Quote of the day: Up in smoke

“The good majority are smaller landlords who have had their apartment buildings for 20 or 30 years, and they’re thinking they’re going to rehab them in order to keep up with condo conversions” that are their competition in the marketplace…

“They’re saying, ‘I don’t want any more smokers.’ “

– Maurice Ortiz, marketing director for Apartment People, commenting on the results of a new survey (PDF) claiming that a third of all Chicago renters would pay more to live in smoke-free buildings. About 2,000 units in high-rises represented by Apartment People have gone smoke-free, Ortiz tells the Trib, a shift he attributes to “bottom-line decisions” like repainting walls or cleaning carpets.

According to the survey, conducted by the Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project, half of the 400-plus renters polled said they’d either strongly support or support somewhat rules prohibiting smoking in individual apartments or common areas and in individual units. Forty percent said they’d oppose such a rule. Strangely enough, 6 percent said the lingering scent of cigarette smoke in a building would be a good thing.

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