6 Million Dollars


That's what we spent around 30 years ago to reseal the exterior of the curtain wall surrounding our main tower. This expense was paid for out of our reserve fund. This is fine, that is what our reserve funds are for.

In 2010, we spent 1.8 million to reseal our entire curtain wall again. We took out a loan to complete that project. This is not fine, that’s what our reserve funds are for and is a violation of our Condo Declaration.

We recently had the curtain wall inspected on selected tiers. What did that tell us? Our Reserve study is not clear on the projected lifespan of the building wide sealant that was completed in 2010.

I met a gentleman in the service elevator a few years ago, who told me about water leakage from his windows. He told me he complained to the management office about the problem and was told there was nothing that could be done. He also mentioned there were several other units that had the same problem, units that had no such problem prior to the 2010 curtain wall sealant project.

I was informed by an association member that Harbor Point, our sister building, resealed only the panes that had leakage, whereas, here at Park Tower, we redid the sealant on every tier and every floor. As you can imagine, Harbor Point spent much less money than we did to address their curtain wall water leakage problem.

I've lived here at Park Tower for many years and I love it, both my home and the community I live in. One major problem, our assessments are extremely high, a fact made painfully clear when compared to other condominium buildings of our size, age and location near the lakefront. Generally, making things bigger saves money per unit. That's why we build super tankers and jumbo jets. That's why we buy economy sized detergent and venti sized coffee at Starbucks. Why don't these principles apply here? I've looked at several lakefront high rises, including high end luxury high rises along the gold coast. Compared to almost every building similar to ours, our assessments are significantly higher than theirs. Why?

The numbers don't lie. One of my favorite real estate websites, Redfin.com lists the Homeowner's Association (HOA) fees for many of the condominium units listed there. I invite you to research for yourself and tell me that our assessments (HOA fees) aren't high. Compare the HOA fees at Harbor Point to ours. On a square footage basis, the comparisons are even more stark. There is an inverse relationship between the value of your unit and the assessments charged to it. Their reserve fund balance is over 12 million dollars, while our total fund balance is less than 7 million.

I ran for the board last year. An attendee at that meeting fact checked my claims about our high assessments. Here is a spreadsheet, created in 2023 by that association member, which confirms my assertions. Take a look at the line marked HOA, which is short for Home Owners Association. These are the monthly assessments charged to each unit. Of particular interest is Harbor Point, designed by the same architects that did Park Tower, Solomon, Cordwell and Buenz, using the same type of design, and constructed 2 years after Park Tower. Harbor Point, is located in the heart of Streeterville, one of the most expensive residential areas in Chicago. Their units are larger than ours, while offering more amenities than we do. Their assessments are lower than ours and their reserves are far higher than ours. How do you explain this?

My name is Joe Guzzardo. I'm a retired software engineer. As such, I know how to research difficult problems and solve them. Our board is responsible for understanding the laws and guidelines that apply to our association and applying them fairly and correctly to the issues at hand, not unlike what I did for all of my professional career.

One gentleman, at the "Meet the Candidates" meeting in 2023, asked specifically about efforts to use green technologies here at Park Tower. I responded by suggesting we utilize wind and solar energy where feasible, while my opponents offered only general platitudes. Here's a project I've seen at Northerly Island that uses both. We have a fair bit of roof space that can be utilized for this purpose.

I spearheaded the resurrection of our Green Committee and was instrumental in the acquisition of our weather station. This station can be used to record wind and sunlight data, giving us a good indicator of the viability of capturing this energy for our benefit.

These are a few of the things I'd like to consider if I were a member of our board.