South Shore residents at multiple properties recently managed by CKO Real Estate are asking for accountability from the company they say left them in unlivable conditions. Residents say they feel abandoned by the company since it shuttered in February.
Two residents detailed their experiences living in formerly CKO-managed properties outside of one of the properties on Tuesday at 7655 S. Coles Ave. Russell Carter said his bathroom ceiling collapsed in early February while CKO still managed his apartment.
He says the ceiling collapse is a result of CKO ignoring repairs that he says tenants have been complaining about. Tenants also have complained about much-needed roof repairs and issues with falling debris, which has left him unable to use his bathroom.
“Recently, they started to let things go. I guess the building was no longer profitable or whatever,” he said. “My upstairs neighbor, they [CKO] never checked on the appliances in the apartment, and her toilet tank had a seal that was old. So every time she flushed, part of the water went down into the walls. And this explains why, all of a sudden, one day, my complete bathroom ceiling collapsed.”
Carter says he had to stay in hotels, and the homes of loved ones, just to be able to take a shower. Unlivable conditions within his apartment have also made it difficult for him to take care of his disabled son.
In late February, CKO Real Estate shuttered its operations. Since then, tenants say they have seen the conditions in the units go from bad to worse. Today, they struggle to understand the future of their housing.
In a text message shared with The TRiiBE, CKO stated that the closure was a result of “internal corporate restructuring.” The company said it “permanently closed their property management offices as of the end of the business day on Wednesday, February 26, 2025.”
Dianne Price is a resident at one of the properties located on 67th and Paxton Avenue. She said the electricity and the heat were shut off in February, and both remain shut off today. She’s lived in the building for 15 years.
“We have to use extension cords from the hallway to plug and then run an extension cord into our apartments to get lights,” she said.
Price said that a new management company, PIP Realty Group, left orange letters on tenants’ doors on February 26, demanding rent without addressing the conditions Price says she’s been facing. Both Price and Carter say they have refused to pay rent since February due to the unlivable conditions.
“The only thing that they are asking for is rent. Mind you, they only had [the building] for a month or two, and then they’re asking for back rent,” she said. “Also, how do I stay warm? I use plenty of blankets at night.”
On Tuesday, Price said she received a text message from PIP Realty Group saying that yet another property management company, named Halsted Taylor, had taken over.
“People are passing it along,” Carter said of the properties. “It’s a hot potato.”
Representatives with PIP Realty and Halsted Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.
Multiple LLCs are listed as owners for the properties formerly managed by CKO; some of the entities are 7655 S Coles LLC, RFLF 4 LLC and Jackson Highlands Properties LLC.
Chikoo Patel, principal of CKO Real Estate, told The TRiiBE he had not been associated with the South Shore buildings for “some months” and could not comment on the conditions of the properties. Patel is named as the registered agent for Jackson Highlands Properties LLC.
According to a 2024 article on The Real Deal, Patel and Shai Wolkowicki were adding 518 apartments to their South Side holdings through a plan to buy four distressed portfolios in partnership with F Street Investments, a Milwaukee-based firm.
Carter said CKO was in the middle of repairs when they stopped answering his calls in February.
“There’s nothing more frustrating to a tenant [than] for your landlord [or property] management to go radio silent, and every contact number that they harassed you with over the years is all of a sudden just non-answerable, doesn’t exist,” Carter said. “Then you think to yourself, ‘What the hell happened?’”
After finding 13 code violations during inspections in January and filing a housing complaint, the city condemned one of the properties that CKO managed — at 6725-33 S. Paxton Ave. — in March, according to Block Club Chicago. The building also caught fire, which tenants say the company didn’t acknowledge.
“The city and the mayor need to stand up and be accountable for these apartments, and also we need to be compensated for all the money that we have lost buying stuff,” Price said.
Residents have formed a tenant group to hold CKO Real Estate accountable for the conditions of its buildings.
Complaints about the disarray of the buildings have stretched to other neighborhoods outside of South Shore where more tenants are calling on the city to hold the management company accountable, according to Sahar Punjwani, an organizer with the housing advocacy group Southside Together.
Organizers have a private meeting with the city and a management company this week.
Tenants of the properties formerly managed by CKO are demanding:
- Financial compensation from CKO investors to relocate to new units
- That the new management company does not require back rent for the months they’ve been living in harsh conditions,
- Reimbursement from CKO for when rent was paid and such conditions persisted,
- A written agreement for the ability to break their leases early without financial penalty
- A face-to-face meeting with the new management company to discuss concerns and their expectations of the new management company.
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