James G. McConnell

The developers who converted this three story brick walk up apartment building in Evanston into condominiums made two crucial mistakes. First, they tried to increase their profits by extending three of the first floor apartments into empty basement space, so those units could be sold for higher prices. Second, they refused to make repairs to structural and mechanical elements of the building after two years, though they had promised the buyers that these elements would last for at least ten years, or more.

Mr. McConnell filed a lawsuit on behalf of the buyers against the developers. First, he won an injunction ordering the developers to restore the basements of the three grould floor units to the common areas, and close up the floor openings leading to the apartments above. Second, he won a jury verdict against the developers for $245,000.00 to pay for the repairs the developers refused to perform.

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Lessons Learned:

Who knew you could steal a basement?