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[The following statement can be attributed to Steven Levy, president of Sudler Property Management regarding the fire at 260 E. Chestnut, also known as The Plaza On DeWitt, in Chicago.]
Sudler Property Management, managers of the 407 residential unit The Plaza on DeWitt, wish to express our sorrow to the friends and relatives of the victim of the fire at 260 E. Chestnut that started on the 36th floor due to an as yet unconfirmed origin. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family at this difficult time. We are grateful that additional injuries were minor.
But we also wish to thank a number of individuals and organizations for their swift action that prevented further injury and inconvenience to the residents. The Chicago Fire Department, under the command of Fire Commissioner John Brooks, with hundreds of firefighters worked throughout the night to contain the fire, evacuate residents and restore access to the building in an exemplary manner in sub-freezing temperatures. We also appreciate the efforts of the Red Cross and other emergency personnel.
During this incident, Sudler's management team quickly implemented evacuation and emergency plans that assured the safety of the residents and fully cooperated with emergency crews. Sudler's entire senior management team was on site to implement activities and their efforts were praised by the Fire Department and other emergency personnel as being particularly helpful and fully prepared.
Finally, we wish to thank our vendor partners who curtailed all other activities and within 30 minutes of the onset of the incident were at the building ready to work on disaster recovery activities, including electrical and elevator repair or restoration, door and window replacement, plumbing restoration, board up and other needs. Once access was permitted by fire officials, our ClientAdvantage . vendors worked tirelessly throughout the night and early morning to restore necessary services.
Most of the residents are able to now access their homes and Sudler has facilitated temporary shelter at local hotels for those residents who cannot yet return to their units. While we cannot speculate on the extent of the damage to the building, we will continue to work in the days ahead on evaluating the situation and on restoring the property.
Sudler Property Management manages many of the most prestigious residential addresses in Chicago, totaling approximately 100 properties with 18,000 residential units. The company has managed The Plaza at DeWitt condominium building at 260 E. Chestnut in Chicago since 2003. |