I also live here, and have lived here for nearly two years. I moved in when they converted the building from apts to condos and have been very happy.
About 50% of the owners here rent out their units.
Location - Unbeatable and offers you many conveniences. There is a medium sized grocery store attached to the building. There's also a dry cleaners in the building. You're literally two blocks away from Michigan Avenue for shopping. A CVS and a Walgreens are just two blocks away. You are a few blocks away from the AMC River East 21 Theaters and the Dominicks, just across the Chicago River. There's of course Millennium Park also two blocks south. For those that commute, you're just off of Lower Wacker Drive, which is a gem to take you straight to 290 & 90/94, as well as the West Loop.
Parking - There is no deeded parking (yet) so its leased. You can get it for $210 - $225 per month. One downside, there is no guest parking and street parking is exactly that.
Amenities: 2-lane lap pool, jacuzzi/hot tub, saunas, locker rooms, well equipped fitness center (free weights, machine weights, 5 treadmills, 3 ellipticals, stairmaster, bikes). There's also a business center with 6 computers (although they usually run slow...I wouldn't rely on them as my sole computer) with a printer, fax machine, and copy machine. I always put my documents on a jump drive, and print it in there! The amenities are awesome.
Cable - The Building just switched to DirecTV for Cable. Basic cable is included in your assessment, but any upgrades requires a box, which you can either lease (basic box) or buy (HD / DVR / HD+DVR). One cool thing is that they installed an HD Antennae on the roof of the building to pipe it into each unit, so anyone can get the off-air HD signals from all the local stations (and there's a ton!) for FREE.
Internet - The building also contracted with a carrier to bring in a fiber optic line straight to the building, and provide 3.0 MBPS speed for only $15/month. You wont find any other provider that can beat the price/speed ratio. Its super fast, reliable, and so reasonable. It doesn't require you to subscribe to a phone line either. Alternatively, you can get AT&T DSL (which is what i had before this in-house service)
Staff - Ok, as the other reviewer pointed out, the Front Desk Supervisor is stern, but she's nice and only doing her job well. She is a stickler for the rules, so if you have a problem with the rules, you should work to get them changed or at the least explained. But I wouldn't plan on walking your dog through the lobby under her watch... I've never had an ongoing issue. Usually, if there is a problem, one or two emails takes care of it. The management team and front desk staff are very responsive and helpful.
In response to the other review - the dog area is for your dog to piss. Yes, we all walk on the sidewalk, and we don't like skipping around the puddles like hopscotch. So good for the building manager to point that out to you since your ONE dog's activities affects ALL of us. That's why we spent $5,000+ on the dog area. The area's big enough, and I've seen it happen without problem, for more than one dog to be using that area at one time.
Price - The condo's are selling in this building for a lot less than other buildings near here (Aqua, 340 Randolph, Manderin). Apartments are renting at comparable prices to the Shoreham and other area apt buildings.
Hope this helps you! read more