17-Mar-13 – What started as a simple, long overdue project to renovate a lobby at Marina City has left many residents angry, a condo board divided, a property manager resigned over accusations of financial mismanagement, and a situation many agree is nothing short of a crisis.

Residents of Marina City’s west tower 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.

Many, however, were not pleased. While some appreciated the modern design of the new elevator lobby, described by one visitor as “cool and sleek,” many more went to Facebook and Marina Watchdog, a blog for residents, to express their displeasure. “Cold” and “institutional” were common complaints, with the lobby looking, they said, more like an office building, hospital, dentist’s office, health club, and space ship.

“This was a squandered opportunity to enhance the value of Marina Towers,” wrote one blogger, saying the condo board instead installed “a lobby that makes a mockery of [Marina City architect Bertrand] Goldberg’s masterpiece. It would not have been difficult or costly to design something that would reflect the intention of the architect and which would have been offensive to no one.”

Many residents feel the design was forced upon them. Architects and design professionals who live at Marina City complain that not only were they not consulted but were rebuffed when they offered their assistance.

(Above) The elevator lobby further inside the entrance to Marina City’s west tower.

Cost overruns led to property manager’s resignation

It has been two weeks since the manager of Marina City’s residential property, David Gantt, resigned over accusations of spending significantly more of the condo association’s money than what had been approved and budgeted. On March 5, the president of Marina Towers Condominium Association wrote to unit owners, saying MTCA had begun an investigation. However, the decision of the condo board to handle the investigation has 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 says, for such an investigation to be handled by anyone other than an outside auditor.

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 is disagreement over whether that amount should include unexpected repair costs involving heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and plumbing.

As for the lobby renovation, Chessick (left) disputes a claim by the property management firm, DK Condo, made in a February 13 letter to unit owners that MTCA “followed established standards including thorough design review and competitive pricing.” She says DK Condo Vice President Tom Taylor told her on March 4 that he did not know if there had been a thorough design review, including bringing in an outside designer, or competitive pricing.

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

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

Directors who have defended the project say the changes are badly needed and without them property values will decline – and that critics have not contributed any better ideas.

Six architects and design professionals who live at Marina City say they have tried to help. On February 20, the group wrote to MTCA president Donna Leonard, offering to submit at no charge material and color schemes for residential floors as well as a cost analysis. They say Leonard wrote back, saying the condo association would survey unit owners later in the year and that “any prospective design plan submissions and/or discussions related thereto are at this point, premature.”

Although MTCA secretary Chessick has asked for a board meeting prior to work on the east tower lobby starting, that is not likely to happen. On Saturday, residents of the east tower were given two day’s notice that their lobby would be closed for about two months for its renovation.

William O’Leary, a DK Condo assistant vice president who is managing the lobby renovation project, did not respond to an offer to comment on this story.