We Get Letter Dep't: Mac Properties

Faith writes:

I have lived in Hyde Park off and on for more than 30 years. Last April or May when Mac Properties bought the building I was renting along with 42 others, I thought nothing of it.  Then I had to deal with their lack of communicating, even where to pay the rent.

When I read a few articles on-line about the man who owns or operates Mac Properties, I got concerned.  He's from New Jersey, not Chicago.

In the building where I live, everyone has to vacate by this summer. Mac has closed down at least 4 buildings on Greenwood alone.  So, if you wanted to stay in Hyde Park, you cannot because they are closing all these buildings down AT THE SAME TIME to make them luxury apartments-- at least that is what I heard my building will be.

If this is the case, Hyde Park will become a place where no one knows your name. No one will care if the trees are uprooted or someone is changing the physical landscape of the neighborhood because it will be cold and clinical and the habitat of folks who do not know the culture of Hyde Park.

So I am asking why you haven't done a story on this phenomena, this company taking over Hyde Park?

Well, this morning I called up Peter Cassell, who's just signed on as Mac's liaison to the neighborhood.  He assured me that Mac has more apartments currently available than there are tenants displaced.  That doesn't guarantee, of course, that there will be plenty of apartments in your price range.

Peter also wanted to get across that Mac has the organization in place to manage its buildings, the financial wherewithal to improve their acquisitions and a plan of succession to deal with what we all assume to be a given-- that Eli Ungar is mortal.  Ungar has committed to appearing at an HPKCC forum devoted to Mac Properties on Tuesday, May 6, at 7pm at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.  At the last Ungar forum, he promised to stay until every question was answered, so this will be a great chance to grill him.

I've been very impressed by Ungar myself.  His Solstice on the Park project is amazing and he met just about every possible objection head on; the alderman's meeting to consider the development was a love-fest.

Sure, I also have concerns.  Mac has very quickly taken on a large share of the rental market in our neighborhood.  And those first large acquisitions were carried out clumsily.  At buildings like the Del Prado, will the newly renovated units be more expensive?  Of course.

But, as Cassell noted in our conversation, "affordable housing through unsafe buildings" is a bad plan.  He asserted that many apartments Mac has acquired were uninhabitable, vacant due to substandard conditions.  Given that so many rental units have been converted to condos here-- something Mac Properties has never done-- the acquisitions and renovations should mitigate the conversions somewhat and leave us with more rental units than we otherwise would have.

It's certainly possible that this new 800-pound apartments gorilla could end up harming Hyde Park in the future and I'm concerned that folks like Faith will probably find fewer and fewer affordable apartments.  But I'm not willing to neglect buildings just to keep them affordable.  I'm of a mind to congratulate Ungar on his efforts and otherwise wait to see what happens.

Comments

[Slywy]

"Peter also wanted to get across that Mac has the organization in place to manage its buildings, the financial wherewithal to improve their acquisitions and a plan of succession to deal with what we all assume to be a given-- that Eli Ungar is mortal."

Honestly, what does anyone expect a "liaison" to say? He follows proudly in the steps of the university's well-known liaison. His interests don't lie in being candid or honest all the time.

As for Solstice on the Park, when I show the rendering to anyone outside the neighborhood, their reaction is, "You've got to be kidding."

It's amazingly ugly, I'll give it that.

[AF]

Slywy,
Just to add a voice on the other side, I think that Solstice on the Park is really interesting and will be an excellent addition to HP. The neighborhood could use a lot more buildings that are as creative as this one. I don't know if beautiful is the right word to describe it, but I would certainly not describe it as ugly.

[withrow]

"Honestly, what does anyone expect a "liaison" to say?"

Let me explain why I included this and why I phrased that section as I did.

The concerns Peter spoke to were among the largest concerns folks have about Mac Properties. I wanted to give skeptics a chance to understand what Mac's party line was on these issues so that interested parties would have time to investigate his answers and then show up at the forum to take issue or, perhaps, agree.

The other reason to include Peter's assertion is that it tells us what Mac wants to talk about. If folks have larger concerns about Mac, then this tips off what Mac is ready to answer.

I hope I'm open about having a bias here. Trying to be unbiased is silly IMO and I feel it's more productive to just be clear about my biases. I like Eli a lot even though Mac has gone thru some growing pains. But I like Mac's tenants a lot more than I like Eli. Let's try to have an informed and civil conversation, as if we're all friends.

[Slywy]

Solstice on the Park is interesting and would belong right next to Marina City and a lot of the other buildings downtown. But towering in its cheese grater glory across from a section of Jackson Park? No. There's creative and harmonious, and creative and discordant. Architecture, I believe, should be the former. But I accept that the rights of the owner outweigh those of the neighbors who don't like it.

James -- I have no issue with Mac being allowed to present the party line. My point is simply that a PR guy could not have been expected to say anything else.

[John]

Faith writes:

"the culture of Hyde Park"

What does that even mean? That's nonsense. I've lived in HP all my life, born, raised, and schooled (except out in CA for 4 years of college), and the people who complain about the "culture" of HP are those opposed to any kind of change. The new ownership of MAC is good for HP and the surrounding community. The same people who complain about the "culture of Hyde Park" changing are the same people who don't want 57th opened up at Stony Island. They'd rather have all the traffic diverted to Bret Harte School, endangering children, rather than have cars go down 57th Street, a commercial strip.

[Jar Jar Binks]

I think your reader misses the extent to which many properties that MAC acquired were just in abysmal condition. (For example, my apartment.)

It'd be one thing if MAC was turning every unit into a "luxury" apartment. It's another if it's kicking people out to make the place livable.

I don't know about you, but this seems like a good thing.