GLA Property Management

I would most definitely recommend that people looking to move into a property that GLA Manages to watch out! I had the worst experience with them. It took nearly 3 months before they replaced the refrigerator that they kept saying was working. The replaced parts then it would work for a week then another week it would break and all my food would spoil. This happened 3 times while I lived there. The stove in the unit I was living at decided to not work and when I told the management office they were unwilling to discount any rent since they said that I was not use the stove each day. I had to mention to them that I pay for the gas each month. In the end they did discount but they did not seem to want to be reasonable at all. At the end of my lease I did not resign but be aware that this management office takes $ 100 away from your deposit. I do not agree with that at all! My over all experience was bad but the other tenants are definitely a positive for the location. Be careful moving in with GLA.

I rented from GLA for 17 months, and had a great experience. My apartment was a studio+ in an old building east of Ridgeland Ave in Oak Park. Despite the age of the building, the property was very well-​maintained by the landlord. Common areas were almost always kept in near-​pristine condition. For the quality of the apartment, the rent was very reasonable (less than $ 900 per month for ~750 square feet).
I renewed my one-​year lease for a second year in March 2015 and the rent increase was only about 2%. GLAs contracts are written strictly, as is necessary when running a property management business (including an acceleration provision for early lease termination). However, in practice, GLA is very reasonable when deviating from contract terms. For instance, when I got a new job out-​of-​state in June 2015 and had to leave town with only three weeks’ notice, I informed the owner and she told me that if I found a new tenant, she would allow me to transfer the lease with no fee.
I posted the apartment on Craigslist and had about 10 showings in two week. Long story short, I found a new tenant to take possession only 3 weeks after my departure and only ended up having to pay for about one week of August rent. Considering the contract terms, this was an extremely favorable outcome, as acceleration would have cost me approximately $ 7,000. GLA also returned 80% of my security deposit.
In sum, renting from GLA was a pleasure, and the owner, LaVerne, is a class act.

I’ve lived in a GLA property for about a year now and have zero complaints. They are responsive to emails, sufficiently prompt in making repairs (24 – 48 hrs?), and negotiate lease terms like humans. Best of all, they leave their tenants and the units alone for the most part — I never felt as though they were coming and going from my unit for excessive maintenance, repairs, showings, etc.
My only knock is that I would have loved to negotiate month to month terms once I hit the one-​year mark, but maybe that’s an unrealistic request. :)

Good people! They are extremely professional, treat you fairly, and take maintaining their properties very seriously. In a world full of sleazy landlords, GLA are a bright shining star! They run a clean show and supply comfortable housing, what’s not to like ;)
(Bob L. already wrote a perfect review, not sure what I can add to that, but wanted to send some love to GLA)

I lived in the 320 Wisconsin apartment building for two years. In 2012, I moved from California for a new job in the Loop. Through the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, I found 320 Wisconsin. My new job had me traveling almost every week so safety was a concern for me. 320 Wisconsin is great for building security in that GLA’s office is located in the lobby of the first floor. I never worried about my stuff while I was traveling.
GLA was wonderful. They provided prompt responses to my emails. Any repairs were done ASAP. They were honest and above board when it came to dealing with tenants. Everything was documented and they did exactly what they said they would do in the time frame promised. I really wish all landlords were like GLA. The only reason why I moved out was to take a new job in California. Otherwise, I would probably still be at 320 Wisconsin.
The YMCA rents parking spaces behind 320 Wisconsin. I never had any security issues with my car in the lot.
Positives for me about the building are: security, parking in the back, no smoking policy, wiring was up to date (good fast Uverse connection), building although vintage was remodeled recently, quiet building (thick walls).
Negatives– the elevators have brass accordion gates. They are a pain when your hands are full. Part of the building’s charm though. Some studio apartments only have mini-​fridges.

I have had the weekend from Hell. I went out for a lovely dinner with friends, only to come back to my apartment and the key breaks off in the 90 year old lock. There are no emergency numbers posted anywhere. I drive in the pouring rain over to the offices on Wisconsin, and get a general number, which directs me to more numbers for random maintenance people, none of whom answer their phones. I go back home — call a locksmith, and pay him $ 200 bucks to open the door. Today, it is 10:00am, and even though I left messages for LaVerne, I still haven’t heard a peep. I can’t even leave and go to work. Why? Because I would have to leave my apartment unsecured. Perfect. So anyway, I call, and about an hour later, John shows up. He is perfectly nice while he pulls the broken key from the 90 year old lock. But everything changes when I mention the bill from the locksmith, and ask to be recompensed. This guy flips — and starts ranting about how it is my fault, and how I should have warned them about the locks so they could fix it. He turns to me, and goes, «you broke it, you need to pay for this.» Pardon me, what? I don’t own this, and let’s just call it what it is, a well located dump with about 50 layers of cheap white paint, next to the main post office that makes deliveries. All. Night. Long. The radiator in my bedroom does not work. At one point I was forced to eat takeout for a month, because they refused to fix my refrigerator, which was malfunctioning and freezing everything.
God bless it, I cannot wait to move. STAY AWAY FROM THIS MGMT COMPANY. Just pay the extra money and stay in a nicer building.