The Fulton Building at 2701–09 W. Fulton St., a three-story brick loft building.

2701–09 W. Fulton St · 270 N. Washtenaw Ave · Chicago

A great live/work building — run into the ground by the one man who owns it.

A landmark West Side loft building, presented for years as a trophy address. The public file tells a second story: sixty-four open code violations, unpaid City accounts, a mortgage in default, and an owner named in dozens of Cook County lawsuits.

Read the record Tenants & past tenants

Published by an individual tenant of 2701–09 W. Fulton St., in a personal capacity, from public court, County, and City records. Not affiliated with, and not speaking for, the owner, management, or the court-appointed receiver; not a solicitation to buy or sell. Statements of fact come from the public record; any characterization of that record is the author's own opinion.

The property, on the public record

Six figures a prospectus would omit.

$2.38M

Owed to the bank

In default; personally guaranteed

$1.626M

County valuation

Roughly $750K below the debt

Open code violations

Every one since the 2020 loan

$16,708

Past-due water

One unpaid City account

Federow court cases

1985–2026 · four bankruptcies

Aug 28

In receivership

Receiver appointed

How it was sold vs. what's on file

Marketed as a trophy. Documented as distressed.

During the contested foreclosure the building was even listed for sale. Here is that pitch beside the public record.

The way it was marketed

The brochure

Positioning: Offered for sale at $4,495,000 — a West Side loft trophy. (That listing has since come down.)
Use: Marketed as live/work lofts: "apartments," a "1BR/1BA penthouse," washer/dryer in unit, dogs OK.
Income: Presented as a stabilized, income-producing rent roll.
Condition: Shown as a turnkey loft building.

What the record shows

The file

Debt: A $2,381,049.71 mortgage in default; County values the building at $1,626,000 — some $750K below the debt.
Zoning: Sits in PMD-4, where residential use is prohibited — no dwelling certificate of occupancy on record.
Condition: 64 open building-code violations, all since the 2020 loan; roof, wall, stair and life-safety — none cured.
Utilities: City water $16,708.34 past due; a ComEd account $3,768.17 past due, disconnection authorized.

Documented conditions · Department of Buildings

The "features," as the City recorded them.

From the City of Chicago Building Violations database. Ninety on record; sixty-four opened during the loan period, each still open, each wave inspected by DOB inspector BL00904.

IRepair the roofWater-rotted roof deckCited 04.29.2024Open

IIRepair exterior wallMasonry structural assessment requiredCited 01.09.2025Open

IIIInterior stair systemFall hazard · engineer's report requiredCited 04.29.2024Open

IVExit & emergency lightingNo-permit wiring · defective outlets — twelve electrical violationsCited 10.22.2024Open

VFire-rated stair enclosuresBreached furnace-room enclosures · missing Class B doorsCited 01.09.2025Open

VIUnpermitted change of useBusiness to Assembly, unapprovedCited 04.11.2026Open

A clean gap from 2013 to April 2024 — the deterioration tracks the owner's distress, not a chronically-cited building. On Sept 3, 2026 the Fire Department evacuated the building over a carbon-monoxide alarm; gas was shut off.

The money it owes

Tenants pay flat monthly fees. The City's bills go unpaid.

Every tenant invoice carries fixed "Water," "Insurance," "CAM" and "Electric" lines — identical each month, identical across units of different sizes — while the building's own City accounts run past due.

$16,708

Past-due water & sewer

The building is billed on one City account — water is not separately metered — yet every tenant pays a flat monthly water fee. A lien follows the property.

Acct 1322836-508763 · The Fulton Building, LLC · Finance FOIA F147082

$3,768

Past-due ComEd

An electric account in the name "Michael Federow Inc" for 2709 W. Fulton carried this balance, with disconnection authorized through July 24, 2026.

2709 W Fulton St Loft · disconnection notice on file

Property taxes

Paid — late, and by the bank

2022$71,778.10 Paid

2023$73,631.84 Paid

2024$81,970.93 Paid

2025 · 1st$45,083.98 Paid

Paid late & piecemeal by First Bank via a tax agent · Treasurer FOIA

The owner's court record · Cook County & federal

Michael P. Federow, defendant — roughly fifty matters over forty years.

A representative sample from the public docket. The full, filterable record — judgments, settlements, dismissals and current status — lives in the case tracker. Criminal, traffic, and domestic-relations matters are excluded here by design.

Case no.	Matter	Type	Status / outcome
2025 CH 10558	First Bank of Highland Park v. The Fulton Building LLC & Michael Federow This building · Cook County Chancery	Foreclosure	Active · receiver appointed 8/28/26
2023 L 009946	Pellettieri v. The 270 Corp, Federow & Michael Walsh Law Division · 197 Longcommon Rd (his residence)	Contract	Settled — default judgment, lien on 197 Longcommon, paid after the lien
2022 1123312	Noelia Cruz v. Federow & Byron Scottch LLC Tenant deposit case	Tenant / deposit	Judgment $5,862 (3/2024)
2025 400 4307	Alvarez & Wendholt v. Byron Scottch LLC & The 270 Corp. District 4 · former tenants	Tenant / deposit	Pending
2023 1650468	City of Chicago v. Lawndale Commons LLC & Michael Federow Administrative judgment	City / code	Judgment $10,114.77
2020 CH 00318	HOF I Legal Title Trust 3 v. Federow & The 500 Group LLC Chancery	Foreclosure	Closed — sheriff's sale approved

Four bankruptcies — 1996 · 2003 · 2008 · 2012 → The security-deposit record → 13+ single-purpose LLCs Open the full case tracker →

Residents

For tenants & past tenants of this building.

A private, members-only area — separate from everything above. Sign in to see what we keep off the public site, compare your lease and invoices, and add your own account.

Members only · verified residents

Report your experience.

Deposits, invoices, repairs, notices, entry — add what happened to you. Everything you share stays inside the members area and builds the building-wide picture. Past tenants welcome.

$50K+Key deposits held
building-wide

7Deposit disputes
on record

Owed a deposit here or at another Federow property? See the public deposit record →

See the private briefing

The full tenant briefing, lease comparisons and invoice analysis we keep off the public site.

Add your account

A short form — unit, lease, invoices, deposit, landlord conduct. You control what you share.

III

The deposit tracker

A running, members-only count of how many tenants say their deposit was never returned — and how much.

Meeting & receiver updates

Where to pay rent now, what the receiver has said, and the next tenant meeting.