BJB Evanston, LLC

I am very pleased with 1575 Oak, great downtown location and near Davis metra and el stops.

Pros: maintenance is responsive, close to metra & subway, tons of light in unit, lots of restaurants close by, cost, quiet building, parking available, pets allowed

Cons: older building, laundry in basement, internet occasionally has issues

The building, managed by BJB Evanston, is a bit farther from Kellogg than other apartment buildings, but it is a lovely building and unit. My one bedroom, one bath is ~850 sq ft and has a dining room attached to the kitchen, as well as a large living room and bedroom. It is a great property for dog owners. Cable & internet are included in the rent so you just have to cover gas & electric. Extremely well-managed building - typically they fix issues same day or at least within 24 hrs.

This apartment is better than it seems at first. The lobby/hallway is a bit shabby and the elevators are super small, but once getting into your apartment it's decent and can be made very cozy. I wish they did a better job of cleaning/maintaining those common areas, but at least my apartment is clean and comfortable. It's an older building but in decent shape and all maintenance requests are responded to within 1-2 days. The gym is small but gets the job done with basic machines, ellipticals, and treadmills. Laundry room has 4 washers and 4 dryers, and takes credit card for payment so it's super easy to use. Air conditioner is a wall unit so it's loud during the summer (and we had to turn on/off regularly). Heat has been fine but you can only select a setting 1-5, not a certain temperature. It's not a huge apartment but definitely spacious enough for 2 people. Decent closet space, not a ton (3 closets total).

Pros:
A much cheaper studio apartment than those in downtown Evanston, so it's more no-frills. Worth it to me because my focus was to save money while living alone. Also, I LOVE the location of this apartment because Trader Joe's and Jewel-Osco (aka cheaper groceries) are so closeby. You'll appreciate that in winter when you don't want to walk more than 5 minutes! Train station is right behind the apartment building as well.

I like the size of the apartment since it's cozy, but doesn't feel claustrophobic. There's lots of closet/storage space. It's been getting colder, and the apartment has been very warm, which I really appreciate as I'm having to do less on my own (i.e. heated mattress pad, weighted blanket, etc.) to make the Chicago winter bearable at home! There's a small gym with some treadmills and weight machines and a laundry room with 4 washing machines and 4 dryers.

Cons:
The apartment wasn't very clean upon arrival. Do a deep clean! It's not a very aesthetically appealing building. There is a package room, but it's not really used well, so the packages kind of just lie around near the front door of the building. I wouldn't ship anything expensive here just in case. There are maintenance issues around things like the shower drain or dishwasher, which can be frustrating. The maintenance staff is very kind though.

The apartment overall is comparable in size and location to Kellogg vis-a-vis some of the pricier buildings. The cost is unbeatable. The building though is not as nice as the pricier buildings and management has not devoted enough resources to keeping the apartments up to date (old appliances, need for many maintenance requests). It's livable but I'm not sure whether we'd do it again.

Value property

Low cost but outdated apartment

The house is not so sound proof. Good thing is that it’s close to school

Good and price is fair. However, the gym in the basement really needs some upgrade, improvement, or maintenance.

Great apartment

Many apartments in the unit were recently renewed, and we have clean kitchens and bathrooms. Our apartment locates near Trader Joe's, Whole foods, Jewel Osco, and many other Asian restaurants, what's more, it is a 15-minute walk from the apartment to Northwestern campus. However, it is a little bit noisy here, due to the busy Chicago Ave and the metro station nearby. Also, the walls are thin and sometimes you can hear people talk in the rooms next to yours.

Cheap and amazing

generally good

It is not far from the NU campus. It only takes me 12 min to walk to school. But my classrooms are on the south side of the campus. You should not live here if you usually have classes in the north of the NU campus.

I am satisfied with most of the things of BJB and the apartment except for the internet included in our rent. It shut down a few times during the last five months. The speed is not very fast. You could, of course, buy a different internet provider's service though. Besides, walls are relatively thin.

Other than that, whenever there is a problem, BJB will send someone to fix it within a few days. Very responsive.