November 30, 2008 – Claiming support from at least 360 owners and residents, Marina Towers Condominium Association has detailed a proposed fitness center that would be built on the 20th floor of one residential tower. In the other tower would be a new MTCA meeting room.

In a November 26 letter to unit owners, MTCA president Donna Leonard says the fitness center and meeting room could be built for $435,000 “without assessment increases beyond the ordinary cost of living increases and without a special assessment.”

Which tower would house the fitness center is not specified. It would be located next to a laundry room in vacant space described as approximately the size of a studio living room. Studio living rooms at Marina City are approximately 12-feet-8-inches by 18-feet-4-inches.

The same space in the other tower would be turned into a new meeting room for MTCA, allowing the condo association to cancel its lease of the meeting room in the lobby of the commercial platform, which it leases for about $40,000 per year.

“Fitness centers are an important amenity in high-rise buildings,” writes Leonard. “With the closing of Crunch Gym at the end of July 2008, Marina City does not have a fitness center available within the complex, making Marina City a less desirable building to live in when compared to the more modern high-rise buildings in the vicinity.”

(Above) In this floor plan for proposed changes to the 20th floor, a new door would be installed off the main corridor, leading to a new fitness center to the left and smaller laundry room on the right. New HVAC equipment would be located close to the inner wall in the laundry room. Newer dryers would have to be stacked to fit into the smaller laundry room. (Click on image to view larger version.)

Replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system on the 20th floor is also recommended in a feasibility study that accompanied the MTCA letter. According to residential property manager David Gantt, the HVAC system is ten years past its life expectancy. “It could malfunction at any time, leaving the 20th floor without air conditioning for several months while waiting for new equipment to arrive and the City of Chicago to issue the appropriate permits.”

New HVAC equipment would be housed in space now occupied by a restroom that, says Gantt, is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Not convinced changes are necessary is former MTCA president Dr. Martin Flynn. He notes the size of the laundry room will decrease by one-third its current size – something not mentioned in the November 26 letter to unit owners.

“It’s disingenuous to not say that we’re cramming 450 units of washing/drying into a pretty tight arrangement,” says Flynn. “Once again, the board is being sly.”

Flynn says removing the restrooms is a bad idea. “The idea that we have to comply with the ADA down there is bogus. This only has to do with gut renovations. And why would we get rid of the only bathroom on a floor that will soon house either a fitness room or a meeting room? Don’t you people pee?”

The plumbing does not need to be replaced, according to Flynn, because it was redone just ten years ago.

Flynn, who was on the board from 2000 to 2002, says it would be less expensive to “buy some units on [the 21st floor] and turn them into the respective spaces.”

Gantt says the changes would cut costs and generate revenue. Replacing the HVAC system and plumbing on the 20th floor of each tower, installing energy efficient laundry equipment, and moving the meeting room to the vacant space next to one of the laundry rooms, he says, would save MTCA approximately $44,000 per year. It would also result in “potential income of approximately $4,000 per year,” although this is not explained.

“In addition, unit owners would benefit directly from a new fitness center in the Towers as this amenity would make Marina City more competitive in the real estate rental and sales markets.”

Along with the November 26 letter is another survey, asking unit owners if they are in favor of the project. “If the survey responses show sufficient interest in Management’s proposal,” says MTCA president Donna Leonard, “the MTCA Buildings & Grounds Committee and the Decorating Committee will host an open forum for all unit owners to discuss this plan in further detail.”