Address: 2580 Golf Rd. in Glenview.
Size: One bedroom, 866 square feet.
Rent: $692 a month.
Age of building: 10 years old.
Security deposit: One month`s rent.
Floors in buildings: Two.
Utilities: Not included.
Parking: Free outdoor lot.
Special features: Laundry room on each floor, with individual apartment lockers to store detergent and other cleaning supplies.
If you`re scouting for an apartment that has a fitness room, a swimming pool, sundeck, tennis courts or a swanky lobby with a doorman who always greets you by name, you`ve pulled into the wrong driveway.
Instead, you`ve arrived at a building that offers the basics in apartment life with a couple of unexpected little extras thrown in. In the laundry room, you`ll get your own locker where you can store laundry supplies, and in the apartment the closets are so big that storage should never be a problem.
The two-story 2850 Golf Rd. apartment building, with 12 units per floor, is one of four buildings of the Talisman Apartments. The others are a 10-story building that offers unobstructed views of downtown Chicago, and two six-story buildings. As a result, you don`t get the feeling of sameness that many complexes have.
That diversity carries over into the apartment plans: Apartment shoppers looking for a studio, one- or two-bedroom flat can choose from several plans. For example, the one-bedroom plan can be as small as 668 square feet and as large as 878 square feet. The apartment we saw, at 866 square feet, is one of the larger one-bedrooms.
When you enter the unit you`ll notice two things-the balcony off the living room and the closets, which seem to be at every turn.
The first closet is to your right in the entryway, which opens to the living room and the kitchen. The position of the entryway closet suggests it`s the traditional hall closet, but its size-nearly 7 feet long-tells you it`s not. Instead, it`s a storage area for things that need to be packed away and pulled out only on occasion, such as holiday decorations or sports equipment. The flat`s natural traffic pattern moves you to the right, in the direction of the living/dining room and kitchen.
The kitchen measures about 10 by 10 feet, and there`s space here for a bistro table for two. The refrigerator and stove are gold and the dishwasher is brown. There is a double-stainless-steel sink and at least 14 brown wooden cabinets are located above or below the major appliances. The brown and white patterned wallpaper is an eyecatcher and though it`s a change from the white- on-white often seen in apartments, it may not be to everyone`s liking.
Daylight
From the kitchen you can see the living room through a pass-through window that has a couple of shelves to display knick-knacks or plants.
The living room, which measures almost 22 by 15 feet, can accommodate a regular-size sofa, cocktail table and entertainment center or bookcase. There`s also space for a small dining table for four.
Daylight brightens this room from two directions-a large window and two sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony. The sliding glass doors have a window-pane look, which gives the impression that there are two large floor-to-ceiling windows side by side, and the balcony is large enough to entertain friends.
Your bedroom and bathroom are on the other side of the apartment. A short hall off the entryway leads you there.
Two closets in the hall face one another. One resembles the traditional hall closet (about 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep). The other is for linen.
A few steps away is the bathroom, with walls papered in a silver metallic print. The fixtures-sink, bathtub/shower and toilet-are white. The cabinet is a light brown wood and there are glass bathtub/shower doors.
Your bedroom is next door. Measuring about 11 by almost 17 feet, it can accommodate a queen-size bed, dresser and a wardrobe cabinet. There is an average size window-and another oversized closet that`s almost as long as the room.
The apartment is painted off-white and has beige wall-to-wall carpet in every room except the kitchen and the bathroom. The kitchen has a white tile floor, and the bathroom floor is white and beige ceramic. The bath and kitchen have fluorescent-lighted ceilings.
Pluses and minuses
Although this building doesn`t have the amenities that some shoppers have come to expect-such as fitness rooms, swimming pools or tennis courts-the basics are here.
It`s also a friendly place.
The location is a plus and a curiosity. This Golf Road address may put you in Glenview, but you`re across the street from a shopping center that is in Morton Grove and a mini-mart that`s in Niles. Your location also puts you near the Edens Expressway and the Tri-State Tollway.
Some apartment shoppers may find the Golf Road address too busy for comfort. You`re on a commercial and residential strip with the Talisman Shopping Center as one of your neighbors.
You`re also next door to your landlord, VPX Corp., whose office has a make-yourself-at-home atmosphere. VPX President Gabriel Petrie and one of his assistants, Sandy Gorman, take apartment shoppers on a tour of the property.
While the apartment building doesn`t have health and fitness amenities, Petrie says the indoor swimming pool, which had been deactivated, will be in operation by year-end. He showed a visitor a space that`s been set aside for a fitness room.
For rental information call 708-724-3000 or 708-729-9210.
