Parq Fulton — Local services in West Chicago Township

Poor Value for Money -- 2 Stars

I lived at Parq Fulton for 1 year. I paid approx. $3400/mo. (including parking and most utilities) for a NW corner 1 bedroom unit.

List of PROS and CONS below:

PROS Nice safe/warm garage (there is a waiting list now). Largest dog run I've seen in the area. Good quality appliances. Fast internet. Good heating and cooling. They have a few meet-ups/ yoga classes monthly. The 18th-floor yoga studio is really nice. Finally, excellent maintenance and concierge teams. They are kind, supportive, and always helpful. The new leasing team is also helpful.

CONS

Unit Specifics The unit is too small for a couple or for guests. The finishes are actually not quality though they look like they are, they will deteriorate in a few years, and there was a flooding issue on one or two floors (I wasn't involved). Shades are worthless and if you are west facing you will struggle to get your unit below 80 F in summer afternoons. No overhead light in the bedroom/living room spaces. You will need lamps throughout which takes up precious space. No closet doors. Super small closet for any adult working a professional job. At all costs don't select a NW corner unit, hallways are narrow and a waste of space and the bedroom and bathroom doors collide.

Building Specifics Too few elevators (there are 3) -- one is often reserved for move-in/ move out, essentially, the entire building is served by only 2 elevators. Also, the elevator software is peculiar and tries to limit shared elevators which increases wait times. All door access is controlled via an App on your phone which is finicky. In order to pick up a package you will need to operate the App three separate times to get back into your unit. Parq Fulton claims this is for your security but it's likely just for insurance/ anti-litigation reasons. A key fob would have been simpler and is just as secure. Door locks have cameras in them so every time you use a door your photo is being taken. Just a personal opinion but I don't like Parq Fulton (and their lock provider) recording and saving my movements, guest photos, etc. There are lots of first time dog owners so good pet ownership etiquette is lacking. Little dogs are often found urinating on the building immediately in the front or rear entrances. There are no disposal elements/ tools in the dog run. During winter Parq Fulton over salts. Excess salt causes diarrhea in dogs (as it did with mine). There's no street parking so having guests is troublesome. Movers/ restaurant delivery trucks are constantly blocking the garage entrance because the garage parking street (off Lake) is very narrow and a dead-end. The Bambola restaurant located on the ground floor building is laughably expensive. Quality is consistent with what Americans think Silk Road cuisine tastes like. I mention this here because the leasing office will advocate the restaurant as an advantage. It's not. The L-Train is super loud if you reside on the north side and runs from 5am to midnight. This was my mistake but it's a con nonetheless. The 18th floor is the common floor. It's rarely used. It's nice but it's not $3400 / month nice. That's why I've included it here. The 'weight room' is on the 3rd floor so if you're in a 4th-floor unit you will hear weights being dropped. It's also very small and can only accommodate 3, maybe 4 people. The 'cardio room' is on the 18th floor and is west facing which means by 2pm it's super hot and does not cool off very well, especially with the poor floor-to-ceiling shades. If you do a weight/ cardio routine you'll need to take an elevator (not a huge issue but would be nice if it was all in one place).

Finally, I found the leasing office (especially the initial team) very difficult to work with. Don't answer emails timely, no clear communication about move in/ move out, etc.

Ultimately -- Parq Fulton is 2 stars because you can find better value...

Don't live here - Management team only cares about money.

Our dog was viciously attacked while waiting in the lobby for an elevator by another resident's pitbull. Elevator door opened, pitbull exited the elevator first and immediately upon seeing my dog, jumped her and latched onto her neck. After a significant struggle the other dog owner and my boyfriend were able to finally pull the pitbull off and we had to take our dog to the ER to be sedated and get stitches and also a drain installed because the skin was pulled so far from her muscle. She had to be put on 2 antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory, and pain meds. It was a very traumatic incident to say the least. A member of the management team witnessed the attack, as well as several other people.

In the days following the attack, my dog had visible anxiety (whining, tail tucking, foaming at the mouth) while waiting for and using the building's elevator and my boyfriend and I both felt nervous and unsafe as well every time the elevator door opened as we didn't know what to expect anymore. This was something we had to deal with multiple times a day to take our dog out. As she's 50 lbs, it's not like we could carry her every time we used the elevator. We contacted management and begged that they let us out of our lease given the circumstances. They basically told us they weren't required to do anything for us except kick the other dog out of the building, which they already did (they did not btw, the other dog owner let us know they were already moving out in 3 weeks because their lease was ending). We told them we understood it was not the building's fault that the attack occurred, and understood that legally they didn't have to let us out of our lease without penalty, but we asked them to do the human thing and let us out without penalty anyway as we were suffering post trauma anxiety in their building from an incident that happened in their building. They of course said no, and we had to pay over $6,000 (two months rent) to buy out our lease, plus give them a 30 day notice so we have to still pay pro-rated rent for the next month.

We have talked to a lot of people about this and have heard many stories of other people who have gone through similar situations and their building has let them break their lease free of charge. At the end of the day it's our fault for not reading the fine print of our lease and anticipating that our dog might get viciously attacked in our building and suffer from PTSD, I suppose. Just understand that this building's management team operates on greed, and under no circumstances will they do the right thing or help you out if they don't have to.

Other cons: -residents don't abide by the guest policy and nobody checks on it so there will often not be room for you to enjoy the amenities you pay for -unless Pete is working, there will likely be nobody at the front desk (many times we have ordered food and after an hour and a half called the restaurant only to find out our food had been delivered in the lobby 30-45 min ago and nobody from the front desk called us to notify us) -the gym is west facing so if you plan to use it in the afternoon/evening it will be a sauna and sun will be in your eyes -the alley the parking garage entrance is on is on an intersection so making a left turn is very hard during busy times -Elevators break a lot (I was stuck in one for 45 minutes and had to wait for a maintenance team to manually open the elevator and climb out, and then another time while we were moving out the elevator dropped suddenly and we became stuck but this time only for a few minutes)

Pros: Pete at the front desk The maintenance team It's a...

From the moment we saw Parq Fulton, we knew no other building would beat it. Aside from everything being new, which we kept coming back to when we toured 3 other buildings that day, the finishes and colors are modern and beautiful. We also love the Latch system which is a keyless/fobless system that is used throughout the building to access your apartment and amenities. So easy to use and you never have to worry about forgetting your keys! Lol. You always have your own unique door code so even if your phone dies, you can type in the code and you can get home! 24/7 concierge is awesome too. Everyone we’ve met has been super friendly and helpful from the concierge team!

The amenities are amazing and we love that there’s a literal dog park as part of the building. It’s not just a small dog run. The dog spa is great as well! Not just your standard stainless steel dog wash, it looks like an actual little spa. I was surprised to see there wasn’t a dryer in there but I have my own so not a biggie.

Other things we love: 18th floor lounge area, yoga room, pool, coworking space includes 2-3 small offices you can use, and last but not least, the little private outdoor nooks where you can just go to hang out aside from your own balcony; I work remote so I’m excited to use all of this.

Property Manager and Leasing Manager: We had an issue with our application and Jessica helped us through that whole process and even held the apartment we chose for us until we got everything resolved which I am SO GRATEFUL for because the floor plan I chose wasn’t one I actually saw on tour but the video tour was super helpful and once we saw it, we fell in love! Jessica was super sweet and I could tell she really wanted to work with us so that we could move in here!

Ava was wonderful throughout the whole process of our lease application and signing as well as answering all my random questions, which was a lot, she even sent me measurements of our floor plan since I was planning furniture and the site hadn’t been updated yet with the virtual tour and measuring tool. Overall a great experience from both these lovely ladies!

EAST FACING VIEWWWWWS ARE 😍 We have a full skyline view from the 23rd floor and it’s just gorgeous.

Last but not least, WEST LOOP! So many great things to say but the location is so good. Lots of restaurants, coffee shops, shopping, parks, and our favorite dog park over by Skinner Park which is a 10-15 minute walk from the building. Union and Mary Bartelme Park are also close...