Two weeks after high-rise fire, condo owners push management to make changes
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two weeks since the latest in a series of high-rise fires in Chicago, residents inside the building of the most recent blaze in South Shore are calling on building management to step up as problems begin to stack up.
Vincent Rose said the only thing that keeps him in Lakefront Place Condos building is the view of Lake Michigan, but choppy waters are more abundant lately inside Lakefront Place Condos for Rose, who has lived there 18 years.
"I just love the lake, and I love Lake Michigan, and I love water," he said. "So I stay there, and I put up with the headaches."
The latest and costliest headache was the 10th floor fire two weeks ago, which occurred just three days after the building failed an annual fire alarm inspection.
The unit where it started remains charred and boarded up. Rose is able to access his unit, but he said it's uninhabitable.
"It just really doesn't feel like home," he said. "It's just not a safe environment."
It's an environment he's experienced before. In 2013, a fire in the building left two people dead, and between those two fires, Rose had three water pipes burst in his unit.
As a result of all this, his insurance provider dropped him. He later found a new one, but what he hasn't been able to find has been consensus or agreement with the condo board or management company to take better care of the building.
"I guess duct tape everything together, as opposed to making the proper repair," Rose said.
He said cosmetic fixes are prioritized over structural ones.
One day after the most recent fire, CBS 2 has learned, the building was approved for a building permit to "fix anything that may create or cause issues that would harm occupants due to fire damage."
Three days after that, they passed an electrical permit inspection.
"That is a very valuable space, with the building of the Obama [Presidential Center], right across from the golf course, that beautiful east view of Lake Michigan," Rose said.
Rose's lake view provides him a sense of calm in what he calls his "condo storm."
CBS 2 reached out to the condo board and property management company to address the issues raised by Rose. We have yet to hear back.
