“Windy City Rehab” has been a hit reality show for HGTV, but it’s not winning a lot of fans among the people (and aldermen) who live near the homes it renovates and flips.
An investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times turned up complaints about trash, noise, code violations and more surrounding its projects. And while the show boasts a number of finished products that flipped for big profits, the report revealed questions about whether some of the homes were really ever sold.
“Windy City Rehab” follows designer Alison Victoria and partner Donovan Eckhardt, president of Greymark Development Group, as they acquire fixer-uppers, undertake sometimes anguish-filled rehabs and then sell the properties. The show claimed 9.3 million viewers turned in during its first few weeks on air and it was recently renewed for a second season.
But one of the show’s projects got slapped with two stop-work orders for doing work outside the scope of city permits, and city officials who’ve worked with the show felt burned. Alderman Brian Hopkins, for example, described the show as operating with a “certain amount of arrogance,” and said he would “insist on a firm commitment” from the show on how they deal with the surrounding community.
An episode set in Ukrainian Village ended with a furnished home and an immaculate yard complete with a custom-made chicken coop. But as of earlier this month the project still wasn’t done: Workers were seen at the property, and the front yard was covered in green turf and trash, while the back yard was muddy, littered and the chicken coop was gone.
The rehabbers claimed they made a profit of $255,000 flipping the house for a sale price of $1.3 million. But state records don’t reflect a new buyer, according to the Sun-Times. [Chicago Sun-Times] — John O’Brien