UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — Luxury condos in a city landmarked church and school are approaching two years past a completion deadline, prompting neighbors to wonder how much longer the turn-of-century buildings will be a construction zone.
Joe Kotoch, the listing agent for The Belfry condos in the former St. John Church and School at 913-925 N. Hoyne Ave., said he has moved on and is no longer connected to the project.
"It has been delayed. They are projecting to deliver this year. I couldn't tell you when," Kotoch said on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, there were piles of rubble and broken stained glass in several of the building windows. A shiny Porta Potty looked like it was not getting much use.
A sign advertising that the condos would be ready in summer 2015 recently was updated: a piece of duct tape now obscures the year.
The project was first announced in August 2014, when members of the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Association voted almost unanimously to support developer Alex Troyanovsky's conversion of the church and school into 19 condos.
Troyanovsky declined several requests for comment on the delays.
On Tuesday Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said that he spoke with Troyanovsky, who said the delay is "partially due to a construction permit" applied for but not received.
"The permit request had to be revised after some unforeseen structural issues were discovered in the early stages of work. My office is working with the Department of Buildings to resolve the delay so work can proceed. [Troyanovsky] intends to begin marketing units for sale this fall," Hopkins said.
Pete Strazzabosco, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Planning and Development, said that "work on the church's tower requires a permit that has not been submitted yet."
The church was declared a city landmark in March 2013, just weeks after being bought by Troyanovsky, a prolific real estate developer.
Since the building is a landmark, all construction permits need to be vetted through the Landmark Commission's Permit Review Committee.
Built in 1905, St. John's Lutheran Church was designed by architects Henry Worthmann & John Steinbach, who were among the city's most accomplished church designers," according to a Landmark Commission report.
Most recently used by members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, the seven-lot, 17,532-square-foot parcel had been on the market since 2005 before being sold in 2013.
James Conroy, president of the the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Association, said that he had also noticed that duct tape was recently placed over the year advertising when the condos would be completed.
"I was walking with my wife and some friends by it this past weekend and thought, 'When will this ever get done?' It seems like it's taking quite a long time. We are eager to see work done and have it be a place where people live, and not a construction zone," Conroy said.
Hopkins said that Troyanovsky and his team have been good stewards of the site and keeping it secure, so squatters and vandals cannot get inside.
"Every time we get a call, the developer has been responsive and re-secured the work site. But a secure work site is not necessarily a progressing work site," Hopkins said.
