How Condo Buildings End

“Making condos is easy. Unmaking condos is hard.” Or so Henry Grabar contends in his recent article in Slate magazine. Certainly, the recent tragedy of the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, supports such a claim. Condo boards often face an uphill battle when assessing structural damage and raising the funds for needed repairs, which can in turn make their buildings ideal candidates for a deconversion.

This is one reason Chicago leads the nation in condo deconversions. Older owner-occupied units that were bought in the 1960’s and 1970’s are among some of the oldest condominiums in the country. Owners who have not kept on top of maintenance, and even some who have, sometimes find themselves facing massive repair bills. Such buildings can become the target of developers who buy units on the sly, knowing that control over assessments and expenditures could come as soon as they gain or create a majority.

As our own Alex Argianas comments, “Once you have a simple majority, it’s pretty much game over.”

Want to understand more about condo deconversions and the unique role Chicago has in this process? Check out the full article here.