SqueegeeChicago's glass. Our responsibility.
Case Studies · Three Buildings · One Standard
River North · 300 N State Street
Marina City
Where curved geometry defeated every competitor.
The Problem
Marina City's 61-story concrete corncobs are architectural icons — and a rope-access nightmare. The petal-shaped balconies radiate from a central core, creating deep concave pockets on the underside of each tier. Grime, exhaust particulate, and bird debris accumulate in the recessed geometry where no standard scaffolding rig can reach. Three prior vendors walked away from the bid.
The Method
Our crew engineered a custom swing-stage rigging system anchored to the roof's structural core, allowing lateral pendulum access into each balcony recess. We completed 896 residential units across both towers in a 14-day rotation, working dawn-to-dusk windows between wind advisories. Every drop was logged against the building's curved façade map.
The Result
Full exterior restoration of both towers — the first complete cleaning in 6 years. The property manager reported a 40% reduction in tenant complaints about window clarity within 60 days. Squeegee is now the exclusive maintenance contractor on annual rotation.
Three other companies told us the balcony geometry made a full cleaning impossible. Squeegee showed up with a plan on day one and executed without a single incident. The towers look the way Goldberg intended.
Patricia Novak
Director of Property Operations, Marina City HOA
Façade Clarity Score (Independent Assessment)
Michigan Avenue · N. Michigan Avenue Corridor
Magnificent Mile Flagship
Overnight turnarounds on the most photographed street in Chicago.
The Problem
A national retail brand completing a 22,000 sq ft flagship buildout on Michigan Avenue needed storefront glass cleaned and sealed between three construction phases — all during overnight windows before morning foot traffic. Construction dust, adhesive overspray, and paint particulate had bonded to the glass at a molecular level. The grand opening was 72 hours away.
The Method
We mobilized a 6-person crew at 10 PM each night for three consecutive sessions. Using restoration-grade compound polish followed by hydrophobic nano-coating, we removed construction bonding from 3,200 sq ft of storefront glass across three floors. Work was completed and equipment cleared by 5:30 AM each morning — no disruption to adjacent tenants or early delivery windows.
The Result
The flagship opened on schedule with glass that the brand's visual director described as "better than spec." Foot traffic photography from opening day circulated nationally. Squeegee is now on retainer for the building's quarterly maintenance and tenant-turnover cleaning.
We've opened eleven flagship locations in the past five years. This was the first time the glass was actually better than what we specified. The overnight logistics were flawless — our construction manager didn't have to manage a single conflict.
James Okafor
VP Real Estate & Construction, National Retail Group
Glass Transmission (Light Through Glass)
Lakeshore East · 225 N. Columbus & Portfolio
Lakeshore East Portfolio
When Lake Michigan sets the schedule, you plan around the data.
The Problem
An HOA board managing five residential towers in the Lakeshore East portfolio — including Aqua, Cirrus, and 840-on-the-Park — was operating on a fixed quarterly cleaning schedule. The problem: sustained Lake Michigan wind loads and lake-effect weather events were depositing mineral scale, bird debris, and storm particulate at a rate that made the schedule irrelevant. Tenants with eastern-facing units were filing complaints after every storm system.
The Method
We integrated a live wind-data feed from NOAA's Chicago lakefront monitoring stations into our scheduling system. Cleaning windows are now dynamically assigned based on 72-hour forecast models, targeting post-storm low-wind corridors of 8 mph or less at elevation. The five-building portfolio is divided into 12 façade zones, each with a risk-weighted priority queue that reorders automatically after weather events.
The Result
Tenant complaints dropped 78% in the first year of the new protocol. The HOA board renegotiated from a fixed quarterly contract to a responsive annual agreement, saving $34,000 while achieving measurably better outcomes. Three adjacent buildings in the development have since joined the portfolio.
We'd been fighting tenant complaints about streaked windows for three years. Squeegee came in and told us the schedule was the problem, not the cleaning. They were right. We haven't had a formal complaint since Q2 of last year.
Renata Kowalski
Board President, Lakeshore East Residential Association
Annual Tenant Complaints (Glass Clarity)
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