss everyone in the building who is unsatisfied with the way management is so called managing this building, talk to your neighbors, do more than just write on this blog, because it's obvious they don't know how deeply you feel, if you want change you have to get up and do something about it this is a nice way, but after reading this go over management in this buildings heads because they don't know how to run a building they are running our home into the ground and we can't let this continue to happen, haven't you noticed that some of your favorite doorperson's are gone, because of them.It is not hard to know who is the ceo of U.S Equities, and Sudler go on the internet find these people contact them as one voice from both towers like I said this is your home rise up and save it, another unhappy resident, but I know for a fact that this works because I have a friend who lives in a high rise on the north side who complained about not having heat in the winter time they paid there rent on time, another friend how they had mold in there bathroom, they complained to the property manager or the prop manager in my opinion she did nothing, so my friend did something she did everything I just typed the residents of this building did what I said, they got this prop manager and everyone in the office that worked with/for her fired, they hired another company to come in and take over, they are happy so far, but if it gets like that again which I doubt because they the residents won't let it they won't hesistate to do it again, you the residents need to hold meetings, fuck the condo bored they don't know what is going on if you want to know what is really going on ask the people who work there the janitors, doorstaff, they know exactly who is happy with the way things are going.
To whoever typed that getting your doorperson involved in you being unhappy with the way management is running this building, that is not there job, if you have a complaint get up off of your ass and take it to management in person, you are messing with people's jobs when you say stupid shit, like didn't you tip them for christmas, those people work hard having to put up with ungrateful management, residents, they earn whatever you give to them, believe me they do if I was you I would grow a backbone and get in management's face like you got on this here blog to complain, go do this in person, stop being a wimp!
Have you noticed some of your favorite doorstaff is gone, Hm I wonder why, could it be the new management staff that don't know there ass from a hole in the ground. When the doorstaff writes down your complaint on their clipboard and turns into whoever so called manages this building on both sides I noticed that management does nothing, I have seen for myself how they the doorstaff write down everything you say, time,date, let management know and it's still the same old thing, So when I called to management and took myself down to there office they had no Idea of what I was complaining to them about why? I was in the office, bothering them. So I will take to heart what anonoymous said and get up off of my ass and do something about this horrible management in both towers of my home and I hope that you will too, neighbor.
If you have a problem with the way management is, don't take it out on the doorstaff, janitors, who work here, it's just that they work here it's there job, you have a problem go to management in person, do not phone them you will get someone on the phone who doesn't care, or you will have to leave a message on the that generic voicemail they have, get in management's face and see them squirm because they don't know how to handle a problem like maria, bob,etc., to make you and me the resident happy with the way our home is, I am going to constantly complain until they understand me, I pay too much money to live in this luxerious place, that I wouldn't bring my dog to.
I just read your post about the maria, bob, comment I thought that was funny at first, now you mention I had to think back to when I complain to management, like you said in person they do squirm like snakes, and it's very obvious they really don't know what they are doing to be this big real estate company with all these properties in other states I'm very sure that the residents in these other states have as many or more complaints like we do here. So if we are unhappy how do the people in their other buildings feel about their management style, just my opinion.
The person who made the maria, comment from the sound of music movie line how do we solve a problem like maria, that person's comment was a great comment how do we solve a problem like terrible management and office staff, I think the person who said that we should keep a list of everything management and the office staff do is a good idea, everything we as residents don't like about how our home is running, I'm going to complain to them in management when my schedule allows to see there reaction in person, and if I don't get some results after complaining to them, then I'm going to go to my neigbors draw up some petitions to get signed to get them and everyone in that office fired get someone in there who will listen and do something, and they can't find a suitable replacement I say that some residents could run this place better than the pathetic excuse we have for management, It would be great if you my neighbors on both sides of this building would join me in doing this, come on we can get management out of here!!!! Like I said we can run this place better than they can, them and the board who do nothing as far I am concerned. LETS DO THIS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree as a resident here for (7 seven years I could run this building a lot better than those people in the management offices, on both sides of this building I have been here when the original property manager was here a nice lady who actually seemed to care whenever I had a complaint, I was here when they brought the next prop manager to take over, she was here for the sale of the west tower to be converted to condominiums, she was awful, she was the worst prop manager in conducting business for both of these buildings at the same time, I am very glad she is gone, and know we have these other management people who say they are a big management company they are so big that they brought a get this a janitorial company to manage the east tower and if you have a complaint they the commerical janitorial company handle not the big name I must own every high rise building I see U.S Equities I'm calling you out, bring in Kimco, Who? who are they you ask they are the company who you see those guys who work in the blue shirts in the building, a commercial janitorial company I have never heard of until I was told to look them up which I did. You should too, because I find it very interesting that the suits in management can't management without Kimco to tell everyone what to do when they Kimco don't know anything about high rise buildings except how to clean them, man these are some smart people, I almost choked typing how smart they are. What a bunch of morons, Monkeys would be better at managing this building!
My, friend calm down you must really be upset to say that monkeys could manage this building, the visual is right, for the idiots who run this place our home into the ground, but, I think you should go to them, and express how you feel, tell them your concerns, and I really hope it's not true about a commercial janitorial commpany running this building if this is true why? is management here just to collect all of our money?, and do nothing but make us all miserable. Wow, I think that I answered my own question, about this management company.
Hey, Everybody, I found that this guy is responsible for all of our problems with U.S Equities, his name is Camille P. Julmy he lives in the east tower and he is a senior executive,asset managing & leasing, financial & investments, he has been apart of this bozo run operation he co-founded with Bob Wislow since 1978, this is who you complain to in the east tower he lives on a high floor, he loves to complain to the janitor about the condition of the hallway where you go to get your ticket and park leading to the elevators, he does this he lets the doorstaff or he tells the janitor to clean up the hallway, I know this because I have seen it with my own (2)eyes, anyway he is one reason why, the janitor is not able to come to your apartment to do a service request for maintenance in your apartment, it bugs mister julmy to have that hallway looking awful, he can't see that it's the open parking that they have for people who don't live here when you get in your car and go someone else parks here in your spot, next time you see mister julmy get in his face and complain to him about these idiots he brought in here to so called manage our home. And if you want to know how I know this to be true, I will only say a little birdy with a big mouth told me this, so know we all know who is responsible for our misery in the east tower.
Go to U.S.Equities Realty under Executive bios and you will see his smiling face you have seen almost every single day but you did not know who he was until now, thanks to me, get in his face and complain to him about how he brought in those idiots in the management and leasing office and got rid of our wonderful doorstaff, and left us with all of these old people for doorstaff, Like Lena, why? is she still here, she is a mean old lady, who is always, everytime I see her sleeping, or she has a mean look on her face like she is mad at the world, I don't know what her problem is but she needs to get an attitude adjustment or just quit I have seen her like this for (6)years and I personally as a resident don't like talking to her, or looking at her I go into the west tower lobby to avoid her on purpose because of her attitude/sleeping, and body smell. Anyway at least they left us Everett he has been here as long as I have since the 2002 when the building first opened he is great as are some of most of the janitors, I say most because some of them have left and we have these Kimco janitors who I don't know aand don't want in my apartment.
I followed the advise to go to u.s. equity's website and I did see that guy's picture and I have seen him, in the building I thought he was a resident just like me, I just didn't know he was responsible for the mess we have now. And the comment that was made about Mrs. Lena, she does have a bad attitude and she has also been caught sleeping but I have never smelled anything bad about her, I personally think that Mrs. Lena might have a bad attitude and sleep every now and then because she has to watch her grandchildren and she might be tired, then coming into work these long hours, I feel sorry that she has to work such long hours, I hope that she is okay, getting back to what I saw and read on the internet, that was a big surprise, wow, I'm going to complain to Mr. Julmy in person.
how old are these posts and has anything been done about the terrible management I keep reading about
who ever hired mack in the east tower did a terrible job he is the worst door man I have ever had ask him a question or to help you he says that's not my job he should not be here. and lena does sleep and has a awful attitude why are they here?
Where are the ones who knew what they what were doing Ismet, Ashley, Kim, they were terriffic all went out of their way to help you.
all of us are cowards to post how we feel on a blog instead of taking our complaints concerns to management both towers so that they can pretend to do something at least they will know in person and not on a typed up blog where anyone can post what they want you to read.A blog they obviously don't know about how can you attempt to pretend to do something when you don't know the problem then again they can't be that stupid....That Mary is a simpleton and so is Bob,the white glassed owl a cheap one.
I have read all of everyone's opinions,concerns, about gp I agree with what the last person said that we are cowards to type how we feel on a blog that obvious to me that only we the residents know about how can you expect change in how the building's run when you can't go talk to management in both these towers and tell them to their face how you feel.I think that everyone on this blog has a valid comment, just complain to the right person in the right way is my advice.
Thank you for everyone's posts. Your honest comments and opinions are very valuable. Whether the management take your comments into consideration or not is the issue. I lived at Grand Plaza as a resident from the 1st day they opened their doors in 2003 and Near North Properties was the management company,the place was emaculate. I am saddened to hear that the new management team has not kept the same standard, for a building with an awesome location and great amenities it will be imperative that they continue to maintain the building in order to keep the value. One good thing that will possibly improve things temporarily when the east tower goes condo. New home owners will see the kids in the lobby and the unattended locker rooms which they will voice with their realtors or the sales department. (Sales teams always bring those things to their attention if it impacts their ability to meet their sales objectives)
Also, call 311 for non emergencies they will also respond to your noise complaints.
However, on a positive note. I moved from Grand Plaza when the building went condom because the unit I called home for 3 years came with a 600k price tag which I could not commit to. So I purchased in a brand new building in the south loop. Neadless to say it does not stand up to the standards I had become fond of. The building is unsecure; the promised doorman has never arrived so the desk sits empty. The heated garage is like a free for all someone stole the seat off my bike. Who does that? Hot water doesnt work on the coldest days in the winter. No air in the summer. garbage smell in the elevator, when the elevator works. My COMED bill is 250 per month in the winter which is crazy for a 900 sq unit. When I attend the board meetings the board is made up of a few residents and mainly investors who dont live in the building and are only concerned about their bottom dollar. At the last meeting i attended they lowered the association fees which is cool financially but how do you do that with so many things that need to be paid for like a doorman, better security; or a landscaping contract instead of the constant pleas to have residents plant flowers or water grass which I never do because if I wanted a back yard to maintain I would have bought a house.
But I am glad there are shortsales going on in GP maybe I can come home soon until then....
Good Luck!
I saw people having sex in the elevator the other day....some chick was blowing a guy when the door opened!!!!
To that previous poster.....were the couple at least good looking? Because you dont want to live in a building with ugly people. Hahaha.
At least they weren't doing it in the staircase. I've seen left over beer bottles can cups in the staircases. Obviously people party and hook up there too.
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