Canterbury Court Apartments — Hotel in Chicago

Great response by Becovic, really quite professional 😂

UPDATE: Perhaps more questionable behavior by Becovic. There’s three new five star reviews in a week on this page, all of similar length and style. All of the accounts that left the reviews have no history of leaving any other reviews. I wonder if Becovic is making fake accounts to improve the average review score.

UPDATE: Becovic Holdings (the owner of Canterbury Court since November) decided to respond to this review. So let me give readers some more context. 14 people supported this negative review. That’s more than 10% of the tenants in the building. And I promise you, from my conversations with tenants in the building, many more than 10% of them feel this way. Btw, Canterbury have also been taking a ridiculous amount of pricing on the apartments. My apartment was $1,300 per month before Becovic took over the building. I moved out a few months ago, but I see that rents for that same type of apartment are now at $1,900 on Canterbury’s website. Is this really what you want to deal with?

Also, once again, it’s clear that the apartment just doesn’t care about the tenants. We had a fire safety hazard door issue, which tenants begged management for weeks upon weeks to fix. We left signs on the doors, called, emailed, whatever you can think of. Oh by the way, good luck trying to get your complaints heard because management simply won’t call you back if they don’t feel like it. They have no problem at all ghosting you. And there’s various examples of what can lightly be described as questionable behavior. How does it make sense for the new management team to keep the buildings old Google Maps listing with all of the legacy reviews under the old owner? It’s basically tricking people into thinking that this is a great management team, when really all of those comments are about the old management team. I also believe that management purposefully show only one vacancy for each type of room (I.e., studio, one bedroom, etc.) on Cantetbury’s website in order to try and make applicants think that this place is in high demand. Trust me, it’s not. I have a friend who still lives in the building who says that the building is getting emptier and emptier by the week. This is all in what’s supposed to be busy season: summer. Do yourself a favor and don’t lease here.

Original Review:

Just for some context. This building used to be amazing. It used to be owned by the London family and that is why you see all of the positive reviews. I myself would definitely rate this place a 5/5 under the London family. Maintenance was extremely timely and on-point, rent was very reasonable, you really felt like you were being treated as family. It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Unfortunately, as of a few days ago, the property was bought out by Becovic Holdings. If one Googles Becovic, he/she will see that the company only has 3.6/5 stars. It’s only been a few days since Becovic took over, but they’ve been trying their hardest to make the building experience worse and cut costs at every corner. We no longer have a 24/7 front desk (now only 9-5 M-F), which is grossly insufficient and unsafe. We only have one small trash room now for the whole building, whereas every floor used to have a trash room (and indeed still does, but management are too cheap and greedy to allow us to continue using those). As one would imagine, this has caused significant issues with elevator wait times. There’s no longer a reasonable solution for collecting packages - we have a mail room, but the lack of a 24/7 front desk has meant that those packages aren’t being collected properly and are just piling up outside of our intercom. Thankfully, I haven’t had to put in a service request yet, but it’s clear that Becovic will be very unresponsive to those (just look at how they treat their other properties - some of them even appear to have major cockroach infestations).

If you’re not currently a tenant here, don’t even think about renting the place. It’s...

Canterbury Court is a historic building that was sold to a new development company in late 2024. It's wasn’t hard to see that the building had been operating under constant, unsustainable upkeep. Many of the older services that were once included have been scaled back or disrupted, but are intended to improve the building’s overall sustainability. Since moving in, the owners have announced (and started) implementing some very welcomed amenities.

Fitness Center Reading Lounge/Library Game Room (TV, Pool Table) Indoor/Outdoor Patio Mailroom

Since the beginning of 2025, services that have been reduced include:

Limited Front Desk Coverage No 24-hour onsite maintenance Chaotic Mail Situation During Off Hours

I do believe that the management is making good will on their promises and thus all the problems listed above will be resolved with the upgrades. In the meantime, I did have to call a $150 locksmith after being locked out of my unit, have gotten stuck at the exterior door on weekends and without the freight elevator for a month. None of these were resulted in anything horribly serious but have been an adjustment.

I want to take a moment to recognize the building staff, especially because the part that hurts the most in all of this has been seeing so many of them let go. While the maintenance team is no longer onsite 24/7, there is still a dedicated crew here every day, led by Ned. He’s doing an outstanding job and genuinely goes above and beyond to make sure issues are handled quickly—and in my experience, they have been. Given how quirky and complex this old building is, I imagine it hasn’t been easy, but he’s doing a fantastic job and deserves credit for it.

Annie at the front desk, who’s been here forever, continues to be incredibly diligent, personable, and appreciated for organizing the chaos on Monday’s.

I haven’t met the new manager, Admira, but from everything I’ve seen, it’s clear she’s focused on bringing improvements and making things easier for residents. She didn’t take this role hoping to make anyone’s life harder, she’s simply the messenger. she’s doing the job she was hired to do, and unfortunately, she’s become the target of a lot of frustration right because, you know, CHANGE.

Like any building, this one can attract summertime critters—especially if your unit isn’t spotless. A big factor has been the decades old carpet in many units (also… carpet??), but the biggest culprit might be the windows, which literally might be original. They’re ancient. Years of bathroom steam, weathering and humidity have caused the frames to fail and hardware become useless.

A couple months ago, management announced that every single window in the building is being replaced, which is a massive upgrade and something that wont receive enough credit . I also see that the carpets are being ripped out and replaced with hard flooring. These two changes alone will make a huge difference and really show that the new owners are serious about taking care of the place.

While the transition has come with some growing pains the improvements underway show real commitment. There’s reason to be optimistic about the direction the building is heading and i’m looking forward to seeing...

Highly recommended. The management, location and flexibility with lease duration are all excellent. I moved into Canterbury Court a little over a year ago after returning to my birthplace of Chicago after many years living abroad. I was initially drawn to the flexibility of their short-term leases, the outstanding walkability of the neighborhood, and the fact that basic furnishing and utilities are all included. I ended up staying here several months longer than I had anticipated, due to the flexibility and professionalism of management and the fact that this is one of a few remaining vintage high-rises in the area that is still truly family owned and operated.

Canterbury Court is unparalleld in the features and amenities it offers newly arrived tenants who are either re-locating to Chicago from further afield, including students and international visitors, or those seeking more flexible lease terms than those that can be found elsewhere. The building is supremely walkable: it is less than two minutes to the 24-hour red line CTA service, only a couple minutes walk to the lakefront, and abundant grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and nightlife are all just steps away. Moreover, in a rental landscape increasingly dominated by a handful of impersonal and highly bureaucratic property management groups, this is one of a few remaining high rises that is truly family owned and operated and where the landlord and family are readily available and highly responsive to any needs that may arise. This building is highly secure with a front desk that is staffed 24 hours a day, has surprisingly strong water pressure and abundant hot water for a 1920s-era building, and regular preventative pest control ensures that the building remains insect and vermin free year round- a rarity for many older rental buildings in Chicago.

While people who intend to settle in Chicago permanently may find lower rental rates for 12-month leases in unfurnished units elsewhere in the city, the value for what is included along with flexible lease terms make this building a rarity for new arrivals to the city. All utilities, including very reliable high-speed internet are included in the price, and the furnishings in all units are sufficient even for long-term tenancy, as evidenced by a number of tenants who continue to renew their leases. The building is also full of character, including original vintage elevators, ceiling fans in every bedroom, high ceilings, and large spacious closets. But it is the management and staff that really make this place special and differentiate it from the large, bureaucratic property management groups like BJB. Overall, I highly recommend Canterbury Court for anyone re-locating to Chicago from far away, or anyone seeking a flexible, furnished apartment with a...