Address: 2355 White Birch Lane, Joliet.
Size: 620 square feet.
Rent: $450 a month.
Age of buildings: 27 years old.
Security deposit: One month`s rent.
Number of floors: Some of 10 buildings have two floors and others have three.
Utilities: Gas and water included in rent.
Parking: Free outdoor lot.
Special features: Laundry and storage facilities and outdoor pool.
You wouldn`t know it to look at The Birches apartment complex today, but it hasn`t always worn its age so well.
Just two years ago, this 10-building apartment complex was haggard, with obvious signs that a facelift was overdue. It also bore the financial scars of foreclosure.
Then, in May 1989, Eagle Properties bought the financially distressed property and invested $2.5 million in two years of rehab work.
The facelift, completed last summer, was just what the complex needed. It now is 95 percent occupied, with many new tenants joining the older tenants who remained.
”There`s no other way to put it, but the property looked like a slum,”
said Michael A. Budzinski, assistant property manager. ”It was in distressed condition when it was purchased. Sixty percent of the apartments were uninhabitable.”
Set your own tone
But there are no signs now of the buildings` troubled times. Instead, the apartments are spiffy, with today`s preferred neutral tones: white walls and beige or gray wall-to-wall carpeting in the living areas and white tile floors in the kitchen and bathroom. There`s nothing fancy here, and the plainness enables renters to decorate their units to suit their personalities.
Tenants also have their pick of apartment styles. There are studios, one- bedrooms and two-bedrooms as well as townhouses, which have two- or three-bedroom plans. (The townhouses are in a building separate from the
buildings that offer regular apartment plans.)
The only major problem here is finding an apartment available for rent.
Since the facelift, The Birches` days of low occupancy have ended, said Roger Cagann, director of the renovation project.
”We`ve stayed relatively full since the property changed hands and since the renovation,” said Cagann.
But some one-bedroom plans will soon be available, so we visited one of these units, a 620-square-foot one-bedroom.
Thanks to nice windows, the living room is flooded with natural light. At about 16 by 14 feet, it can easily accommodate a sofa, a cocktail table and a small entertainment center. The 10-by-6 kitchen is separated from the living room by a table-height counter, which doubles as a dining space. The counter, with space for four chairs, saves tenants the cost of investing in a dining table.
The galley-style kitchen has a white refrigerator and stove (but no dishwasher) and a double sink. White Eurostyle cabinets, with light brown wood trim, surround the appliances.
The bathroom and bedroom are on the other side of a wall between the living room and kitchen.
The all-white bathroom has a linen closet along with a toilet, vanity, sink and bathtub.
The 15-by-11 bedroom is just across the hall, offering space for a queen- sized bed, a dresser and an armoire. The walk-in closet is one of the apartment`s best features. Measuring about 7 by 6 feet, it has shelves for storage as well as a double row of poles for hanging garments.
The closet makes up for the limited storage space in the rest of the apartment: a small hall closet at the entrance door and a pantry in the kitchen.
For apartment shoppers who want a dishwasher in the kitchen, its absence here could be a turnoff. But the overall appeal of the apartment and its central location in Joliet are not.
The Birches is just west of St. Joseph`s Medical Center, less than a block away from shopping and a short walk or drive to schools.
Tenants who work in Chicago can easily hop onto the Metra train at the recently renovated Union train station, just 10 minutes away. But commuting by car to Chicago will require some patience, at least 45 minutes to an hour on the road each way.
In addition to the one-bedroom we visited, there are four other one-bedroom plans: 525 square feet at $420 to $430 a month; 615 square feet, $430 to $440; 640 square feet, $450 to $460; and 650 square feet, $460 to $470.
Studio apartments rent for $370 to $380 a month; two-bedrooms, $520 to $570; two-bedroom townhomes, $675; and three-bedroom townhomes, $750.
For rental information, call 815-725-7793.
