A strong relationship with city officials helps serve a client
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile
A history of engagement with a Chicago Alderman likely was a factor in a 24-hour response by the city to an uncompleted work project that left a sidewalk hole on city property adjacent to a GNP client’s building on the Magnificent Mile.
During the relocation of a light pole that was initially deemed too close to a public stairway, city workers broke through to an underground vault adjacent to the GNP-managed property. After workers found they could not connect to a power source at the proposed location, the hole was covered with a board, creating a potential pedestrian hazard and an unsightly walkway for the adjacent building owner and the public.
In a fortuitous bit of timing, a GNP senior staff member encountered the city’s assistant superintendent of the cement repairs division, who was in the area to assess work needed near the Lower Michigan Ave. repaving project. When asked about the hole left by the light-pole work, the superintendent agreed to look into it. GNP staff also reached out to the ward Alderman to confirm the requested assistance. Within a day, city workers were on site to assess the situation.
The city readily agreed to expand the planned scope of work to fill two underground vaults adjacent to GNP-managed properties. An electrician removed obsolete utility wiring, and the city secured permits to implode the affected sidewalk area, fill both vaults with concrete and pour a new sidewalk. GNP agreed to cement the entrance walls of the vaults where they adjoined the client’s properties.
GNP Vice President and General Manager Nick Morrissey attributes the city’s rapid response to GNP’s engagement with the local Alderman and its long-standing support for aldermanic public projects.
“We manage properties in this ward, and it’s also our office home, so we’ve long made it our practice to engage in ward activities,” says Morrissey. “In addition to keeping abreast of what’s happening in the ward that might impact our clients, we believe a good relationship with the city benefits all parties involved—in this case, a fast-track review and resolution to a problem within 24 hours of reporting it!”
