Lake Meadows Apartments

If you ever want to get a free contact high, go to 400 East 33^rd on the fourth floor and just stand in the hallway. It smells like weed there just about everyday.

I have lived in Lake Meadows Apartments for 21 years during the past 4 years the living here is like living in a housing project… the apartments have roaches and rats, bad plumbing, bad wiring, no ventilation, bed bugs, the laundry rooms have mold in them, over half of the washig machine are broken and the Management is the best of the worst. DK have renovated a handful of the units to try to fool the banks so they can secure a bank loan before they the demolish most of the buildings.

Plans are in the works to tear these old apartment buildings down. The plans were originally announced in 2008 by the owner, D&K, but were put on hold because of the recession and housing bust. Now, the plans are back on. The current apartments, as admitted by the Draper & Kramer CEO, «have reached a point of physical and functional obsolescence.» That means that the apartments are so old and outdated that it’s time to tear them down and build new ones. The apartments were built in the 1950’s and have never been renovated. The electrical, plumbing, heating, windows, kitchen cabinets, and floor plans are over 60 years old and there are no basic modern conveniences like central air and dishwashers. These high-​rise buildings also lack fire sprinkler systems, which makes them very dangerous to live in. I would strongly advise against moving here unless you are looking to pay a ridiculously high price to rent an old, outdated, unsafe apartment that is slated for the wrecking ball. For more info. on this, Google and read each of the following three articles: 1) «Lake Meadows residents criticize redevelopment plan» 2) «Whispers of an old, massive redevelopment plan for the South Side emerge: Lake Meadows, plan to redevelop 70+ acres of Bronzeville with more than 7,800 housing units over 20 years surface online» 3) «Is the Massive Lake Meadows Redevelopment Back On?»

To begin with, I reside in a very large apartment complex. I have had very bad plumbing issues since the 2^nd week of June, 2014. Constant dirty water backing up into my kitchen sink, over flowing on the floor. I have had pieces of food, debris, reddish colored water coming up from the sink. I have sent pictures from my phone with email to management and the corporate office. I have been getting the run around with no definitive answer to when the problem will be solved.
I pay $ 1, 088.00 per month; I have been living in this complex for almost 5 years, but never had problems of this magnitude. Something is going on. I know DK Living Apartments aka Lake Meadows Apartments can afford a plumber.
This is very upsetting. I can’t even have the pleasure of getting water from the kitchen sink or cook without being faced with this issue every day, and several times throughout the day.

Do not move here.
I made the mistake of moving here for one year because the grounds look nice and it is very close to south loop, though more affordable. Additionally they are «pet friendly», so we decided to move here.
This place is ridiculous. It feels like the projects once you move in. The other residents are rude at best and often criminal. There are constantly police officers arresting people from my building and there are always sirens /​police vehicles outside.
During the course of my one year lease, my husband was robbed at gunpoint in front of our building (at 9am on a Saturday morning), my dog was evicted from the building and had to spend the remainder of our lease living with my mom (because this is the least dog friendly complex you will ever find that proclaims to be «dog friendly»), and the building caught on fire twice (and there are no fire alarms or sprinklers to alert /​protect other residents).
The majority of people who live in this apartment complex are terrified of dogs and will give you no end of grief if you move here with a dog. They will make you wait to ride on the elevators (which, by the way, are not up to code — you actually have to sign a waiver acknowledging that amongst many other safety issues when you move in) and will actively yell at you out of their windows if your dog should dare set foot on the grass (but when you move in, they will use all of the grass as a selling point for why you and your pet should move to their «community»).
There are obviously not doormen in this neighborhood as there would be in the south loop, but rather security guards. These «guards» are concerned with anything BUT your safety. When my husband was mugged (again, on a bright Saturday morning RIGHT in front of our building), they laughed and told him to be careful. However, they are constantly policing residents for allowing pets to use the wrong entrance or whose pets step on the grass, etc.
In terms of communication with residents, the management has not yet developed an email system (although it is very unlikely that most people that live here use email, to be fair) or a bulletin board — so, several times a week, they will print out hundreds of fliers with several sentences threatening every resident in the building to dispose of trash properly /​keep their pets away from other owners and off of the grounds /​etc and pepper the hallways with individual notices on every single door in the building.
I read some bad Unilocal reviews before I moved in and thought «it can’t be that bad, can it?». It is. If you are the type of person who is capable of using Unilocal in your life, you really shouldn’t move here. You will be miserable.

3 weeks ago, I was getting on the elevator and when the door opened, there stood several State Police troopers. I stepped in and they all started laughing to try and make me feel comfortable because I had that shocked look on my face like «what the hell are they doing in this building this early in the morning.
But that was not the half if it, when we got to the main floor there were several more police officers with their guns drawn as if they were waiting for an offender to come in the building or exit the building.
I later on found out that they were looking for a guy and his mother who were international counterfeiters and no longer lived in Lake Meadows, but it was exciting.

This is the worst company to deal with. I’m dead serious. Be sure that you’re going to have a lot of problems with both the management and leasing office during your stay here. I gave them one star because I really like the maintenance guys in each building. They’re probably the only workers that are helpful.

Lived there for two years. Not too bad.
The management staff was not responsive to anything. It will take forever to wait for a call back.
I moved out of there 6 months ago and the lost my deposit check for $ 1200. They said they would reissue the check and bang! Half a year later I’m still waiting.
Don’t live here there.

I would like to say that Lake Meadows management and maintenance staff are wonderful! The grounds, parking lot and my building #3 to include the laundry area are always clean! My unit is also kept in the best condition I have been here for 2 years. I have called about a few things, door squeaks, locked out, towel bar and the response has always been fast and courteous! The building manager Lorraine McClain consistently has information hand delivered by the maintenance staff regarding updates and notices. Its such a great personal touch. I can not say enough wonderful things about the management and maintenance staff. Its a very safe, comfortable and clean place I love to call home :-)