“Our position is this is a building of sufficient magnitude that something has to happen,” said MTCA president Richard Flader (left) hopefully. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lester Foreman, overseeing the foreclosure of the commercial property, was not as confident. “This has gotten so out of control that it’s a financial nightmare,” he said, calling a meeting in his courtroom for October 8, 1992, of all interested parties to discuss Marina City’s future.

In a September 29 editorial about Marina City, the Chicago Tribune used the word “blight.”

By the October meeting in Judge Foreman’s courtroom, the animosity toward Resolution Trust Corporation – which had given up on Marina City because preparing it for sale would cost too much – had not eased. Visibly upset, Foreman told an attorney for RTC, “I’m totally disgusted and ashamed that an agency of the U.S. government would treat this building like this.”

The attorney for the parking garage, Manuel Robbins (right), told Judge Foreman the city had pending action in Building Court against the commercial property because of the state of disrepair. “This is a very serious problem. We’re pleading for somebody to be able to deal with it.” An RTC attorney said they would “never put up a penny” for repairs at the complex.

ADA compliance argument used to wrangle funds for ramp repair

State Representative Ellis Levin (D-Chicago), who appeared on behalf of the condominium association, said after the meeting that RTC’s attempt to abandon responsibility for Marina City was “the most arrogant and outrageous maneuver I’ve ever seen.”

Levin (left) announced he had filed a motion seeking an order to force RTC to advance money to the court-appointed receiver to make emergency repairs to the ramps into the complex from Dearborn and State Streets. He said a concrete column supporting a main beam under one of the ramps was so seriously cracked that reinforcing bars were exposed, and that supporting steel beams were so corroded that some had holes in them.

A wheelchair-bound resident was reluctant to use his motorized chair on the ramps, Levin claimed, because of fear they might collapse. That would be a drop of 20-30 feet to railroad tracks below.

Because of this, Levin said the condition of the ramps hampered handicapped access, and so the failure of RTC to pay for repairs constituted a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This is the federal government at its worst,” he said. “Legally and morally, the RTC can’t walk away.”

Levin said the condo association might even try to acquire the parking ramps and retail concourse below the towers. “It’s a unique situation when you don’t control your own front door.”

Condo owners critical of RTC Also attending the October 8, 1992, meeting in Judge Foreman’s courtroom were about 80 unit owners from Marina City and attorneys for a long list of involved parties. Responding to the motion from Ellis Levin, RTC attorney Eric Macey (left) told the judge he wanted to move the case back to federal court, which would not have nurtured any quick action to pump money into the property.

Condo owners had no fondness for RTC. Asked Denise Dalka, “Why is it going to federal court? The RTC has done such a miserable, stinking job so far. Here we can take care of it, not in some federal court where they don’t know what they’re doing anyway.”

There were questions about whether the commercial property was still covered by liability insurance. MTCA president Flader said the insurance agent for the condo association had told him no proof of insurance for the commercial property had been received for more than a year.

Before the RTC attorney informed the judge of his motion to move the case, several people had declared their intention to try to sell the commercial property to a buyer who would be willing to put money into fixing it.

James M. Flanagan, the court-appointed receiver who managed the commercial property, said he believed he could find a buyer, even though bills for back taxes and a possible asbestos cleanup could total $10 million.

“I could take it to market immediately as it is,” Flanagan said. “I believe there are buyers out there if we can deliver title in an all-cash deal.”

Robbins, the parking garage attorney, said his clients would be willing to pay the $300,000 estimated cost of repairing the access ramps if they could get a long-term lease. But the receiver, Flanagan, was prevented from giving long-term leases because of the possible sale of the property.

Judge Foreman said after the meeting he might be willing to grant a long-term lease of the parking ramps because of the uniqueness of the situation, but the RTC action to move to federal court might push him off the case.

Ilene F. Goldstein, the federal bankruptcy trustee, said she would try to continue to move Marina City toward a quick sale whether the case ended up in federal court or stayed with Circuit Court Judge Foreman. But she added that removal of the case to federal court could further cloud title to the property, possibly hampering the sale.