Condo board hires auditor to review pricey projects

31-Jan-14 – The condominium association at Marina City has hired an outside auditor to help get to the bottom of five projects over the past eight years that are suspected to have been significantly over-budget.

In a newsletter to residents on Thursday, Ellen Chessick, president of Marina Towers Condominium Association, announced that CondoCPA, an accounting firm based in Elmhurst that specializes in community associations, was hired to review expenditures related to the projects implemented at Marina City from 2006 to 2013.

The projects include 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 that was intended as a preview of proposed changes to the 79 other floors, 896 doorplates that include 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.

(Left) “Infinity” LED display in the ceiling of an elevator at Marina City. (Click on image to view larger version.)

A report submitted by CondoCPA was approved at the January 16 meeting of the condo board but details have not yet been announced.

“The report is being reviewed by the board to determine what steps, if any, the association needs to take with regard to those expenditures,” writes Chessick. “We want to assure MTCA owners that current…procedures are for the board to review all expenditures of $3,000 or greater and that all projects/work is presented to the board with complete details and competitive bids, where applicable.”

Last June, Chessick told unit owners that the lobby renovation project alone was 25 to 40 percent over the budget approved in 2012. She acknowledged that options are limited as “the work has already been done and the projects are now complete.”

The expenditures contributed to the resignation of Marina City’s residential property manager, David Gantt, on March 4, 2013. Not having a full-time manager to pay for five months, along with good weather, resulted in a savings of $195,000 that will go into the condo association’s reserve fund to pay for future projects.

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