Residents of the many loft buildings in the near West Loop don’t lack for green space in their high-density surroundings. On the east side of Desplaines Street, between Monroe and Adams, is one of the Chicago Park District‘s newest enclaves, Heritage Green Park.
Ted Guarnero and Joe Zekas stopped by the park between their visits to Haberdasher Square Lofts at 728 W Jackson St and Metropolitan Place at 130 S Canal St, two of the loft buildings whose residents frequent the park many with their dogs, some with their children.
Ted’s lies are a great example of why real estate agents are distrusted. He claims the park is just across the street from Hab-Dash, but this is categorically false. The park is a full block from Hab-Dash, and no units have meaningful views onto the park.
Contrary, the park is directly across from 210 The Edge. I presume Ted doesn’t have any units for sale at The Edge, but does at HabDash.
Also, the grocery store at Presidential Towers has been closed for about a month now. The shops at PT are undergoing renovations and being turned into an outdoor facing mall. The grocery store has closed, and I have not heard anything regarding what might replacing it. Tribune was reporting that the Waterton Residential was seeking a new grocer to replace the old, but has not made any announcements. I Presume that with a Dominicks and a Jewel within 1/4 mile it would be tough competition for anything but a boutique – Fox & Obel or Trader Joe’s.
Andrew,
I very clearly state at the beginning of the video that “we just walked a short block over here from Haberdasher Square” and Ted responds “that’s correct.” Anyone can see that, and anyone who’s done video on the fly as we do knows how difficult it is to state everything with absolute precision. Your saying Ted lied about this is itself a lie.
Ted mentions the Jewel and Dominick’s, and I’m the one who brought uip the market at PT. What’s your point in making such a big deal of our not being up-to-the-minute on the status of its closing when this was shot several weeks ago? Do you know for a fact it wasn’t open when the video was shot?
You’re a great example of commenters who blindly hate on real estate agents regardless of the facts and circumstances.
Ted: “We’re in Heritage square park, across from Haberdasher square lofts, and a bunch of other condos”. – Categorically false. Heritage square park is not across from Haberdasher, it’s out the back door and around the block.
It’s easy to see why Ted is lieing, it’s a great park and boosts local values. Ted is trying to boost the values of the units in HabDash. I understand people chase the almighty buck, I even do it myself – but I do expect agents to be honest and ethical.
I have no idea when you made the video, but the store has been closed for over a month, and local press have been talking about the impending closing for much longer.
You are of course free to dismiss me as a hater, but I’m sure you have stats that show I’ve been a fairly loyal reader for quite some time (actually, ever since you met my wife in this very same park a few years back). And, I think honest, ethical real estate news is important, and still mostly lacking. Despite clear flaws, your blog is one of the better ones.
But, if you’re right, and I’m just yet another commenter joining the mob of haters, at least it’s a good sized mob, it seems like it’s a pretty popular place to be. I don’t often find myself in mobs, but I do know that when the mob grows large – it becomes more about you than it is about me.
Ultimately, I’m reminded by how you love to throw stones at Crains, Trib, and SunTimes. You know what they say about glass houses.
_Am
Andrew,
The problem you have with trying to say that Ted was lying is the video, which anyone can watch and see what a wild fabrication your claim is. When Ted says “across from Haberdasher Square Lofts” he’s clearly saying it in the context of just having said “that’s correct” to my stating we had just walked a short block to get there from Haberdasher. Would you dispute the fact that it’s a short block to the park? Do you think it’s fair – or even sane – to call someone a liar on the basis of the casual use of the word “across?”
Anyone who watches the video will also see that I’m the one who introduced the topic of the PT market. The video was shot on April 15 and both Ted and I were clearly unaware that the market was closed – if it was in fact closed by that date. If you’re calling Ted a liar over this you’re also calling me a liar – and that doesn’t sit kindly with me.
The Tribune reported, on April 9, that PT was seeking a new grocer. It did not report a date for the PT Market closing, nor can I find one reported anywhere. The Trib article stated that “… Waterton, which acquired the property in 2007, is looking for a name grocer to take over when the lease expires in November.”
If the market had closed by April 9, the date of the Tribune piece, it’s curious that the Tribune didn’t report that. A commenter on Yelp also noted, on April 9, that the market would be closing … another small indication that it had not yet closed as of that date. I also was at 565 Quincy, just down the street, shooting a video on March 26. The market was open at that time.
Since the “local press have been talking about the impending closing for much longer” I’m sure you’ll have no difficulty providing a link to that. I can’t find one.
A search of our comments on your IP address returns 4 comments, the first posted on April 15 of this year. Ditto for your current screen name. A search on the e-mail address you used reveals an additional comment, posted on January 19 of this year, under a different screen name. I’m sure our server logs would reveal how long your IP addresses have been visiting the site, but we have never looked at data at that detailed a level and never will.
I have no idea who you are or who your wife is. I don’t recall meeting a woman in this park several years ago. I don’t even recall being in the park several years ago. But then I meet 1,000s of people every year and visit tons of places. Give me some idea of what transpired in our meeting to assist my recall.
The length of my reply is an indication that I’m not dismissing you. It has been, however, my long and oft-repeated experience that people who call others liars without having any basis whatsoever for doing so are bringing some extraneous baggage to the scene.
You have no basis for calling Ted a liar and implying that I countenance a broker lying on one of our videos. I don’t.