(Above) Main entrance to the east tower lobby at Marina City following renovation in 2013. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

In 2013, the condominium association at Marina City embarked on a long-overdue project to renovate the residential lobbies of both towers. The project would conclude significantly over-budget and lead to the resignation of the residential property manager and an overhaul of the condo board.

Renovating both the east and west tower lobbies was supposed to cost condo owners at Marina City $258,599. Marina Towers Condominium Association approved the projects on November 15, 2012.

But many unit owners felt they were not being given a voice in how their assessment dollars were going to be spent. About 250 owners tried unsuccessfully to stop work on the lobbies, complaining of the design and how the project was managed. They claimed the project was approved with limited input from owners. Even two members of the condo board said the project, as first designed, was not a good use of association funds.

Their petition called for a special meeting on January 24, 2013, to discuss the project. In the meantime, residents of the west tower found their lobby closed for renovation. “The lobby is now closed for two months in cold weather,” said Brian Muir (left), a real estate broker with an office at Marina City. “This is causing a significant inconvenience to all west tower residents, especially the elderly, on a daily basis. Just to get their mail, residents must exit at the plaza level, go outside, and re-enter the building.”

Architecture critic Lynn Becker, who lived at Marina City, shared his disapproval of the project, arguing that lobbies define a building’s “public character.” “What remains a mystery,” said Becker (right), “is why the Marina City condo board continues to insist on damaging the value of their investment through cheap, generic alterations that destroy the integrity of the historic, world-class design that makes Marina City one of Chicago’s most distinctive properties.”

MTCA rejected the petition by owners for a special meeting on January 24, saying many of the signatures were delivered improperly by proxy, in which one owner represents another, and discounting them, per Illinois law, left the petition short of the 20 percent of ownership needed to call a special meeting.

In a two-page letter to unit owners on January 10, Donna Leonard, president of Marina Towers Condominium Association, called the petition “ill-conceived and ill-fated” and accused the group behind the petition of spreading “false rumors” about the lobby renovation project – and using “unsavory tactics” such as “threats, intimidation, and other false statements.”

Leonard said she heard complaints from owners who were allegedly called at work, harassed in hallways and elevators, and cornered at social functions.

“Still others have reported threats, intimidation, and other false statements having been made against or to them, all in an effort by the proponents of stalling the progress that this board is attempting to achieve in making MTCA a more pleasant and valuable place to live,” said Leonard (left). She defended starting the project during winter months “since the work does not involve exterior renovation” and insisted the project, “much needed and well overdue,” would not require a special assessment. Photo by Diane Alexander White

Leonard compromised and agreed to hear input from unit owners at a regular meeting of the condo board on January 15, 2013.

During the two-hour meeting, one owner described “heated exchanges” between board members with opposing opinions on the lobby design. Three progressively tamer motions were made to improve the design – to hire a professional design firm, to try harder to replicate the original design of the lobby, and then just to “warm up” the colors – and all three were voted down by the condo board.

Others called the design “better suited for an office building” and said it would “not result in value addition and a premium image for Marina City.” They recommended neutral, warm colors and materials such as stone and wood. “These materials are commonly seen in high-end hotels as well.”

A group that included architects and professional designers said the condo board should not be making design decisions itself – and employing a design firm would be a worthwhile investment. (Right) East tower lobby following renovation in 2013. The outer lobby transitions around the cylindrical core to an elevator lobby at right.

The group included Gail Borthwick, design director at Gensler, an architecture and design firm in Chicago, Nicol Chervenak, a project manager at Cannon Design, Laura Holman, a technical director at SmithGroupJJR, and Pranav Seth, a project architect at Gensler.

“It should not be the job of the board to design lobbies and corridors, and unfortunately, neither are they qualified for the role,” said the group in its presentation. “The board should not be making aesthetic judgments on behalf of owners, either. They are elected to serve the best interests of owners, and are failing to deliver on this responsibility by not engaging the residents to consider their opinion and personal tastes as they embark on one of the most significant projects a condo association undertakes once in several decades.”

They recommended the board entirely abandon their lobby design and retain a professional design firm to help with a new plan “that is visually, and not theoretically, more complementary to the mid-century aesthetic.”

After listening for about 30 minutes, the condo board voted against hiring a design firm or making any changes to the design. They did, however, announce that the project would be professionally managed by an assistant vice president of DK Condo, a company owned by Draper & Kramer, the management company for Marina City’s residential property. (Left) Elevator lobby as seen from the main concourse.

William O’Leary, a Certified Property Manager and licensed real estate broker, had been with DK Condo since 2010. He was previously president of Invsco Management Company, managing condo conversion projects across the United States, and had recently been president of 415 Condominium Association, a condo building in Chicago that overlooks Belmont Harbor. He was also president of Apartment Building Owners and Managers Association, a not-for-profit organization that serves the residential property industry in Chicago.

In March 2013, O’Leary’s role at Marina City was expanded to interim residential property manager, as David Gantt, an employee of Draper & Kramer, who had been property manager since October 2003, suddenly resigned. Members of the condo board were notified of the decision on March 4, 2013.

O’Leary was hired as full-time property manager at the July 18 meeting of Marina Towers Condominium Association.

By then, the lobby renovation project, which had been estimated to cost $495,000, was actually costing $820,850. A project to turn the 53rd floor of the east tower into a “model floor” was also said to have gone significantly over budget. However, both Gantt and an MTCA attorney said that O’Leary oversaw those projects from just a few weeks after construction first started in the west tower. (Right) Lower level lobby of Marina City’s west tower on December 31, 2012, hours before the start of a major renovation.

Gantt had an ongoing concern with public safety in the neighborhood. In 2011, he wrote to 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, suggesting the city bring back full-time “bridge tenders” to fight a growing problem with panhandlers and other nuisances. From their heated and air-conditioned bridge houses on the Chicago River, the tenders, he recommended, would use “loudspeakers to fend off offenders.”

Before working at Marina City, Gantt was the residential portfolio manager for The John Buck Company. Before that, he was a property manager for Sudler & Company.

Condo board promises investigation into cost overruns

On March 5, 2013, the day after David Gantt resigned as residential property manager, Donna Leonard, president of the condo board, told unit owners of an investigation into renovation projects overseen by Gantt that may have cost significantly more than amounts for which they were approved. She did not rule out that excess costs were simply an accounting mistake by DK Condo.

The decision of the condo board to handle the investigation internally raised eyebrows – including those of some board members.

On March 10, MTCA secretary Ellen Chessick wrote to her fellow board members, listing eleven reasons why it was inappropriate, she said, for such an investigation to be handled by anyone other than an outside auditor. (Left) East tower lobby on March 17 before work in that tower started.

One such project, to renovate laundry rooms on the 20th floor of each tower, was budgeted at $439,000 but ended up costing $872,996. There was disagreement over whether that amount should include unexpected repair costs involving heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and plumbing.

Chessick said the construction company hired for the lobby project, Milan Construction, was chosen without any competitive bids.

Behind the scenes, board members appeared divided on the issue, some supporting an independent investigation but most either against it or not saying where they stand. One board member called the whole project “botched” and said mistrust was brewing between unit owners and board members and even among board members.

Directors who defended the project said the changes were badly needed and without them property values would decline – and that critics had not contributed any better ideas. (Right) Elevator lobby on the lower level of Marina City’s west tower on January 10, 2013, during demolition phase.

Residents of Marina City’s west tower, meanwhile, were surprised on March 14 when Marina Towers Condominium Association announced the new lobby would open the next day, in time for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend when traffic in and out of the building is heavy.

“You will be very pleased with the outstanding look of this area in the building,” promised a memo on green paper.

As for the finished lobbies, residents were split. One resident called it “cool and sleek.” Others called it “cold” and “institutional.”

Many residents felt the design was forced upon them. Architects and design professionals who lived at Marina City complained that not only were they not consulted but were rebuffed when they offered their assistance. (Left) West tower lobby following a ten-week renovation project that resulted in a new floor, security desk, walls, and ceiling.

It took ten weeks to renovate the west tower lobby, which reopened on March 15, 2013. The new east tower lobby opened on May 1, 2013, after a six-week construction project. (Right) Elevator lobby further inside the entrance to Marina City’s west tower.

Unit owners show their displeasure with condo board by taking over it

In March 2013, fed up with what they say had been “a decline in the culture and relations and attitude” between unit owners and the condominium association at Marina City, seven unit owners announced they were candidates for the association’s board of directors.

The group called itself “The Clean Slate,” even though two candidates on the slate were already on the condo board. Ellen Chessick was first elected in 2005 and had been the board’s secretary since 2007. Dr. Michel Louvain, a retired psychiatrist, had been on the board since 2001 and was the current treasurer.

(Left) Also running for seats were (left to right) Laura Holman; Pranav Seth; Brett Young, a member service advisor for American Dental Association; Nik Rokop, managing director of the Knapp Entrepreneurship Center at Illinois Institute of Technology; Ellen Chessick; and Nicol Chervenak. Not pictured is Dr. Michel Louvain.

The Clean Slate said there had been “no communication, no newsletters, no current website, no owner question-and-answer period during board meetings,” and a controversial lobby renovation project is “the ultimate crescendo in this disregard of owners.”

Running against them were incumbents Peter Desch, Phyllis Hartford, Gautier Laude, and current MTCA president Donna Leonard, along with James Abraham, Jackie Berry, and Valerie Wenzel.

At the condo association’s annual meeting on April 29, 2013, all seven “Clean Slate” candidates won election to the 15-member Marina Towers Condominium Association board of directors. 64 percent of ownership voted in the election, about twice as many as in any recent condo board election at Marina City.

They joined eight incumbents who were elected to two-year terms in 2012 – Robert Abell, Dr. Albert Colley Jr., Richard Godfrey, Maureen Leonard, Donald O’Malley, Michael Ruggeri, Marc Straits, and James Ward.

Donna Leonard, who had been on the condo board since 2002 and its president since 2004, lost her seat on the board along with Desch, Hartford, and Laude. Leonard’s daughter, Maureen, remained on the board until the end of her term in 2014.

Final accounting confirms cost overruns

At its January 16, 2014, meeting, Marina Towers Condominium Association approved a report by a certified public accounting firm that determined $864,321 was spent on five projects between 2006 and 2013 above and beyond what was approved by the board.

The projects included remodeling on the 20th floors of both towers, extensive renovation of both residential lobbies, a “model floor” on the 53rd floor of the east tower, 896 doorplates that included a map of the stars and planets as they appeared on the day in 1960 that ground was broken at Marina City, and artistic lighting that was installed in the ceiling of all eight passenger elevators.

CondoCPA found that a total of $1,474,373 was spent on the projects while only $610,052 was approved. Writing in MTCA’s March 2014 newsletter, newly-elected board president Ellen Chessick told unit owners the report was still being reviewed “to determine what steps, if any, the association needs to take with regard to these expenditures.”

(Above) Renovated west tower lobby, completed on March 15, 2013. (Below) A photo from June 1969, possibly by Bertrand Goldberg Associates, showing the entrance to Marina City’s west tower lobby in its original form. A sculpture stands near the wall at left. Behind it is a building directory and two telephones that allowed visitors to call up to residents. There are two outer doors, with the one at left marked EXIT. Image obtained from The Art Institute of Chicago.

Photos by Steven Dahlman except where noted.