Page 6 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland EXPO 2021

6 COOPERATORNEWS CHICAGOLAND —EXPO 2021 CHICAGO.COOPERATORNEWS.COM Industry Pulse Events We’re Back, Baby! CooperatorEvents Expo Returns to Chi-Town this Fall! ilexpo.com CooperatorEvents is thrilled to an- nounce the return of our in-person Ex- pos! This fall, the CooperatorEvents Chi- cagoland Expo will take place at Navy Pier on Thursday, October 7, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We have an excit- ing lineup of exhibitors eager to interact in person, covering every aspect of mul- tifamily living, from board governance, financial planning, and community en- gagement to roof repair, energy man- agement, and lawncare. Like our past in-person Expos, the CooperatorEvents Chicagoland Fall Expo 2021 will include a full day of free workshops, seminars, networking, and more. And as always, registration and attendance are FREE to all! Visit www.ilexpo.com to see who’s exhibiting, get more information, and register as an exhibitor or an attendee. This will be a must-attend event for all condo, co-op, and HOA board members, property managers, residents, and real estate professionals in the Chicago area! We look forward to seeing you there in person! Law & Legislation Option for Board Residency Require- ments Added to ILCPA The Illinois Legislature recently amended the Illinois Condominium Property Act (ILCPA) to include that any new declaration or amended existing governing documents of a condominium association can require a majority of its board of directors or trustees to consist of owners whose unit is their primary residence. The new provision takes effect January 1, 2022. The amendment limits associations to require a majority or lesser number of directors to occupy their condo unit as their primary residence. According to attorney David M. Bendoff, who an- swers a question related to this amend- ment in the Daily Herald, this means that “\[C\]ommonly found language in a con- dominium association’s declaration that require\[s\] all board members to reside on the property would not be valid, and could be amended.” After Surfside, Chicago Examines Structural Safety After the devastating and deadly col- lapse of the Champlain Towers condo in Surfside, Florida, high-rise dwellers throughout the country are wondering how their cities’ building and inspection codes will prevent such a tragedy where they live. WTTW News compiled the re- actions of several Chicago industry pro- fessionals in a recent report. According to the report, the Chicago Department of Buildings says there are still too many unknowns to comment di- rectly on the Surfside collapse, but that Chicago has strong building codes for its broad shoulders. “All plans for high-rise development undergo multiple reviews from all relevant disciplines—especially structural—to help ensure long-term safety,” the department says in a state- ment. “As further protection, owners must obtain a certificate of occupancy, which has its own set of requirements, prior to allowing any occupants in the building.” Derek Boeldt, president of the Struc- tural Engineers Association of Illinois, says that a collapse like Surfside is “re- ally such an extremely rare event that the number of variables involved that would have to go wrong for something like that to happen is almost unthinkable.” Kris Kasten, attorney with Altus Le- gal in Chicago, suggests that the focus should be on Surfside and the people di- rectly impacted by the tragedy, but “can certainly understand where associations, unit owners, boards across the nation are going to wonder … could it happen with- in my association? I think those ques- tions are good to raise and have a con- versation about—and not start jumping to conclusions.” Evan McKenzie, a law school instruc- tor and head of the political science de- partment at the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as the author of two books on condo and HOA governance, says more oversight and regulations might be necessary. “Condo owners and their directors control their own assess- ment levels. There is insufficient regula- tion of what they do to make sure they have enough set aside,” he says, warn- ing that condos with insufficient money in reserve are likely to defer important building maintenance. Kasten points out that state law “re- quires associations to maintain reason- able reserves, but what constitutes rea- sonable reserves is not expressly defined … (it) sets forth various factors for the board to consider when determining what constitutes reasonable reserves for their particular associations.” McKenzie laments that “here in Chi- cago, there have been hundreds of condo associations that have become insolvent for one reason or another and have been taken over and put in receivership by the courts and turned into apartment build- ings.” Additional government action at the state and federal level—such as more financial transparency for prospective buyers and regulations on reserves to fund building upkeep and ensure condo associations are well-run—might curb this outcome. Boeldt emphasizes that while Chicago structures certainly withstand their share of extreme weather, the external condi- tions that might have played into the Champlain Towers collapse—saltwater intrusion, tropical storms and hurri- canes—are not a factor here. But whatev- er the conditions are, proper and prompt maintenance is key. “The majority of the issues that arise come from … the outside elements: the wind and the snow and the freeze-thaw cycles and the salt spray,” he says. “With any maintenance, even like a single-family home, the sooner you fix those little issues as they arise, the easier it is to pay for that. … The longer you wait, the more significant it gets (and) the more costly it gets.” Real Estate With No Condos Sold, Parkline Switch- es to Rentals The Real Deal reports that The Parkline, a new residential building in the Loop that had a mix of rental apart- ments and condos, is now being mar- keted as 100% rentals after the 24 condo units failed to secure buyers. TRD says that the building’s 189 apart- ments have been on the rental market since February and are 98% rented. But the condos, on the top four floors of the 26-story building, launched nearly a year earlier and have not seen a single sale. The original asking prices for the con- dos started at $1.5 million, and were later reduced to $1.42 million—an average pricing of $711 per square foot. But other Loop condos valued at $1.5 million and up that sold in the past year were priced at an average of $637 per square foot, notes TRD. Now the former condos at 60 East Randolph Street will be marketed as high-end rentals, with a dedicated pri- PULSE YOU’LL LEARN SO MUCH YOUR HEAD COULD EXPLODE. (Our lawyers said we had to warn you.) NAVY PIER, CHICAGO THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 10AM-4:30PM FREE REGISTRATION: ILEXPO.COM continued on page 31