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August 2023 by Andreanna M.
Shoutout to Anca and our maintenance engineers! They have been such an asset to this building! Always attentive and respectful. BJB please give them a raise! This is a different topic but I've seen a lot of people always give crappy reviews about the building problems, noises, etc. My opinion is if you know your building is older and needs a little TLC, don't be so quick to judge! A home is a home and should feel like one too yes but that also means you have to accept your building for what it is. Give it a little love! Be more positive people!
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June 2023 by Lux Rowland
Love living in this beautiful historic building!!!!The Management and Maintenance is GREAT!!!Especially Anca, she is soo sweet and very attentive!!!I would recommend this building to anyone!!!So safe, great school district and conveniently close to everything!!! Perfect Location!!!
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June 2023 by Ned Kostur
Staff is always friendly, available, and attentive to your apartment needs. A great and historic building in uptown that exceeds expectations!
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May 2023 by Robert T.
See previous (four star) review below. Over the 3 years we have lived here, BJB has continued to be an exemplary property management company. Every interaction with Tina, George, Teresa, Dina at 1303 Maple location has been positive. They are quick to respond to maintenance requests. They also were flexible, letting us do a roommate swap when one of us was gone for an internship with no fees besides a credit check for the new roommate. They also have installed our four window AC units for us every year we have lived here. I recommend BJB Evanston to all my friends who go apartment hunting in the area.
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April 2023 by Martim L.
I've been living in BJB Evanston (860 Hinman) for almost a year now and I've had a great experience so far. The management team is super helpful and quick to address any of my concerns -- they treat their tenants very well. Their maintenance and handy man is also very effective in dealing with any issues that may pop up (e.g. smoke detector not working etc.). He is trustworthy. I've never had any issues with the internet connection and/or any of the main utilities. Laundry room also works seamlessly. The building is located close to a NU intercampus shuttle stop so it doesn't take long to get to NU's campus. Neighborhood is safe and pleasant to live in. Heating works very well, so it's comfortable even during winter.
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March 2023 by Seo Young M.
I'm already in my 4th year of living in BJB Evanston building (1410 Chicago) and I've had very good experience. It feels safe, located close to campus, and has its money-value (though they've been increasing the rent recently). I was lucky enough to get a top floor unit at the corner, with only the bedroom sharing a wall with the neighbors, so it's been quiet with a lot of privacy. However, the walls can be thin so for units sharing several walls with its neighbors, it might be something you'd want to consider. A lot of the units are also facing the buildings right next to us, which might be annoying sometimes. But I'd still consider BJB as one of the best management in Evanston. Leon, our engineer, was also great and always fixed any problems promptly. I know others who also live in 1420 Chicago and 1575 Oak, and they've all had pretty good experiences in those buildings too!
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January 2023 by C A.
I lived at their 1410 chicago ave location for one year. Small place, very basic appliances. Old building The neighbors in the building were not loud but the building next door is a psychiatric rehab, so their patients are always hanging out outside, in the alleys or front of their building so it's always very loud They charge I believe another 100 dollars for designated parking that the building next door employees would use while I was gone. In the winter, the apartment was hot, regardless of turning off the heat. So i always had a window open but no big deal. I never had issues with the apartment so I never had to reach out to maintenance. Also, I think my apt (which I can't remember the #) had a ghost. So if anyone has that experience, let me know. Maybe I was wrong. All in all, this place is definitely over priced
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October 2022 by Jada C.
When we planned to move from Honolulu, HI to Chicago, we searched for apartments ready to move in. BJB Evanston popped up in the search. We moved in on April 2022 to 6701 N Glenwood Ave. (Mailing address 1347 W Columbia) Decent area. Decent apartment. However, sometimes during the night, we heard someone using our buzzer to get in the building. The scary thing centers around this person aggressively pounding on the main entrance door. We felt the pounding all the way up the 3rd floor. The walls shook. Needless to say, no wonder the person living there prior to us moved out. At times, we could smell the cigarette smoke around the stairs. Granted, we're not supposed to smoke in the building. Once my dog and I heard someone trying to push in the door. Luckily my dog started to bark defensively. That person left. I wonder at times. Management likes to receive money. They hardly return our calls. Nor does management really care about security or safety of their residents.
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September 2022 by Maya I.
I love my apartment! I am new to Evanston and Illinois I found BJB on the internet. I live in one of the older apartments, before 1960s, the renovation is decent and the price is good. The BJB staff and George, the maintenance person, are fantastic. George is super nice, responsible, and gets the job done. I love it so far.
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March 2022 by Domonkos P.
Susan is a very professional and kind manager. I used to have some very bad experience with other agencies (novice foreign Northwestern employees / students are regularly scammed) Susan, on the other hand, was very responsive, kind and supportive. We looked at two apartments and they looked exactly like in the photos. This is very important because several other agencies are doing the trick with Photoshopped images, and awful real apartmants. Also the BJB website and system is the best I've seen here. Pro IT background, booking system and I was able to walk around some apartments in 3D. So if, you are a novice NU student or employee, especially from abroad, EU ... think about who you work with! For this reason, I strongly recommend Susan and the BJB agency. Thanks!
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August 2019 by Scott M.
My unit is very nice and I don't think you can find much better value in the EP/PR area. There are very few issues but when these happened Anca responded quickly and Maciej did quality work. They are the only 2 I've talked to and they both are courteous and friendly. It's nice to have parking too, I was concerned about having to park on the street since it's on northwest highway. So I have no real complaints.
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January 2019 by Deborah B.
I've lived in this location (945 Chicago Ave) for over a year now and I love to be able to walk everywhere for groceries and restaurants. But the thing I love the most is the friendly customer service from Dina and her staff. I would highly recommend apartment living here as they will make you feel right at home.
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June 2018 by Simone B.
Lived 2 years @1 S NW Highway building in Park RIdge. I personally had a great experience. Loved the layout of the apartment, very bright and clean. Anca and Macej at the management and maintenance are great people, always available and very friendly. The do everything in their possibility to help tenants and maintain the building in very good shape. Highly recommended.
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May 2018 by Matt K.
I couldn't be more disappointed, upset, and infuriated with BJB Evanston. I have stayed at 1575 Oak Ave for 8 months since September 2017 and experienced MULTIPLE incidents of being repeatedly locked out from my unit due to door lock malfunction. The engineer came over many times to diagnose the problem but failed to solve the fundamental issue as the problem recurred throughout my time living at this property. The first incident dates back to the very first day of moving into the unit when I had picked up my card key (the entire building uses a card key system), all while the movers were on their way to the building with my furniture and other belongings. It was clear that the door lock itself was malfunctioning (as opposed to the card key) since the engineer himself couldn't use his master card key to open the door. He eventually let me into the unit using a physical master key and told me that he'd be replacing the battery to the lock the next day, although it was evident that the battery wasn't dead (the door lights indicated that the battery was still running). However, the problem repeated itself one month later and the engineer came over to re-diagnose the problem. He said that it was the door latch that was somehow causing a jam that led to the door lock malfunction. Once again, he said that he'd fix it the next day. The management claims that the door lock was replaced, so I believed that this would solve the problem. Unfortunately and frustratingly, the problem repeated itself THREE times recently in April 2018 -- in fact all within a single week. After letting my wife into the unit during the first incident of this time period, the engineer said that he would come back the next day to replace the lock. When the engineer came over the next day, he inspected the lock and said that it was functioning perfectly fine, so he left without replacing anything. That very evening, my wife and I were locked out from our unit once again because the door lock wouldn't work. We had to wait outside our unit for more than 2 hours until midnight with our bags of groceries left in the hallway. The next day, the engineer came over to re-program the entire lock. Much to my disappointment, the door lock malfunctioned again after a week. This was during the daytime so I ran into the building engineer while exiting the building, and he was able to let me in using a physical key on the spot. I brought this to the management's attention immediately. The property manager (Zumi Topic) told me that she would bring in a lock expert to inspect the issue. For all the inconvenience that was caused, I demanded an early lease termination to the management, but the response I heard from them was "Sorry, that cannot be done." All they offered me was issuing a one-time inconvenience fee in the form of a rent credit towards one month's rent, since all the problems fell under the same category of "lock issue." The management claims that they promptly responded to all my calls regarding the lockout and did everything they can to fix the issue. Well, these words don't mean anything if the exact same problem arises 5 times repeatedly. For those who are considering BJB Evanston apartments, please do yourself a favor and stay away from their properties.
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August 2017 by Mike R.
My wife and I lived in a BJB property in Evanston for 2 years and had a great experience. BJB communicated clearly and quickly, and any maintenance requests were promptly addressed.
