April 2015

President’s MessageIn the past three years, 777’s projects have focused on the top of the Building (the pool deck and the Avenue Room) and the bottom of the Building (the garage lobby and the fitness center). Now it’s time to attend to the floors in between. The hallway renovation project begins on April 6.

After more than two years spent interviewing design firms, selecting one of the schematic designs submitted by Gooch Design Studio, putting that scheme through numerous revisions and refinements, choosing a general contractor and building a model hallway, all of which involved countless meetings of the hallway committee, the building committee, the Board and all residents, our collective hope is about to become reality.

In some ways, the hallway project will be easier on residents than the riser replacement project completed last September. There will be no work done inside residents’ apartments, and the hallway project will take only ten weeks, rather than the more than twenty weeks it took to complete the riser replacement. Yet the hallway renovation will involve six separate trades (rather than the riser project’s three trades). Moreover, the compressed schedule means that from mid-April to the end of May, sixteen floors- half the Building’s residential floors- will be in varying states of construction at the same time.

Any one floor will take about 4 weeks to finish. But you’ll see progress almost immediately. Even before Norcon begins its work, 777 maintenance will remove

the fixtures and install temporary lighting (as those on floors 30 to 38 have already found out). In the first week of construction, after the carpet perimeter, baseboards, and the bulkhead between the 00 and 01 units is removed, the millwork around the doors will be installed. In the second week, baseboards and the wall covering will be added. It is worth noting, however, that the new light fixtures and carpeting will not be installed until the fourth and last week of construction on your floor.

Apart from the fact that your hallway will be under construction for four weeks, residents’ day-to-day lives will be impacted in three principal ways. First, there will be a day when the door to your unit will need to be open for approximately four hours to allow it to be painted. (Residents will be given at least a week’s warning of the exact date; extra doormen will be on the floor those days, for residents’ peace of mind.) Second, only two of the three passenger elevators will be in service on days that the elevator doors are being painted. So elevator service will be slower for three or four days every two-week cycle. Third, it may be next to impossible to use the freight elevator during the daytime while the project is ongoing, as various tradesmen shuttle between floors. There also will be dust. Perhaps not as much as during the riser project, but there will be lots of dust nonetheless. In an effort to control it, the existing carpet will be left in place (except for the

perimeter) for most of the work on each floor, and each floor will be vacuumed at the end of the day. But there will be dust. And certainly noise, too, though nothing like the noise when vents were removed during the riser project. Please be patient.

Especially in a complicated project of this magnitude, schedules are subject to frequent changes. Right now, the tentative schedule is as follows:

Under Construction Begin Date End DateFloors 38-33, 31-30 04/06/15 05/01/15Floors 29-22 04/20/15 05/15/15Floors 21-14 05/04/15 05/29/15Floors 13-6 05/18/15 06/12/15

While it is hoped that punchlist items will be completed as each floor is “turned over,” any remaining items are scheduled to be completed the week of June 15.

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TidbitsMarch has been a busy month for 777 residents and staff. We welcome back those who traveled to warmer climes: Joan Carey enjoying a two week visit with old friends in California, Harry and Lynn Conkey visiting family in Arizona, Alex and Samantha Costanzo traveling to Mexico with their daughter Annabelle Lindsay.

Friday the 13th turned out to be a very lucky day for Assistant Property Manager Andrew Skibicki; on that date, he passed the very difficult CMCA (Certified Manager of Community Associations) exam, which one has to pass in order to be a certified property manager in the state of Illinois. Andrew, we congratulate you on a job well done and we know you are looking forward to not having to spend your weekends studying!

The March 4 Hyde Park Herald featured a story on Rick Kogan, well-known Chicago Tribune reporter and host of WGN Radio’s show Chicago Live. Rick made a presentation about his work as a journalist and his partnership with photographer Charles Osgood to fifth graders at Hyde Park’s Ancona School ,where his daughter is a student. His audience was somewhat older when he hosted Chicago Classics Reading with guests from the literary community reading works by their favorite Chicago authors, at the Chicago Cultural Center.

In March, we met two new residents at the New Resident Orientation. Ammar Alsyamy, who is from Saudi Arabia, has been adjusting to our cold weather, while he is part of the eighteen month Kaplan course for the USMLE medical exams. Ammar completed medical school and an internship in Saudi Arabia, and wants to do a residency in family medicine in the United States. Living on our sixth floor, he is delighted to be” two steps away from fitness”. Claudia Calderon is also adjusting to our weather, as she has moved here from Dallas for a position in sports marketing. She is working with an agency that does marketing for the Mexican national soccer team in Chicago. A pro-active professional, Claudia found her apartment here through an app. A warm welcome to both of you!

We send get well greetings to Larry Lenerd, who is recovering from an injury and is due to return to his position in the garage shortly. As reported previously

Lenton (Kirk) Kirkland is recovering from his recent surgery and also plans to return to his desk position in the near future. We look forward to the return of both of you.

And of course, our newsletter would not be complete without reporting that everyone in 777- Irish or not- enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day parties and parades. We wish everyone a very Happy Passover and Happy Easter, which this year both come the first weekend in April.

Roberta Shwartz

Barring unforeseen contingencies, the entire project should be finished by Friday, June 19.

Given how beautiful the model floor is, and the uniformly positive reception that it got from residents, there can be no doubt that ten weeks of controlled chaos will be worth it. But it won’t be easy. The contractors replacing the pipes in the riser project said that 777’s residents were the best with whom they’d ever worked. Sincere thanks for your cooperation this one last time.

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President’s Message cont’d

A Reminder: All these changes are designed to accomplish two things: to enhance residents’ enjoyment of the Building and to increase property values. Even before residents were asked to put up with the inconvenience of construction and pay a supplemental assessment, the Board passed two rules intended to safeguard our investments. One rule bars the use of units as short-term rentals, such as “bed & breakfast” accommodations. Another rule requires that newly purchased units be owner-occupied for at least two years and, after that time period, can only be rented if the overall percentage

of rentals in the Building has fallen below twenty-five percent.

The violation of either rule subjects an owner to harsh fines. At the March meeting, the Board had occasion to consider violations of both rules. Not surprisingly, the Board reaffirmed that the rules mean what they say, imposing substantial fines authorized by the rules’ literal language. While no one on the Board takes pleasure in fining a fellow resident, we take seriously our role in protecting the Building and its owners.

Greg Hopp                                                                                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claudia  Calderon                                                                                                                                                Ammar  Alsyamy  

 

 

                                                                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claudia  Calderon                                                                                                                                                Ammar  Alsyamy  

 

 

Claudia Calderon Ammar Alsyamy

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NEIGHBOR YOU SHOULD KNOW-777 RESIDENT JANE McKEON CAPTURES

ADVENTURE IN HER NOVEL “ASHTABULA TO YANBU’’

Neighbor Jane McKeon wanted to tell us the story of how she came to write her novel “Ashtabula to Yanbu.” It is a fascinating story from an adventurous, artistic woman who created a novel that I found impossible to put down.

It began in July of 1987. A registered nurse who has had a forty year career in health care, Jane was working at a well -paying position as the Director of Nursing at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, when she was handed a pink slip from the Director of Human Resources. The hospital had been sold to a group of investors from Indiana, and suddenly, at age 46 with a mortgage on her apartment at 777, she was out of work. She panicked and grabbed the Sunday Chicago Tribune job section, and applied for “the only job that I thought I could possibly fill”- the Director of Nursing at the Royal Commission Hospital located in the small town of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea. It turned out to be quite an adventure.

Family and friends were vehemently against her going to work over 10,000 miles from home in a culture totally different from the one in Ohio, where she was raised, and Chicago, where she practiced nursing. However, Jane was determined to go. She took the necessary steps- including passing a mandatory HIV test required by Saudi law, and five weeks later, she was on her way to the other side of the world.

Jane had always had a love of travel and adventure, but she was stunned by the difference in cultures. Right

away she decided she wasn’t leaving Saudi Arabia without a story. During her six months there, she faithfully wrote every evening in her diary, intent on writing a novel based on her observations, experiences and interviews.

When she returned to Chicago, she took creative writing classes while starting her novel. However, after a few years, she got weary and discouraged and put the manuscript in a drawer, continuing her career in nursing and her life in Chicago. Fortunately, that is not the end of the story. At the age of sixty seven, she took the manuscript out of the drawer and diligently worked on it for for three more years. She then placed it with Fast Pencil Publishing Company. You can read reviews of the novel, which is published under the pen name of Rosemary Day, on Amazon Books.

A work of fiction, the book tells the story of Kelly, a registered nurse from Ashtabula, Ohio, who loses her job and on impulse signs a one year nursing contract for a small hospital in Yanbu. Kelly seeks an adventure, but she puts her integrity, reputation, sanity and her life at stake as she faces the trials and tribulations of life in an ancient culture as it transitions into modernity. The novel deals with the harsh realities of sexual politics, spiritual conflict and pervasive corruption.

Jane has continued writing and is

currently involved in another writing project of a totally different nature. Jane stressed to me that this is a work of fiction and her goal is for people to enjoy a good story. The reviews on Amazon were all highly favorable. Readers were amazed at how quickly she drew them into the story of her spunky heroine and how beautifully she conveyed life in a totally different culture. I encourage you to get a copy of the novel and see for yourself. As for me- I stayed up until one o’clock in the morning because I couldn’t put the book down- confirming that Jane certainly accomplished her goal! Her misfortune was a blessing in disguise and resulted in her becoming a published writer as well as a neighbor you should know.

Roberta Shwartz

encourage  you  to  get  a  copy  of  the  novel  and  see  for  yourself.    As  for  me-­‐  I  stayed  up  until  one  o’clock  in  the  morning  because  I  couldn’t  put  the  book  down-­‐  confirming  that  Jane  certainly  accomplished  her  

goal!    Her  misfortune  was  a  blessing  in  disguise  and  resulted  in  her    becoming  a  published  writer  as  well  as  a  neighbor  you  should  know.    

 Roberta  Shwartz  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

encourage  you  to  get  a  copy  of  the  novel  and  see  for  yourself.    As  for  me-­‐  I  stayed  up  until  one  o’clock  in  the  morning  because  I  couldn’t  put  the  book  down-­‐  confirming  that  Jane  certainly  accomplished  her  

goal!    Her  misfortune  was  a  blessing  in  disguise  and  resulted  in  her    becoming  a  published  writer  as  well  as  a  neighbor  you  should  know.    

 Roberta  Shwartz  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY Active Listings: Studios: 3606 $150,000 3602 $159,000 1103 $175,500 2603 $189,000 3305 $197,000Source: Chicago MLS Courtesy of Helen Beller, Berkshire Hathaway

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777 N. Michigan AvenueCondominium Association

Chicago, IL 60611P:312-943-5400F: 312-943-4722

National Register Preliminary Eligibility Assessment for the 777 North Michigan Avenue Building, Chicago

Prepared by: Jean L. Guarino, Ph.D. candidate and architectural historianMarch 8, 2015

Built: 1963-64Architects: Shaw, Metz & Associates

National Register Criterion: CArea of Significance: Architecture

777 North Michigan Avenue Building

777 North Michigan Avenue exemplifies the type of International style apartment buildings that proliferated in the Streeterville and Gold Coast communities during Chicago’s post-World War II construction boom. Its massing is straightforward and strongly geometric — a simple rectilinear box rising to a height of 38 stories above its site on the southeast corner of Michigan and Chicago avenues. The building’s flat, unadorned wall planes feature continuous vertical strips of grouped windows and are sheathed in white glazed brick as was typical of the apartment skyscrapers designed by Shaw & Metz Associates in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 777 Building is prominently located on North Michigan Avenue, an upscale commercial thoroughfare that developed

rapidly with a host of high-end shops buildings, hotels, clubs, and prestige office buildings following completion of the Michigan Avenue Link Bridge in 1920. They replaced a mix of factories, shops and residences that lined the former Pine Street before it was widened and rebuilt as Chicago’s swanky new “Upper Boulevard,” which quickly became an annex of, and competitor to, the aging and congested Loop. However, apartment towers were rare on North Michigan Avenue during this early period of development. Instead, luxury apartment towers of the 1920s concentrated on nearby Lake Shore Drive. Such buildings typically ranged in height from 20 to 25 stories and adopted a repertoire of traditional European stylistic modes, emphasizing dignity and moderation.

The 1929 Stock Market Crash was followed by nearly a quarter-century hiatus in building construction city-wide due to the onset of the Great Depression and World War II. Once the economy and the construction industry rebounded both Streeterville and the adjacent Gold Coast area to the north participated in Chicago’s postwar apartment building boom, which continued through the 1970s, due in large part to pent-up demand. Apartment skyscrapers now soared 30, 40, and 50 stories, and like the 777 Building, were typically modernist slabs that represented the preferred post-war aesthetic and a rejection of the eclectic historicism that prevailed during the previous boom. Chicago’s new modernist apartment buildings vied with each other for upscale tenants by offering an enticing range of amenities, such as the panoramic views, rooftop swimming pool, novel use of air conditioning, and spacious living spaces offered in the 777 Building. Although a few apartment skyscrapers of the post-World War Two era were sheathed with curtain walls of glass and steel, more common was the use of brick-clad walls as featured in the 777 Building.

Shaw, Metz and Associates

The 777 North Michigan Avenue Building was designed by Shaw, Metz & Associates, a full-service architectural firm headed by Alfred Shaw and Carl Metz that was established in 1946 and was active until

1966 when both principals formed their own firms. The prolific firm also designed office buildings, industrial buildings, apartment skyscrapers, hotels, and schools. Among the firm’s largest public commissions was the sixty-million dollar Robert Taylor public housing project. They designed apartment buildings on Lake Shore Drive, including those as 1550, 3150, 3180, 3600, and 3950. Other notable designs by the firm were the first McCormick Place Convention Building and the Morton Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to his partnership with Metz, Alfred Shaw worked for Graham, Anderson, Probst and White and then became a partner in the firm of Shaw, Naess and Murphy (1937-47). Shaw’s obituary noted that he “was a driving force in the city’s architectural field for more than 40 years. As much as any architect in modern times he left his mark on the Chicago skyline and in the city’s business and highrise apartment district.”

Sources:“Architect Alfred P. Shaw Dies,” Chicago Tribune, Dec. 2, 1970.

Gavin, James M., “Shaw Metz Ledger Compiled in 18 Years,” Chicago Tribune, Jan. 26, 1964.

“777 North Michigan Avenue,” display advertisement in the Chicago Tribune, January 16, 1965.

“Shaw Metz To Split: Plan Cooperation,” Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1966.