The upcoming second season of Chicago home fixer-upper reality show “Windy City Rehab” already promises to be packed with drama. Season Three could be even wilder, if it ever happens.
The latest news is that Alison Victoria Gramenos, the show’s star, and her team were stuck in quarantine for 14 days because her Los Angeles-based producer fell ill with a suspected case of the coronavirus, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. That’s not so unusual these days, but given the cascade of financial problems Gramenos has faced, her business may not be able to overcome the economic effects of the pandemic.
Gramenos told the John Roa Show that while she has investors, she also has “hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up” and uses her own cash on her home improvement projects. But she doesn’t know what tomorrow will bring.
“That’s scary to me because obviously I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back in those homes; it’s scary to me because of what happens with all the financial institutions that I’m dealing with. You know, I’m no longer a priority,” she said.
During the podcast interview, she spoke of the breakup of her partnership with contractor Donovan Eckhardt of Greymark Development Group LLC, who co-hosted the first season with her.
According to the Sun-Times, Gramenos is now working with a new contractor. She did not address the bombshell lawsuit from a pair of former clients who claimed that their $1.36 million house was plagued by leaks and other shoddy workmanship.
Gramenos is also engaged in a lawsuit with a notary public whom she claims forged her name on loan documents and other paperwork. Eckhardt, meanwhile, is being sued by a subcontractor who claims to be owed $108,000 for work performed.
Gramenos didn’t delve into the issues they have with the Chicago Department of Buildings, which issued stop-work orders and has prevented them from taking on new projects.
[Sun Times] — James Kleimann