North Water Apartments is located in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood; east of Michigan avenue and just north of the river at 340 E. North Water. North Water is connected to Chicago’s Loews Hotel which makes North Water Apartments Chicago’s first building to have only rentals and a hotel in one (The Aqua has rentals and condo). What makes North Water unique is residents enjoy private amenities and do not need to share their amenities with the hotel guests. However, you have many benefits from being connected to the Loews hotel which I will explain shortly.

North Water Apartments & Loews Chicago

I am going to give my review of North Water Apartments from my perspective of not only a Realtor, but also a resident in the building. I moved into the building at the end of April, 2015 only a few weeks after the building opened.

North Water Apartments is a fully amenity building. We have a phenomenal gym, cycle room, outdoor heated pool (they always keep it at 85 degrees) with sun deck, outdoor grills with eating area and outdoor TV.  We have a free coffee bar 24/7 and business area / conference room. There are two indoor lounges, both complete with kitchens, TVs and fireplaces. The lounge on the 50th floor can be reserved and the 50th floor also has a roof deck. Door staff is 24/7, dry cleaners / tailors are in the building and additional storage and bike storage is available as well. All of the above amenities are for residents only and hotel guests have zero access to them. That is the best part and is what differentiates this building from other hotel / apartment concepts not only in Chicago but in the country.

As the building fills up we will soon be able to order from the hotel’s room service…this can get addicting! You can access the hotel without walking outside which means you have access to 3 bars and a restaurant. Trust me, this can get quite addicting as well!

The units themselves are outfitted with what you’d expect from a higher end rental building. Wood Flooring, Quartz Countertops, SS Appliances. A few nice pluses: All the cabinet drawers and doors are self close. There are more outlets than you will know what to do with, including in the hallway closet! I am in an 08 tier which is the “J” unit. My unit has a HUGE walk in closet which is one reason we were attracted to this unit. We were moving from a condo with a 6 x 10 walk in closet and I’m happy to say this closet fits everything we have and then some.

I’m a big fan of the hallways in this building. Even though you are not in a hotel, the hallways make you feel like you are. It is always as disappointing feeling when I step into what looks like a nice building from the lobby, but the hallways disappoint. Here, no expense was spared.

Views, Views, Views!

There are 2 “main” views in the building as the building runs length wise north and south, meaning the majority of the units face either East or West. If you face east you get perfectly clear lake views no matter what floor you are on. Watching the fireworks at Navy Pier is not a problem at all, nor is watching the sunrise in the wee hours of the morning. The west views offer incredible city, river and sunset views. What is important to note, however, is that this IS A VIEW BUILDING! LITERALLY ALL THE UNITS have a great view. We opted for the west view. I love looking down the river early in the morning when I wake up and the view is even more stunning at night. See below!

                     North Water Apartments

Service

Service, in my opinion, is just as important as the aesthetics of the building or the amenities inside. The door staff at North Water Apartments goes above and beyond to take care of anything you need. From packages brought up and put inside your unit while you’re away, to hailing a cab in the rain to helping you get stuff out of your car…the list goes on.

Our building manager has also arranged to many different events in the building. We’ve had “Move in the Pool” night when management arranged to have a giant blow up screen and movie play at the pool (complete with popcorn, cotton candy and floating pool chairs). We’ve had brunches and cocktail hours so we can get to know our neighbors and we’ve even had cooking classes.

About Me

If you’ve read any of my blogs in the past about rental buildings or renting in Condo Buildings versus Apartment Buildings, you know I have ALWAYS been biased toward renting in condo buildings. I’ve recommended them for a multitude of reasons including better finishes, better kept building, etc. However, in this case, I personally have moved into North Water Apartments because for the money I have yet to find a condo building that can compare or another rental building that can compare. Now I know there are many new rental buildings opening up in 2016 and 2017, but at the current time, in my humble opinion, North Water Apartments is one of the best places to rent in the city.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NORTH WATER APARTMENTS FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO ME!

PAUL BLACKBURN IS AN ILLINOIS LICENSED REALTOR AND BROKER WITH @properties IN CHICAGO. HE CAN BE REACHED VIA HIS CELL OR E-MAIL PAUL@PKBLACKBURN.COM