Crain's Chicago Business, March 11, 2024

Chicago restaurants jockeying for business from the DNC

About 50,000 people are expected to descend on the city for the Democratic National Convention in August, and the local dining scene is a utter trying to prepare |

By Ally Marotti

With six months to go until the Democratic National Convention and its thousands of attendees descend on Chicago, the city’s restaurant scene is a utter with preparations.

e Chicago 2024 Host Committee expects 50,000 delegates and other visitors to attend the DNC, which is scheduled for Aug. 19-22. While the DNC itself will be held at McCormick Place and the United

See RESTAURANTS on Page 22

“It’s going to be unbelievable business for Chicago.”

David Flom, managing partner at Chicago Cut Steakhouse

Motorola Solutions’ Silver Lake deal paid off for both

The company nally wound down a billion-dollar transaction with the private-equity giant

John Pletz

Nearly nine years ago, Silicon Valley private-equity giant Silver Lake lent Motorola Solutions $1 billion, betting it would come up a winner if it helped the maker of police radios and dispatch equipment make a bigger push into software and other technologies.

e deal paid o handsomely for Silver Lake, which let the money ride when the initial term of the convertible-debt deal expired in 2019. By the time Motorola wound down the deal on Feb. 14, Silver Lake made $2 billion on its money.

Motorola shareholders did even better, earning a nearly sixfold return as the company’s stock price soared from $55.34 to $324.82.

“The Silver Lake partnership has been very successful, and we’ve transformed significantly since we entered into our initial agreement,” CEO Greg Brown said in a statement. “We’ve substantially grown revenue and earnings, significantly improved operating cash flow, completed dozens of acquisitions and quadrupled our addressable market.”

During Silver Lake's invest-

ment, Motorola's revenue increased 75% to about $10 billion last year. It doubled operating cash ow to $2 billion.

One of the biggest acquisitions was Motorola’s $1 billion purchase of Canadian videosurveillance company Avigilon in 2018. Video is now one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

At the time the Silver Lake partnership was announced, many questioned the rationale.

“I think it was a good deal for Motorola. When they entered the relationship with Silver Lake

NASCAR offers up a post-mortem on the Chicago Street Race

In interviews from Daytona Beach, executives proclaimed there’s ‘un nished business’ with the inaugural event that took place in July

Jack Grieve

Few sporting events are more at the mercy of mother nature than racing. Even light rain can render the treadless stock car tires all but useless. at weather vulnerability is what forced NASCAR to postpone its ag-

ship Daytona 500 race on Feb. 18. It's also what race o cials say tainted the success of the rst-ever Chicago Street Race in July.

In interviews from Daytona Beach in Florida, dubbed the "world center of racing," NASCAR executives reflected

on that inaugural Chicago race and teased what 2024 will entail — if weather allows them to be at their best.

"Our work is incomplete," said Julie Giese, president of the Chicago Street Race. After more than

CRAIN’S LIST

See our ranking of the Chicago area’s largest physician groups.

PAGE 13

FAMILY FEUD

At Loeber Motors, two generations of leaders are locked in a legal battle.

PAGE 16

JOHN

Greg Brown

West Loop apartment complex sells for 14% less than 2017 price

The deal shows the cooling effect of high interest rates on commercial property pricing — even in the most desirable neighborhoods

Rachel Herzog

A Chicago investment firm sold a West Loop apartment complex for 14% less than it paid for the property nearly seven years ago, showing that the cooling effect on pricing from a tough commercial lending market can hit even the city’s most desirable neighborhoods.

Waterton sold the 81-unit Aberdeen West Loop to Chicagobased apartment investor JAB Real Estate for $34.5 million in a deal that closed Feb. 15, according to Cook County property records and JAB’s website. That’s down from the $40 million that Waterton paid for the property, then known as Madison Aber-

deen Place, in 2017. Waterton declined to comment on the sale.

Lackluster sales

While the Aberdeen, located at 20 N. Aberdeen St., boasts proximity to the McDonald’s global headquarters as well as the restaurants and entertainment amenities drawing renters to the West Loop, it was put on the market in August, which was a dicult time to sell commercial property due to high interest rates even as downtown rental demand was strong. e borrowing environment has caused some lackluster sale prices for investors, including a 15-story building near the planned Bally’s casino on the Chicago River selling for

DAN MCGRATH ON THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS

26% less than it fetched a decade ago and a luxury River North tower selling for about the same amount as the debt the seller held on the property.

On a page about the property on JAB Real Estate’s website, the firm expressed optimism that the interest rate clouds are clearing.

“JAB was patient during the historic spike in interest rates of 2022 and 2023, waiting until we believed the rate increases were near a close before we acquired The Aberdeen West Loop portfolio. This allowed us to acquire an asset substantially below replacement cost,” the firm wrote.

The firm said it plans to add value to the apartment complex by expanding the commercial

20 N. Aberdeen St. COSTAR GROUP

space on the ground floor and building a luxury fitness center for tenants. JAB didn’t respond to requests for comment from Crain’s.

Including the Aberdeen, JAB Real Estate owns 18 multifamily properties in Chicago and 148 others across the Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City markets.

Have you considered building a baseball team instead, Jerry?

Say your friend has a restaurant, one he has owned for 40-some years.

It’s in a neighborhood that’s in play among younger people because of reasonable real estate prices and proximity to downtown.

Dan McGrath

e food, though, is poor and the service mediocre, and your friend at times seems indi erent to, if not clueless about, those problems. Yet he can’t understand why the place doesn’t do better and tends to blame the customers for not coming.

ere’s talk of a spi y new neighborhood taking shape in an abandoned rail yard roughly 2 miles away, designed to attract trendy types with money. Boy, would business take o if he could relocate there.

And by the way, how about some public money — $1 billion or so — to build this new place?

Or a bigger slice of a hotel tax that threatens to drive away business if it gets much steeper?

e analogy came to mind with the news of Jerry Reinsdorf’s latest public money grab for a new home for his Chicago White Sox.

ey’re a poorly run franchise that is not playing good baseball and not drawing fans, sponsorships or broadcast income. Reinsdorf doesn’t seem to get the correlation. It’s Major League Baseball, he believes, so come support it, as if we’re duty-bound.

I don’t mean to sound like a geto -my-lawn grump, Mr. Chairman, but I’m not seeing it. And I rather like baseball.

New Comiskey, U.S. Cellular Field, Guaranteed Rate Field . . . by whatever name, the ballpark

where the White Sox play is 33 years old, which makes it the fourth oldest in the American League behind Fenway Park, Angels Stadium and the soon-tobe extinct Oakland Coliseum.

But there’s nothing wrong with it that a competitive, interesting team wouldn’t x. Between the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and the “Sodfather” Roger Bossard, the park is comfortable and well maintained. e ISFA gets a save for lopping eight rows o the acrophobiainducing upper deck and partially covering it 20 years ago.

e food is good and varied, there’s easy access via the el or Metra, and the old saw about Bridgeport being a “dangerous” place is an outdated red herring, though it would be helpful if someone in the know came clean about what really happened to the woman who was shot while seated in the left eld grandstand last August.

Comparisons with Wrigley Field are unfair and unavoidable, particularly among those genetically suspicious Sox fans who believe the baseball world has it in for them.

For all the Ricketts family upgrades, Wrigley retains its charm and remains a must-see shrine to baseball, thanks in part to shrewd marketing in the days when the park was a better draw than the ball team. “ e Rate,” “the Cell,” “Sox Park” — whatever you want to call it, it has none of that allure. And the surrounding area will never be a year-round funhouse like Wrigleyville thanks to a demand for acres of parking that sit there desolate as the Siberian steppes all winter or when the Sox are on the road.

Reinsdorf groused that “we didn’t crack the 3 million (attendance) mark” when they won the World Series in 2005. True — the

Sox drew 2,342,833, or 28,924 fans per home game.

But attendance momentum builds o a championship and kicks in the following year. e Sox drew 2,957,414 in 2006 — 36,511 per game — and likely would have surpassed 3 million if they hadn’t spit the bit after the All-Star Game and gone 33-40.

You could call it the start of a downward spiral. e Sox have made just three playo appearances in the 18 years since the baseball gods embraced them in 2005, losing all three series and winning just three games. Too often they’ve

cursed themselves with baseball’s double whammy — bad and boring.

And Reinsdorf blames the fans for staying home, then cans a broadcaster who at least made the television experience palatable, his worst decision since the exhumation of Tony La Russa. And for this he deserves a new ballpark?

Try putting a winning, entertaining team on the eld, Mr. Chairman. It works wonders.

Meanwhile, street crime is perceived as out of control in Chicago, and even if the perception is overstated, it is out there nonetheless. ere are homeless

people everywhere, a migrant population in desperate need of lodging and assimilation, chewedup streets that are borderline impassable and symbolic of a decaying infrastructure.

at’s where our tax dollars should be going, not to a new ballpark for a billionaire with a suspect track record and a deep-seated aversion to spending his own money.

And I love baseball.

Crain’s contributor Dan McGrath is president of Leo High School in Chicago and a former Chicago Tribune sports editor.

Illinois nursing shortage may soon get worse

Customers shouldn’t pay for utilities’ extra costs, advocates say

Tens of millions of dollars in cost recovery would be disallowed under a new proposal

Illinoisans pay tens of millions of dollars each year to utilities to cover costs they accrue for lawyers, belonging to trade groups, making charitable contributions and purchasing advertisements meant to boost utilities’ public image.

Consumer advocates are pushing for a change to state law that would bar utilities from collecting money from customers for those expenditures, liability insurance covering executives and for the cost associated with ling rate cases. e bill also explicitly bans charging customers for political contributions, a practice already disallowed in Illinois.

e proposal, contained in Senate Bill 2885 and House Bill 5061, is backed by AARP Illinois and the Citizens Utility Board, a nonpro t created by the General Assembly to represent customers in front of utility regulators.  e bill would also require public hearings, like two held last year, whenever a gas, electric, water or sewer utility requests a rate increase. Rate cases, which generally take a year to complete, are currently conducted primarily online through written testimony from utilities and advocates as well as written comments submitted by members of the public.

An analysis from CUB found that last year, companies spent about $28 million for legal representation, expert testimony and other costs accrued in six Illinois Commerce Commission cases that resulted in electric and gas rates going up for most Illinoisans. e state’s two largest water utilities, Aqua Illinois and Illinois

A survey of hundreds of the state’s registered nurses shows more than a third plan to leave the profession this year because of unsafe staf ng levels

Scott Mechanic, a registered nurse for the University of Chicago Medicine, is often overwhelmed with heavy patient caseloads that contribute to stress, dissatisfaction and, he says, the desire to do something else.

While he’s been in his role at UChicago Medicine for about eight years, he says systemic issues with the nursing profession and a lack of meaningful regulations or improvements from his

employer lead him to think about leaving the profession “all the time.”

“At its best, nursing can be a really rewarding profession, but when you’re constantly shortsta ed, you’re just not able to provide the minimum level of care that you think your patients need,” Mechanic says. “It's an awful position for patients. It's an awful position for nurses. And it's probably the largest driver of turnover in the nursing profession.”

Mechanic’s personal experience mirrors that of his peers across the

state, a phenomenon that’s slated to intensify an already-signi cant labor shortage in the state, according to a new survey of Illinois registered nurses.

e report, which surveyed 385 Illinois nurses, found 34% plan to leave the profession in the next 12 months, primarily because of unsafe sta ng levels and unresolved moral distress — the feeling of being unable to help people or operate at the highest quality level because of

American Water, are going through rate cases right now, which could cost the companies about $3.2 million in expenses.

But since rate cases are required by state law, utilities argue such expenditures are necessary costs of doing business.

A representative of Commonwealth Edison, the electric utility for most of northern Illinois, argued that the state’s current regulatory process ensures that “no unreasonable or imprudent costs” are passed to customers.

“As a regulated utility, ComEd must demonstrate to the Illinois Commerce Commission that the investments it recovers from its customers are prudent and reasonable,” spokesperson Shannon Breymaier said in a statement. “In months-long processes in which consumer, public interest, environmental, and governmental groups participate actively, the ICC reviews our costs and rates.”

In total, the proposed legislation would reduce the amount of “recoverable” costs — meaning costs chargeable to customers — for the six largest Illinois utilities by $45 to $63 million annually, according to a CUB analysis.

Representatives of several utilities that reviewed costs calculated by CUB said they are in the right ballpark. But some companies took issue with some of the group’s methodology, noting that some costs, like insurance and some membership dues, seemed larger than their own calculations.

Reforming what costs utility customers pay for has been a consideration for Illinois policymakers for several years.

In 2020 — amid the early stages

Union push hits art museum that’s already in the red

At the Museum of Contemporary Art Chica go, a unionized workforce will add more strain to an organization still struggling to hit pre-pandemic numbers | By Brandon Dupré

Unionized sta at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago could put a strain on its already stressed nances. Last month, workers at the museum announced a union campaign that seeks to unionize some 100 museum sta ers who, among other things, seek better wages and bene ts, which would put a squeeze on the museum's nances as it recovers from the worst of the COVID pandemic.

e MCA had its expenses grow to $34.1 million while its revenue failed to keep pace, resulting in an operating loss of $6.8 million in the scal year ending June 30, 2023. In scal year 2022, the museum relied on $11 million in federal COVID relief funds to ll a de cit gap and avoid the red.

On Feb. 14, in a public letter signed by 32 employees of the museum, staff members announced their intent to form a union.

Katherine Davis

Andrew Adams, Capitol News Illinois

SHELBY RAGSDALE/© MCACHICAGO

ISTOCK

American Dental Association nears HQ sale to Lurie, move to Michigan Avenue

e American Dental Association is poised to sell its longtime headquarters building in Streeterville to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and relocate its main o ce to the southern end of the Magni cent Mile.

In a deal that would expand Lurie's Streeterville footprint, the hospital is in advanced talks to buy the 23-story building at 211 E. Chicago Ave. from the dental association, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

e pending sale price was not immediately clear and the deal could still fall apart, sources said. But Lurie has been mulling a purchase as it has leased more o ce space over the past few years in the ADA building, which is adjacent to the 24-story hospital that Lurie opened at 225 E. Chicago Ave. in 2012.

As it prepares to sell its namesake building, the ADA is close to nalizing a long-term lease for a new headquarters in about 60,000 square feet at 401 N. Michigan Ave., according to sources close to the matter. at deal is said to be contingent upon Lurie's purchase of the nearly 400,000-square-foot ADA building, which the dental group has called home since it was completed in 1965.

If completed, the transactions would amount to positive news for a downtown o ce market that's awash in vacancy as companies cut back on workspace to adapt to the remote work movement. While the ADA may be reducing its footprint by leaving its building, the space the association is set to leave behind won't add to the crushing amount of available o ce supply in the market. e ADA's commitment to new space on Michigan Avenue is also a win for all landlords amid shrinking demand.

e sale talks also highlight

health care institutions' seemingly insatiable appetite for health care real estate in Streeterville. Lurie and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare have been bulking up for years on space in the neighborhood for administrative and outpatient o ces.

Increased footprint

Lurie itself has gradually increased its footprint within the ADA building as the dental association has reduced its workspace there. e children's hospital also leases o ces at 737 N. Michigan Ave. and more than 100,000 square feet in the former John Hancock Center at 875 N. Michigan Ave.

Expansions like those have turned Streeterville and parts of North Michigan Avenue into a destination for companies and ventures with ties to the medical eld, with many advertising agencies and marketing rms that once dominated the Mag Mile a generation ago largely giving way

to physician group clinics and hospital administration workers.

A Lurie spokeswoman declined to comment, and the ADA did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for Chicago-based Walton Street Capital, which controls the venture that owns 401 N. Michigan Ave., also did not respond to a request for comment.

e ADA stands to become one

of the largest tenants at 401 N. Michigan Ave., a critical addition for Walton Street as it faces a deadline to pay o $225 million in debt tied to the 35-story building.

A Walton Street venture bought the tower in 2017 for $360 million and re nanced it in 2019 with the new debt, which includes a $160 million senior loan from a group of lenders led by ING Capital and

a $65 million mezzanine loan from Chicago-based Heitman, according to research rm MSCI Real Assets.

Both of those loans are set to mature in May, according to MSCI, meaning Walton Street is facing pressure to either pay them o or modify terms of the mortgages to buy more time.

Landlord woes

Maturing debt has caused rampant problems for o ce landlords across the city over the past couple years. Severely weakened demand and rising interest rates have drastically driven down property values and made it dicult for owners to re nance.

But some landlords have inked long-term deals with existing or new tenants and committed to investing new capital into their buildings to work out mortgage resolutions with their lenders. e New York-based owner of the Aon Center and the o ce building at 1 S. Wacker Drive recently inked deals that helped it get extensions to pay o its massive loans tied to those properties.

Working in Walton Street's favor is that its 737,000-square-foot building at 401 N. Michigan is about 90% leased, according to data from real estate information company CoStar Group. at's much higher than the 76% average for downtown o ce buildings at the end of 2023.

Spokesmen from ING and Heitman did not respond to requests for comment.

e ADA has a long history in Chicago, having opened its rst headquarters o ce on Dearborn Street in 1918. In addition to developing industry standards, the association provides advocacy, education and research services to its more than 161,000 members, according to its website.

e nonpro t reported revenue of nearly $139 million in 2022, according to its most recent regulatory tax ling.

AbbVie enters drug deal potentially worth $713 million

Jon Asplund

AbbVie is collaborating with an immunotherapy company that's taking a new approach to resolving, not just treating, chronic inammation in a deal that could be worth as much as $713 million.

The North Chicago pharmaceutical giant said in a Feb. 28 press release that it has entered into a strategic partnership with OSE Immunotherapeutics to develop the monoclonal anti -

body OSE-230.

e drug is in the pre-clinical development stage and is designed to resolve chronic and severe in ammation, the companies said in the release.

Nantes, France-based OSE would receive a $48 million upfront payment and will be eligible for up to $665 in milestone payments along with potential tiered royalties on global net sales of the OSE-230. e agreement would give AbbVie an ex-

clusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize the monoclonal antibody.

Immunology portfolio

Successful development of OSE-230 would add another drug to AbbVie's immunology portfolio, led by Humira, Rinvoq and Skyrizi, which treat conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. OSE, however, is pursuing another way of ghting in ammatory

diseases targeting a protein receptor, ChemR23, that promises to resolve the source of in ammation, rather than just blocking it, the release said.

“ is collaboration underscores our commitment to expanding our immunology portfolio with the ultimate goal of improving the standard of care for patients living with in ammatory diseases globally,” said Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head of discovery research, AbbVie. “By leveraging our expertise in immunology drug development, we look forward to ad-

vancing OSE-230, which o ers a novel mechanism-of-action to treat chronic in ammation.” is agreement follows AbbVie's announcement last month that it would pay Tentarix Biotherapeutics $64 million in upfront option payments for two biologic programs focused on oncology and immunology. In recent months the company also executed two multibillion-dollar acquisitions: the $10.1 billion purchase of ImmunoGen and a separate $8.7 billion deal to acquire Cerevel erapeutics, bulking up AbbVie's long-term drug portfolio.

Danny Ecker

The American Dental Association building (center) at 211 E. Chicago Ave. COSTAR GROUP

401

HaymarketCenter Gala

WITH CELEBRITY GUEST SPEAKER ANDREW MCCARTHY

Actor & Television Director

SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2024

Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave.

To register or donate, visit haymarketgala.org

GALA HONOREES

MICHAEL & CAROL BILDER Philanthropists

GRACE HOU

Deputy Governor for Health and Human Services, Office of Governor JB Pritzker

RAYMOND W. CROSSMAN, PH.D. President, Alder University

TONJA PASTORELLE

Pastorelle Marketing Group, Inc.

EVENT CHAIR

THAD WONG

Co-Founder/Co-CEO, @properties & Co-CEO, Christie’s International Real Estate

A CHICAGOAN TO KNOW

Alaina Harkness of Current

Harkness, 43, is executive director of Current, a Chicago nonpro t committed to being a catalyst for cleaner water throughout the Great Lakes region. In January, Current was awarded up to $160 million through a National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine grant, distributed over 10 years. The award will create and sustain regional innovations in water management. Harkness and her husband live in Hyde Park. | By Laura

A Current goal?

As water dries up in other areas, we are preparing for the inevitable relocation of waterintensive industries to the Great Lakes region. We need more jobs and industry here, but we cannot use drinking water for industrial purposes. We need to start acting like Nevada and direct treated wastewater to industry.

What kind of child were you?

I loved exploring everything and had a lot of di erent interests: art, ballet, volleyball, soccer, community theater and playing oboe in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. I'm lucky to have parents who encouraged and supported that.

How passionate are you about water?

Not a week goes by that I don't spend time out on the lake or near it, sailing, swimming or walking along the shore. I love the ocean and recently learned to scuba dive. Coral reefs are a passion, and so is swimming with sharks.

Where did that watery passion ignite?

Along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Chicago, Indiana and Michigan. I had a passionate, environmentally oriented family that thrived on being in nature and loved to vacation along Red Arrow Highway. We had big family reunions at a Lithuanian lodge in Union Pier, Mich.

You’re Lithuanian?

Yes, and I recently got my Lithuanian citizenship. My grandparents were born there but ed the country after World War II.

A turning point in your life?

I grew up in a very diverse, middle-class south suburb of Chicago and became aware that the majority of the city and region was not like that. It shaped my early interest in how we can build cities and metropolitan regions as engines of opportunity for all.

Little-known fact about water?

How deeply our water use is connected to our energy goals. So much of our energy budget goes to moving, managing, heating, cooling and treating water and wastewater. Our clean-energy future depends on managing water better.

Bianchi

Any offshore adventures?

In 2022, my husband and I helped crew a 36-foot sailboat called Nomad during one of the stormiest Race to Mackinac competitions. In the middle of Lake Michigan, it stormed for hours nonstop with heavy lightning and pouring rain.

How scared were you?

For me, the higher the stakes, the lower my stress. It was one of the most peaceful moments in my life because there was nothing I could do but hang on to the rail and enjoy the awe and beauty of this Great Lake. We nished sixth.

Benefiting access to substance use disorder and mental health treatment services

Riverfront REI store sells for $20 million

The deal for the outdoor gear retailer’s agship store near Goose Island shows such properties with long-term leases still have their appeal

Rachel Herzog

Chicago developer R2 has cashed out on the industrial warehouse it turned into a agship store for outdoor gear retailer REI near Goose Island, selling the property for about $20 million.

A joint venture of R2 and investment bank Goldman Sachs sold the 40,085-square-foot store at 1422 N. Kingsbury St. to California investor Tom Funke, according to a source familiar with the deal.

REI opened the store, which is located along the North Branch of the Chicago River, in 2019.

The sale comes at a time when commercial property sales have slowed due to a tough lending environment, but it shows net lease deals involving properties with long-term tenants in place providing a steady stream of income are attracting buyers.

In the case of the REI store, the

property’s projected net operating income in 2024 is $1.2 million, according to marketing materials from Jones Lang LaSalle, which brokered the deal. Based on the sale price, that comes to a 6.1% first-year return, or capitalization rate, for the buyer.

“The smart money knows that Chicago real estate has significant long-term value. Our flagship REI store was a unique product in a growth submarket. That’s a winning recipe for demand, even in a tough market,” R2 Principal and Director of Asset Management Jason Trailov said in a statement.

REI opened the store, which is located along the North Branch of the Chicago River, in 2019. The company has a long-term lease for the space that runs through July 2034, setting up a reliable cash flow that likely helped the property appeal to buyers in a market for commercial property sales that’s faced a major slowdown and decimated values due to high interest rates.

Nationally, the market for retail investment sales has begun to thaw after a months-long slowdown, with transaction volume up 116% in January from the same month in 2023, but prices

Chicago has one of the largest income inequality gaps in the country

A new study by ntech company SmartAsset shows how stark it is compared to other U.S. cities

Jack Grieve

Chicago is home to extreme income inequality, and a new report shows just how stark the city's wage gap is relative to the rest of the country.

The report, conducted by nancial technology company SmartAsset, analyzed the incomes of the top and bottom 20% of earners in 98 cities. SmartAsset calculated an income inequality ratio for each city by contrasting the oor dollar gure a household must earn to enter the top quintile of earners against the ceiling salary a household can earn while remaining in the bottom 20%.

The bottom line: Chicago's income inequality gap is the 10th-largest among the U.S. cities surveyed, according to the report.

A household in Chicago must bring home an annual salary of at least $149,219 to be among the city's top 20% of earners. On the other hand, any household earn-

were down 3.6% year over year, according to a report from research firm MSCI Real Assets.

The REI deal was part of a 1031 exchange, a tax benefit that allows real estate investors to avoid paying taxes on a property sale if they use proceeds from the sale to buy a similar property. In this

case, the buyer used the proceeds from the sale of an apartment building in Encinitas, Calif., to buy the Chicago property.

“After receiving multiple bids from both private and institutional capital, REI’s Goose Island Chicago agship was able to court California-based 1031 exchange

capital looking for strength in credit underpinned by generational real estate,” Alex Sharrin, JLL senior managing director and co-head of corporate capital markets and net lease, said in a statement.

Funke did not immediately return a request for comment.

ing less than $27,255 is in the bottom quintile. at means the city's top one- fth of earners make at least 5.47 times as much as the bottom one- fth of earners.

Nationwide, New Orleans has the largest income inequality gap. There, $110,820 puts a household in the top 20% while anything less than $14,078 is in the bottom bracket.

New Orleans is followed by Boston, Newark, Jersey City, Atlanta, New York, Memphis, Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago.

Chesapeake, Va., is home to the lowest income inequality gap.

The report also noted that more than 20% of households in the cities surveyed earn more than $200,000 each year.

The SmartAsset report is based on an analysis of 2023 data from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute's County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. The 98 cities surveyed were the largest cities in the U.S. for which data was available.

The REI store’s dock along the “Wild Mile” of the Chicago River’s North Branch. | JONES LANG LASALLE

Impact Engine raises $85 million private-equity fund

Jessica Droste Yagan’s team prevailed over ESG backlash and a tough fundraising environment

John Pletz

Impact Engine raised a new $85 million private-equity fund to invest with the goals of doing well by doing good, sidestepping the recent backlash against environmental, social and governance investing and a tough fundraising environment.

“It’s not the easiest time to raise an impact fund or raise a fund as an emerging manager,” says CEO Jessica Droste Yagan.

Impact Engine is one of a handful of Chicago-based firms that recently have navigated a choppy market for private investment and successfully raised new, larger funds.

For the rst time, more money owed out of ESG-focused funds than into them last year, Bloomberg Intelligence reported.

“There has been something of a contraction,” says Sehoon Kim, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Florida, who has published on the topic. “This term called ESG is facing a lot of criticism for good reason. If we think about

environmental performance, social performance and governance — these are largely unconnected issues. I think companies and investors will take a more nuanced approach to focus on specific aspects they care about.”

Yagan says there’s a distinction between impact investing and ESG that’s working to her fund’s advantage. Impact Engine writes checks to companies or funds that have a speci c mission of improving society while making money. ESG often involves investing in companies with profit-driven missions based on how well they meet environmental, social and corporate-governance standards.

“ ere’s a lot more noise around ESG, and it tends to be around public markets,” Yagan says.

e amount of money raised last year in the U.S. for privateequity impact funds rose 80% from 2022 to $14.8 billion, according to research rm PitchBook. However, the number of such funds raised last year de-

clined to 15 from 19 in 2022.

“You can make money and make the world better,” she says. “We’re able to tell people a story that’s less theoretical.”

The Chicago-based firm got its start as an accelerator for socially conscious startups in 2012, then launched a $10 million venture-capital fund in 2015. It evolved further in 2019 with a $31.5 million privateequity fund to invest in both companies and funds that have a mission of social good.

Three areas of focus

Impact Engine focuses on three areas: environmental sustainability, health equity and economic opportunity.

After merger, Advocate Christ gets a piece of Atrium’s research pie

Atrium Wake Forest, the academic core of Advocate Health, is expanding a clinical trial for heart failure patients to the medical center in Oak Lawn

e 2022 merger of Advocate Aurora with North Carolinabased Atrium is bearing fruit in one form for the Chicago area: research participation.

Atrium Wake Forest, the academic core of the six-state Advocate Health, is expanding a clinical trial for heart failure patients to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in the coming weeks.

e cardiac rehab program is testing interventions to help older patients who have been hospitalized with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). It is part of a ve-year, $30 million National Institute on Aging grant awarded to Wake Forest University School of Medicine and led by Dr. Dalane Kitzman at the medical school.

e program aims to enroll more than 800 patients, with trials underway already at 20

hospitals, including a number of Atrium hospitals in the Southeast. Advocate Christ will start out bringing on two patients a month and grow the trial over time, said Dr. Nikhil Narang, a cardiologist and advanced heart failure specialist who will serve as Advocate Christ’s principal investigator for the study.

With research and clinical trials administered under a single Institutional Review Board (IRB) for all of Advocate Health, “collaboration now becomes much easier,” Narang said. “That’s really going to help patients here.”

Finding a new way to treat HFpEF and improve patients’ quality of life is important work because few signi cant interventions have been studied for the condition, Narang said.

ere is a “huge need” for data and solutions even though it is a fairly common disease, he said. e disease is marked by shortness of breath and physical fatigue when a patient does any exercise. e study involves physical therapy targeted to strength, balance, mobility and endurance, he said, toward the goals of reducing rehospitalizations and reducing all-cause mortality.

“I tell patients it is kind of a sti heart syndrome,” Narang said, adding that it is usually accompanied by signi cant comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes, lung disease and obesity.

Concentrating on the heart failure issues, given a host of co-morbidities, can make the disease tough to treat, he said.

“ ese are some of the tough-

About 60% of its privateequity investments go into other funds with a social-impact focus, with 40% going to individual companies, such as Perfect Power, a renewableenergy business. Its investments in other funds tend to be in the $5 million to $10 million range. The fund writes checks between $2 million to $3 million for direct investments in individual companies.

The majority of investors in Impact Engine’s private-equity fund are charitable endowments and family offices, says Priya Parrish, chief investment officer.

“They’re one of the most well-regarded and tenured

firms in the impact-investing ecosystem,” says Humaira Faiz, mission investment manager at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which invested in the fund.

“They’re providing an alternative model where PE is additive rather than extractive, centering impact alongside financial returns.”

Impact Engine does not disclose its returns publicly.

In addition to investing in other private-equity funds, such as Chicago-based Vistria Group, and backing individual companies, Impact Engine also makes investments for a $55 million fund offered by AllianceBernstein to its privatewealth clients.

est interactions with patients because I have to tell them I am out of things I can give you,” Narang said. “I’m really glad to be actively investigating options.”

e collective power of the third-largest nonpro t health care system in the country should move the ball forward in this trial, he said.

“With Wake Forest School of Medicine as our academic core, they’re our partners now,” he said. “ is study is really just the tip of the iceberg, now that we are one team.”

“Expanding this research study to now include Advocate Christ Medical Center will enable us to enroll more patients, across a much larger footprint, and will help us better target patients who are among the most vulnerable and underserved populations,” Wake Forest’s Kitzman said in a statement. “ e results of this study have the potential to change clinical practice, guidelines and policy across the country and improve the health of this high-risk population and our communities.”

Jon Asplund

Atrium Wake Forest is expanding a clinical trial for heart failure patients to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn as part of a ve-year, $30 million grant. | ADVOCATE HEALTH

Priya Parrish (left) and Jessica Droste Yagan

Dr. Nikhil Narang

Everyday dedication meets everyday appreciation

Our team is committed to delivering for our clients. We celebrate their commitment with initiatives like Sharing Success, which awarded 97% of colleagues additional compensation this year, nearly all in stock. This is the seventh consecutive year teammates received this award, totaling more than $4.8 billion.

We are committed to being a Great Place to Work for our teammates in Chicago and around the globe. This includes providing industry-leading benefits, minimum wage at $23/hr on track to $25/hr by 2025 and opportunities to build a career with us. These are a few reasons we’ve been named one of America’s Most JUST Companies.

Rita Sola Cook President, Bank of America Chicago

Doubling down on Illinois could be the better bet for EV maker Rivian

In the hyper-stage-managed world of modern corporate PR, one encounters few if any real surprises. e March 7 unveiling of Rivian Automotive's nextgeneration EV, however, featured a couple of curveballs that the automotive press didn't see coming — and which drew attention well beyond the claque of gear-heads and industry analysts that normally xate on dog-and-pony shows like this.

First up was the introduction of not just one but two new, lower-priced models designed to appeal to a mid-market consumer.

But the real jaw-droppers did not appear on that glitzy stage in Laguna Beach. And both represent signi cant opportunities for the state of Illinois' economic development boosters.

Rivian — which is based in Irvine, Calif., but assembles all its vehicles in downstate Normal — disclosed that it will at least initially build its new models in Illinois rather than at the $5 billion factory it's constructing just outside Atlanta, as industry-watchers had previously expected.

Next came word that the automaker will “pause” construction of that Georgia facility, a stoppage that is expected to save Rivian roughly $2.5 billion in capital expenditures at a time when the company needs to shore up its balance sheet.

e news is a serious blow to the administration of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who has touted Rivian's investment as a big win, one that promised to bring 7,500 high-paying jobs to his right-to-work state. To lure Rivian, Georgia and nearby localities dangled $1.5 billion in subsidies, including grants and land. And while a

PERSONAL VIEW

“pause” doesn't necessarily mean the deal is dead on arrival, it's certainly not what anyone in Georgia bargained for when Kemp predicted Rivian would produce up to 400,000 cars a year there by 2026 — and anchor his state's bid to be a major player in the nation's EV manufacturing future.

“ is is going to be a very damning case study to unpack if this deal is kaput — and it won't surprise me if it's kaput,” Greg LeRoy, founder of corporate subsidy watchdog Good Jobs First, told Bloomberg News.

Rivian is doing what is right for Rivian, which is what companies do. In this case, that means using its already up-andrunning Illinois factory to quickly, e -

ciently and a ordably produce a new line of vehicles the company needs urgently to appeal to a broader swath of the autobuying market and mount a credible challenge to the sector's colossus, Tesla.

For now, Rivian's CEO, RJ Scaringe, says Georgia is still “incredibly important to us.” But with pressure building to hit aggressive production targets and stem the ow of red ink — the company lost $1.52 billion on $1.32 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter — Scaringe faces some tough choices, and the twin challenges of a depressed stock price and high interest rates are limiting his ability to absorb losses by raising more capital, forcing him to

pay closer attention to costs. “ e most important thing is getting this vehicle into the market as fast as we can,” Scaringe told CNBC, “and leveraging what we have in Illinois is really enabling that.”

And that's just the opening Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his economic development team can and should be taking advantage of — and quickly.

Now is the moment to tout what Illinois has had to o er Rivian all along: namely, a state-of-the-art facility that's already humming and ripe for expansion if necessary, a central location with ready access to transit hubs that can help ensure a steady supply chain, nearby universities and research labs generating a stream of new ideas, an administration that's done much to clear the path for EV investment (see Gotion, Lion Electric and the coming Stellantis reboot just for starters) and, most important, a deep pool of well-trained talent that already knows how to do the job.

But Rivian's apparent rethink of its Georgia timetable, if not its entire Georgia plan, is not just an opportunity for Pritzker & Co. to court Scaringe, it's also an opportunity to aggressively underscore Illinois' high-tech manufacturing chops to the industry at large — particularly at a time when legacy manufacturers like Ford are prevaricating about how much to invest in EV production and where.

Kemp would like us all to think that Scaringe still has Georgia on his mind, but companies have walked away from deals like this before. Let's see if Pritzker can make the case that doubling down on Illinois is the better bet for Rivian.

Maximize state child tax credit to reduce poverty, boost the economy

When considering whether to adopt a child tax credit in Illinois, the question isn’t really whether to adopt one or not. Instead, it is: How big should the credit be?

When the expanded federal Child Tax Credit was temporarily adopted during the pandemic, child poverty was reduced by 36% and $1 billion was injected into Illinois’ economy, creating 18,000 jobs. But Congress allowed it to expire. As a result, child poverty has more than doubled.

Counteracting these e ects, 15 states have implemented their own child tax credits, ranging from deep-red Idaho to blue-state California. Last year, Utah, Minnesota and Oregon — which combined are smaller than Illinois’ $1.1 trillion economy — all passed child tax credits.

Illinois lawmakers sought to join these states in 2023, introducing Senate Bill 1444 and House Bill 3950 with a $700 credit per child that would be phased out for single taxpayers earning over $50,000 and joint lers earning over $75,000. A similar proposal

this year would o er a $300 credit per child.

While a new study from the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute con rms that a child tax credit could make a big di erence for Illinois, it also makes an equally strong argument for going big.

We evaluated seven di erent scenarios, ranging from structures in other states to proposals in the Illinois General Assembly. Across the board, we found that a state-level child tax credit would combat child poverty and lower taxes for middle- and low-income working families, who currently pay more in state and local income taxes than the wealthiest families in Illinois. It could also create up to 17,500 jobs across the state.

Among the General Assembly’s proposals, the $700 credit would lower child poverty by 8% and boost the economy by $1.5 billion annually, while the $300 credit would decrease child poverty by 3% and increase economic activity by over $600 million each year.

at said, the average credit is $716 in the 15 states with laws on the books. e three newest states — Utah, Minnesota and Oregon — established credits of between $1,000 and $1,750 per child. Colorado’s $1,200 per child is equivalent to a monthly check of $100.

Each of these states are delivering signicant tax relief and refund checks to working families. Indeed, they have an additional selling point that can be used to attract people away from Illinois.

In other words, to compete nationally, the data strongly favors enacting a higher per-child credit that would produce a larger reduction in child poverty and a greater return to the economy.

If Senate Bill 1444 and House Bill 3950 were amended to have a $1,200 credit, Illinois would not only be competitive with these other states, we would see child poverty reduced by 13% and the economy growing by an additional $2.5 billion annually. ere is ample reason to believe Illinois can a ord it. Strong economic growth has

resulted in nine credit-rating upgrades, a record-high rainy day fund and tax revenues surpassing expectations, including over 3% growth so far this year.

And while the data shows that child tax credit policies could cost 1% to 4% of the state’s budget, much of the price tag would be o set by reductions in spending on other government assistance programs. For example, when the federal Child Tax Credit was temporarily expanded in 2021, Illinois spent 15% less on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (known as WIC) and the Earned Income Credit, or EIC.

Instead of taking what amounts to a “better than nothing” approach to ghting poverty, a larger child tax credit can be seen as both a preventative measure and an investment in our kids’ futures that addresses issues on the front end, rather than spending money after the fact.

In doing so, it can help the state avert the negative mental health consequences, lower graduation rates, inferior employment

BLOOMBERG

Mayor Johnson, name a true progressive to lead the Zoning Committee

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s delay in naming a new Zoning Committee chair is, frankly, unacceptable (“Johnson in no hurry to replace Ramirez-Rosa as zoning chair,” Jan. 22). Possibly worse is the increasing likelihood that Johnson reinstates Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, and his regressive housing policies.

Johnson campaigned on a progressive platform that would address inequity, housing a ordability, homelessness and climate change. e consensus among housing policy experts is that the primary cause of the housing crisis is a supply shortage and that increasing the supply of new homes, even if they are luxury, lowers the cost of housing for everybody. Politicians as diverse as Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin agree.

When the zoning chair position was vacated, both Urban Environmentalists and the Chicago Tribune editorial board called for visionary zoning reform that would cut red tape in order to make new homes easier and cheaper to build.

en why would Johnson reappoint Ramirez-Rosa, who stymies new housing in his rapidly gentrifying ward and allegedly attempted to block new homes in other wards by not approving zoning changes? Ramirez-Rosa has aggressively downzoned Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square, making the exact type of walkable, transit-oriented and climate-friendly development that progressives should be championing more difcult to build. Now, much-needed new homes will only be built by those willing to go through a drawn-out and expensive rezoning process, and sometimes that process will even prevent homes from

Robert Bruno (left) is director of the labor studies program, a professor of labor and employment, and director of the Project for Middle Class Renewalat the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign.

Frank Manzo IV is an economist at the non-partisan Illinois Economic Policy Institute.

opportunities and higher crime rates that are linked with childhood poverty. By promoting better individual outcomes and upward economic mobility, a state-level child tax credit could be a beacon of hope for countless families striving to provide for their children amid life’s relentless challenges.

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker said: “Small ideas won’t help Illinois’ future. It’s time to think big.”

being proposed in the rst place.

Ramirez-Rosa’s “CommunityDriven Zoning and Development” values community process over community outcomes. Across the country, this type of community input favors entrenched homeowners, who are generally older, wealthier and whiter than the community at large. In his attempt at transparency, Ramirez-Rosa has likely created, according to multiple studies of community development processes around the country and the book “Neighborhood Defenders,” an unrepresen-

The Zoning Committee chair should be a progressive YIMBY who understands the urgency and seriousness of the housing and climate crises.

tative, undemocratic process that requires residents to become fulltime policymakers.

e results are as expected:

e 35th Ward has made it more di cult to build apartments in its most walkable, bikeable, transit-accessible corridor while reserving 91.8% of residential zoned land and 60.3% of all land in the ward for the most expensive type of housing, singlefamily homes, according to Chicago Cityscape. In his attempt to slow gentri cation, RamirezRosa has only guaranteed that households will be displaced from Logan Square.

None of this is the progressive change we were promised. It’s just

the same exclusive and regressive machine politics that has overshadowed Chicago’s political history. If the Johnson administration is serious about creating the outcomes that his campaign promised — abundant housing, climate sustainability and scal sustainability — then the Zoning Committee chair should be a progressive YIMBY who understands the urgency and seriousness of the housing and climate crises. So far, Ramirez-Rosa has shown none of that.

BEN WOLFENSTEIN Chicago

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN

HOK, Chicago

Rana Lee, LEED AP

LEGAL

Benesch, Chicago

MARKETING

Tom, Dick & Harry Creative Co., Chicago

PRIVATE INVESTMENTS

Victory Park Capital Advisors, LLC, Chicago

REAL ESTATE

Cawley CRE Co., Chicago / Oak Brook Terrace

BD+C, has joined HOK’s Chicago studio as marketing principal and one of four of ce leaders. With 30 years of experience in architecture, design and real estate, Lee will focus on expanding HOK’s growth strategy and brand. A recognized community leader, she serves on civic and professional boards including The Forest Preserve Foundation, Lambda Alpha International and the Chicago Central Area Committee.

Lee Clark

Melissa Clark, AIA, has also joined HOK as a senior project manager and senior associate in the Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice. She brings 25 years of experience managing diverse project teams and delivering signi cant facilities. Clark will focus on expanding HOK’s work in women’s professional and collegiate sports.

BANKING / FINANCE

First Bank Chicago, Northbrook

First Bank Chicago, one of the ve largest privately held banks in Chicago, proudly announces the promotion of Kerry Duellman, CRCM, CAMS to SVP/Sr. Compliance & CRA Of cer. Kerry and her team support the growth and stability of the Bank by developing and maintaining an effective bank-wide compliance management program including risk assessments, monitoring guidelines, reporting protocols and policies and procedures. She joined the First Bank team in 2018.

LAW / HEALTHCARE

Malecki Brooks Law Group is excited to announce Ann Ford has joined the rm as a Partner. Ms. Ford has extensive healthcare experience providing legal services to professionals and organizations. Her focus will include governance, risk and compliance, claims and litigation management. Outside of work, Ms. Ford is committed to mentoring women in the legal and healthcare professions. In 2021 she was recognized as Women in Law Award Honoree. The rm is now Malecki Brooks Ford Law Group, LLC.

LAW FIRM

Roetzel & Andress, LPA, Chicago

Roetzel welcomes attorney Jonna D.

Eimer to the rm’s Corporate, Health Care & Transactional group. With experience in health care and corporate law, she regularly advises providers on practice formation, sales, negotiations, and compliance. She also has experience with management services organizations and concierge medicine practices. Eimer excels in intricate business transactions, including high-level compensation and complex business transactions.

Laura Schaefer has joined Benesch as a Partner in the rm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. Laura is a trademark attorney with experience in trademark litigation and prosecution, as well as policing and enforcement. She has served as counsel for national and international clients in federal court litigations, where she has managed all aspects of discovery, including deposing fact and expert witnesses, drafting, and ling a number of dispositive motions, as well as pretrial preparation.

LEGAL

Benesch, Chicago

Alissa “Ali” Jubelirer has joined Benesch as Of Counsel in the rm’s Cannabis Industry Group. Ali is both an experienced legal professional and an entrepreneur, which is why she is known for her comprehensive expertise in guiding businesses through a variety of legal, regulatory and operational challenges. Having worked both as legal counsel and operator, Ali is known for expertly balancing legal risk with business needs.

Jubelirer Lee

Brian (Tae Hee) Lee has joined Benesch as an Associate in the rm’s Commercial Finance & Banking Practice Group. Brian is a seasoned nance professional specializing in representing lender and borrowers across a spectrum of domestic and cross-border nancing and restructuring transactions.

LEGAL

Benesch, Chicago

Cole Eastman has joined Benesch as an Associate in the rm’s Litigation Practice Group. Cole focuses on providing licensing, regulatory, and transactional advice to businesses in cannabis, hospitality, and beyond, with clients ranging from multi-state operators to Social Equity Applicants.

Eastman

Jacob Wilbers has joined Benesch as an Associate in the rm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group. Jacob represents private equity sponsors, privately held companies, and publicly traded companies on complex transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, and strategic investments.

Wilbers

To order frames or plaques of profiles contact Lauren Melesio at lmelesio@crain.com

Tom, Dick & Harry Creative Co. (TDH) owners, Bob Volkman, David Yang and Greg Reifel, announced that Chris Hill has joined the agency as Managing Director. Hill will lead the agency’s day-to-day operations, strategic vision, and client engagement, while helping build on TDH’s continued growth. Most recently, Hill was Head of Client Experience at Merkle. Before that he was President of Gyro Chicago and Denver. His additional prior experience includes senior positions at FCB and Ogilvy.

NON-PROFIT

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI), Chicago

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI) has welcomed Marion Gross as the new Board Chair. Gross, who has been involved with the charity for 30+ years, will lead the chapter’s board of directors and work with leadership to move strategic key business initiatives forward to meet the growing needs of sick children and their families. Gross also oversees McDonald’s Global Supply Chain and is responsible for supply management and sustainable sourcing activities.

Arbor Investments, Chicago

Alison Miller has been promoted to Partner, Chief Strategy Of cer. Miller joined Arbor as Chief Marketing Of cer in 2018 and was promoted to partner in 2020. In her newly expanded role, Miller will be responsible for facilitating and driving growth strategies at Arbor’s portfolio companies. Prior to joining Arbor, Miller served as VP of Marketing for the Chicago Cubs and honed her food business acumen in brand management at General Mills.

PRIVATE EQUITY

Arbor Investments, Chicago

Josh Schoenfelder has been promoted to Investment Partner. Schoenfelder is the investment lead on current Arbor portfolio companies Bradshaw Home and Fontaine Santé and has made signi cant contributions to prior portfolio companies including Greco & Sons, DPI Specialty Foods and Columbus Craft Meats. Prior to joining Arbor in 2014, Schoenfelder served as an Associate and Analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co.

Victory Park Capital, a global private credit rm headquartered in Chicago, welcomes Stephanie Mesheski to the rm as Principal on the Investor Relations & Marketing team. Stephanie will primarily be responsible for business development. Previously, she was head of marketing at Gladius Capital, an asset manager specializing in derivative based strategies. Before joining Gladius, she was a managing director and co-head of the client relationship group for 14 years at Balyasny Asset Management.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Crescent Cleaning, Chicago

Crescent Cleaning Company is excited to welcome Tom Frye as our Vice President of Business Development. With 14 years’ experience serving the real estate industry, Tom will be responsible for Crescent’s brand development, continued growth, and ensuring our Client’s needs are met with the highest standards. Tom earned his MBA from LFGSM, served on the Board of Directors for BOMA/Suburban, earned the Associate Member of the Year Award, and the President’s Award. Welcome to the Crescent family!

Albers Harris

Cawley CRE Co. congratulates Dustin Albers on his promotion from Senior Associate to Vice President. Albers specializes in Industrial leasing and sales, with submarket expertise in the O’Hare submarket. Celebrating his fth year with Cawley, Albers is a member of the O’Hare Industrial Team and a recipient of multiple industry awards. In addition, Cawley CRE Co. is pleased to announce the promotion of Justin Harris from Senior Associate to Vice President. Harris focuses on leasing and asset dispositions of of ce, medical, and ex. He provides in-depth submarket knowledge as a member of the O’Hare and Northwest Of ce Team. Harris joined Cawley in 2017 with an extensive background in hospitality management.

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Curi RMB Capital, Oakbrook Terrace

Curi RMB Capital, a registered investment advisory rm with more than $11.3 billion in assets under advisement, announced that Christa Madison, CFP ® , CRPC ® , has joined its wealth management team as Vice President and Senior Wealth Advisor. She will be based in the rm’s Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., of ce. Madison has more than 20 years of experience in the nancial services industry, serving clients with complex nancial needs and delivering customized planning solutions.

Malecki Brooks Ford Law Group, LLC, Chicago

PHYSICIAN GROUPS CRAIN’S LIST

ResearchbySophieRodgers(sophie.rodgers@crain.com).|Toqualify,groupsmustbelocatedintheseven-countyareaofCook,DuPage,Kane,Lake(Ill.),Lake(Ind.),McHenryandWillcounties.Net revenueisnetofcontractualallowances,badaccountsandcharitycare.“Coveredindividuals”isthenumberofpeopleforwhomanamountispaidtocovermedicalservicesoveraspeci edperiod. e. Crain'sestimate. 1. NorthShoreUniversityHealthSystemMedicalGroup,Edward-ElmhurstMedicalGroup,NorthwestCommunityHealthMedicalGroup,andSwedishMedicalGroupmergedasEndeavor Health Medical Group in January 2024. The data re ects the combination of the four medical groups. 2. Formerly AMITA Health Medical Group.

Naperville mansion sold for $7.55 million — the suburb’s second-highest price ever

It’s also the Chicago area’s second-highest sale price so far this year

Dennis Rodkin

A Naperville mansion designed to evoke European manor homes sold for the Chicago area’s second-highest home price of the year to date.

e seven-bedroom, nearly 22,000-square-foot home on Shamrock Court sold for $7.55 million.

The only home in the Chicago area to have sold for more so far in 2024 is a Gold Coast condo that went for $9.3 million in January.

In Naperville, the only other home on record with a higher sale price is a mansion on Van Buren Avenue that sold for a little over $8 million in November.

e Shamrock Court house, completed in 2017, rst hit the market in January 2021, priced at $10.5 million. e asking price hadn’t changed by January of this year, when it went under contract to the buyers, who closed their deal on Feb. 23. ey paid about 72% of the asking price.

When Brenda and Tom Harter were putting the 2.5-acre property on the market three years ago, Brenda Harter said her aim with the house was to make it “ t in Europe.”

To meet that goal, Bruce George at Charles Vincent

George Architects designed a turreted brick and stone manor set back from the street by a vast lawn, with an old-time motor court that cars drive under a wrought iron arch to enter, as if they’ve motored up from London to an estate in the English countryside.

In Naperville, the only other home on record with a higher sale price is a mansion on Van Buren Avenue that sold for a little over $8 million in November.

Inside are a great room with a 30-foot ceiling and a stone chimney just as tall, details in wrought iron, leaded glass and cut stone made by local experts in their crafts, and a basement that includes a fully out tted pub, wine-tasting and billiards rooms, and a movie theater that seats 18. An interior designer, Brenda Harter picked chandeliers, wood panels and even the slates that tile the home’s vast roof.

“ ey didn’t miss a beat. ey thought about every detail, ” said the Harters’ listing agent, Lauren Dayton of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s magnicent.” Dayton was the third broker to represent the property. e buyers are not yet identied in public records. Dayton said they were not represented by an agent.

Brenda Harter did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sale. In 2021, she said she and her husband, who sold a company he started and became an investor, planned to retire to Florida. ey have lived in Naperville since 1979.

If the front of the house has a relatively sober, stately look, it’s more exuberant out back around the swimming pool and terrace area, with multiple roof lines and chimneys.

A waterfall spills into the pool at one end, and at the other is a pool house with changing rooms, showers and laundry. On another side is a covered terrace with a complete kitchen and a dining area.

With this home sold, the next-highest asking price in Naperville at the moment is $6.5 million, for a piece of land on Plank Road, just under 6.9 acres with two houses on it.

Lincoln Park lot back on the market for $1 million more than recent sale

Sold in January for $4.2 million, the double lot on Orchard Street surrounded by notable homes is for sale again at $5.2 million

Whoever paid $4.2 million in January for a double lot in the priciest section of Lincoln Park put it on the market last month at a $1 million markup.

On Jan. 8, Guggenheim Partners CEO and Los Angeles Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra, sold the Orchard Street site, a double lot with a 6,700-square-foot house on it. The buyers, according to the Cook County Clerk’s Office, used a land trust that concealed their names.

Just 50 days later, on Feb. 26, the land trust put the property on the market at $5.2 million. The lot is delineated in red in the listing photo at the right of this story.

Existing zoning would allow a house over 13,000 square feet and a five-car garage, according to the listing, posted by Shee -

han Real Estate agents James Sheehan and Andrew Thurston. Thurston declined to comment. Sheehan did not respond to a phone message.

The Walters didn’t clear much on the January sale. They bought the property in November 2003 for about $3.92 million, according to the clerk. A little over 20 years later, they sold it for 7 percent more.

That slim profit may matter little to a couple whose net worth Forbes estimates as $5.9 billion.

It’s not clear how the Walters were using the property before selling it. Ten years ago, they built a palatial 26,000-squarefoot mansion on five lots on the other side of Orchard Street. That house, which in the photo at right is below and to the right of the red box, has one of the city’s highest residential property tax bills.

In May, Crain’s reported that Guggenheim, with Walter at the helm, may be planning to follow Citadel’s path from Chicago to Miami. The January sale of this Orchard Street lot does not appear to add any fuel to that fire, as the Walters have long lived in the new house, which has not been publicly listed for sale.

If a buyer opts to build a big new mansion on the site, it will have impressive company besides the Walters’ home. A few doors north is an 11,000-squarefoot mansion that sold in May for $10.65 million. Less than a block south is the contemporary-style mansion of former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and her husband, Bryan Traubert.

Among the other substantial homes on nearby blocks are: The joined set of properties that Shore Capital chief and

co-owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury Justin Ishbia assembled at the combined cost of nearly $18 million.

The 25,000-square-foot mansion that Richard and Michaela Parrillo have had on the market

since late 2016. Originally priced at $50 million, it’s come down by more than half, now at $23.5 million.

A brick villa on nearly three and a half lots that sold in 2021 for $12.55 million.

Dennis Rodkin

JAMESON

SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY PHOTOS

SHEEHAN REAL ESTATE

On Jan. 8, Guggenheim Partners CEO and Los Angeles Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra, sold the Orchard Street site, a double lot with a 6,700-square-foot house on it.

Walgreens’ VillageMD to close all Illinois clinics

The six locations that will shutter are all in the Chica go area

Walgreens’ VillageMD plans to close all its primary care clinics in Illinois in April, abandoning an expansion that was underway in its home state.

e six clinics that will close April 19 are all in the Chicago area, according to VillageMD’s website. Five are standalone locations and one is attached to a Walgreens store. e one co-located clinic in Elk Grove  opened just several months ago.

A VillageMD spokesperson con rmed the closures, which are a mix of standalone and co-located sites.

e shutdown of dozens of clinics is part of Deer eld-based Walgreens’ $1 billion cost-cutting plan implemented late last year.

e plan involves cuts in its pharmacy division and in capital spending, along with shuttering more than 60 VillageMD clinics. However, the number of locations that have already closed or

plan to close has exceeded 80 clinics.

VillageMD closed all 12 of its Massachusetts locations last month. In January, it closed three clinics in New Hampshire, 10 sites in Jacksonville, Florida, and all 12 of its clinics in Indiana.

Recently, VillageMD said it will close the remainder of its Florida clinics this month as it exits the state.

Walgreens invested $5.2 billion to take a majority stake in VillageMD in 2021 and had big plans to roll out hundreds of new clinics attached to Walgreens stores. e company has since pulled back on its expansion plans, which also included microful llment centers, and has left industry watchers wondering what went wrong on a strategy Walgreens touted exuberantly.

Walgreens’ larger health care services division, which includes VillageMD, has been under re in recent months due to slowerthan-expected returns and $1.73 billion in operating losses in 2023.

Since joining in October, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth has made sweeping changes at the company, which included hun-

dreds of layo s and a slashed dividend. He quickly worked to build his new executive team, a task completed last month with Lanesha Minnix named as global chief legal o cer.

In January, Walgreens said John Driscoll would step down as

president of the U.S. health care business and transition to an advisory role. He is being replaced by Mary Langowski, a health tech executive and former chief strategy and corporate development o cer at CVS Health. She will take over this month.

Walgreens has also recently explored selling Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy company within the health care services division.

Caroline Hudson writes for Crain’s sister site Modern Healthcare.

In honor of Women’s Histor y Month, join YWCA Metropolitan Chicago for Women’s Futures Month, a dynamic and engaging virtual conversation series with some of today’s leading voices on gender, racial and economic equit y. Ou r fe atured panelists bring a diversity of thought, expertise and opinions about what women’s futures hold and what is needed to drive change today and long-term. Read speaker bios and register for free events at bit.ly/y wcaw fm.

MAR 12

How are companies evolving to support the next generation of people of color to Speakers to include Tonya Eggspuehler, Assistant Vice President of Human Head of Strategic Initiatives & Business Management, People, Culture & Brand Enterprise, BMO | Tamika Jean-Baptiste, Amgen

MAR 18

BLACK W OMEN THRIVE

What will it take to sustain Black women’s leadership in every sector?

Speakers to include Ankur Kumar, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company’s Connected Leaders Academy | Tracie D. Hall, librarian, author and advocate

MAR 21

SHE THE PEOPLE

What’s at stake for women and families women play at the ballot box?

Speakers to include Lisa Duarte, partner at Croke, Fairchild, Duarte & Beres | Christy George, Executive Director, Chicago DNC Host Committee | Alex Niemczewski, Co-Founder and CEO, BallotReady

Caroline Hudson, Modern Healthcare

Walgreens invested $5.2 billion to take a majority stake in VillageMD in 2021 and had big plans to roll out hundreds of new clinics attached to Walgreens stores. | WALGREENS

At Loeber Motors, two generations of leaders are locked in a legal battle

The third-generation president of the Porsche and Mercedes seller is suing his father and uncle in a con ict that’s more intense than the typical family business drama |

By Dennis Rodkin

Abitter feud has erupted at a luxury car dealership in Lincolnwood, where the president is suing his father and his uncle, both in their 90s, to prevent them doubling their six- gure salaries for the next 10 years, even after they die.

On Feb. 27, a Cook County Circuit Court judge told Mike Loeber — the third-generation president of the Loeber dealerships, which sell Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches — to enter mediation with his father, 91-year-old George Loeber, and his uncle, 92-year-old Paul Loeber. e brothers are on the board of the family company and separately control the dealerships’ real estate.

Mike Loeber, who’s in his early 50s, sued the two brothers in October over the $300,000-a-year pay increases they want along with a $50,000-a-month increase in the rent the dealerships pay to use the real estate.

e increases amount to a “self-interested attempt to eece the companies,” according to Mike Loeber’s suit, led by Monte Mann, a partner in the Chicago o ce of law rm Armstrong Teasdale.

“We have a budget to compensate these legacy contributors,” Mike Loeber said in a prepared statement emailed to Crain’s by a media relations rm working for Mann. “But what they are now demanding is too heavy of a burden and candidly irresponsible.” Mike Loeber has worked in the dealerships since he was a teenager, became general manager of the family’s Mercedes dealership on Clark Street in Chicago in 1997 and in 2002 became president of Loeber Motors, which now operates only in Lincolnwood.

“ e real problem is Mike’s greed,” Paul Loeber told Crain’s. “What happened is George and I didn’t accommodate Mike by dying quick enough.”

George Loeber, who lives in Arizona, could not be reached for comment.

e brothers, whose German immigrant father, Martin Loeber, opened the family’s rst Chicago dealership on Clark Street in 1936, have each been paid $300,000 a year since 2001, when they were in their 60s. Mike Loeber gets paid the same amount, according to the lawsuit. Last year, the brothers said they want their annual compensation doubled to $600,000 for each of the next 10 years, even if they die before the contract has run out.

When Mike balked at the increases, according to his suit, the brothers “double(d) down on their improper conduct” by threatening to remove him as president and to toss the dealer-

ships o the property.

“What George and I wanted to do was let Mike run the company,” Paul said, “but make sure that our widows — they’re younger than George and I are — weren’t going to have to go on Social Security and pay for the cars they’re driving.” Both men outlived their rst wives. Paul’s second wife, Mary, is 62 and George’s second wife, Kasia, is in her mid-50s.

“ is is a blatant attempt to line their own pockets, even after their deaths,” Mike Loeber said in the prepared statement.

“I believe this is an estate planning tactic to bene t both of their signi cantly younger wives,” he wrote, but that “for the 150 employees we have — many of whom have been with us for 20, 30, and, yes, even 40 years — I cannot let that happen.”

e two brothers, Mike Loeber’s lawsuit says, “have been fully compensated (if not overcompensated)” for two decades, but “have not provided any meaningful service to the corporation in at least 10 years.”

Family strain

In any company, squabbles over compensation can be messy, but in a family company, they’re intensi ed.

“You’re looking at two systems at once, the family system and the business system, and when you put a strain on one, it bleeds into the other,” said Matt Allen, a professor of family enterprises and executive director the Ward Center for Family Enterprises at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Allen is not involved with the Loebers or the lawsuit.

In the event of a son suing his father, Allen said, “you can understand the stress that puts on his spouse or children or holiday gatherings. e risk that a decision to pursue legal action carries “is so much higher because there’s no way a family can completely separate (and) say ‘this is all about business,’ because the family and the business are so intertwined.”

In Mike Loeber’s lawsuit, his lawyers wrote that it “carries an extra emotional burden for Michael. He doesn’t want to hurt his father, who has been good to him for many years.”

e worst of Mike’s enmity is reserved for his uncle Paul. In the lawsuit, he alleges that Paul has called him “incompetent” in front of employees, has described managers as “terrible,” has complained that the dealership’s chief nancial o cer doesn’t say hi to him, and wrote Mike a note in 2018 telling him to “man up.”

Paul Loeber counters that although Mike “has gotten millions from George,” in part from George transferring to Mike his halfownership share in the dealerships, “Mike always wants more, even recently, when the car business has been so good.” During the automotive industry’s struggle to deliver new cars during the supply-chain crisis, Paul Loeber said, “for three years, the majority of our cars sold over list price, and some of them, like the really rare (Mercedes) G wagons and the Porsche GT3s, sold for $50,000 or $100,000 over list.”

A ‘silver spoon’

e tension between Paul Loeber, CEO of Loeber Motors, and

his nephew Mike, president of Loeber Motors, goes so deep that in the three days a week that Paul said he spends in his o ce down the hall from Mike, “he won’t speak to me. It’s hard to speak with a silver spoon in your mouth.” James Dahl, an attorney at Chicago law rm Dahl & Bonadies, is representing the brothers in the legal battle. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Among other concerns Mike Loeber’s lawsuit lays out is that if the brothers’ real estate partnership pushes the dealerships o the 8.5-acre Touhy Avenue site, it would jeopardize their franchise agreements with Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, which are tied to serving a de ned territory.

“ ere is nothing more important than protecting the health and well-being of this company,” Mike Loeber’s emailed statement said, “and that is why I went to court.” In both the legal ling and his statement, he emphasized his duciary duty to the company; and in the suit, he alleges that the brothers, and in particular Paul, are breaching theirs by their “self-dealing” and “diverting” funds from the business to themselves.

ere’s also an issue with Mike Loeber’s own compensation, according to his lawsuit. Like the older men, he’s paid $300,000 a year. According to his suit, similar roles in Chicago-area dealerships pay $700,000 to $800,000. Crain’s could not con rm that gure, but in January, Crain’s sister publication Automotive News reported in its latest dealer compensation survey that dealership presidents nationwide typically earn over $400,000 a year.

Mike Loeber “accepts it be-

cause his role as shareholder should bring pro t.” George Loeber began transferring his shares to Mike Loeber in 2002 and completed the transfer in 2012, the lawsuit says.

Making millions

To be sure, none of the three Loeber leaders is crying poor. ey have all made millions over the years, as Mike Loeber’s lawsuit acknowledges.

Mike Loeber and his wife, Julie, have a Glenview home that the Cook County Assessor’s O ce says is worth about $1.17 million, and one on the north shore of Lake Geneva that Walworth County, Wis., estimates at a little over $7 million. Paul and Mary Loeber live on an 18-acre country estate in Barrington that he bought in 2002 for $2.8 million on which he later built a new house. In 2017, George and Kasia Loeber built a house in Scottsdale, Ariz., that is worth about $2.8 million, according to estimates from Redn and other real estate sites.

Among the family’s assets is a 33-acre parcel of land in Schaumburg, a farm where the brothers grew up and that they have been trying to sell to developers for two decades at a multimillion-dollar price. Paul Loeber said a battle with Schaumburg o cials over what can be built there has been resolved and they expect to close on the sale later this year. He would not disclose the expected selling price. ( e photo of Paul Loeber at the top of this article is from Crain’s 2020 story about the land.)

All the Loebers are on a better nancial footing than Martin Loeber, grandfather of Mike and father of Paul and George, was when he came to America from Germany in 1920. He made the trip expressly to earn enough money to take it back to his home country and buy a farm, according to his 1990 Chicago Tribune obituary, but instead he got into selling cars in Detroit. By 1929, he was that city’s top-selling Chevrolet dealer. e Great Depression shut him down, and Martin Loeber moved to Chicago to teach car salesmen. He bought a Pontiac dealership in 1936 and switched to imports in 1958.

Sons Paul and George Loeber joined their father in the 1950s and the dealerships were renamed Martin Loeber & Sons. Martin Loeber died at age 90 and his wife, Emilie, died at 96 in 1998.

Even with two nonagenarians as grandparents, “Mike probably didn’t expect us to still be around in our 90s,” Paul Loeber said of the $300,000-a-year salaries they agreed to 23 years ago.

Paul Loeber | PHOTO BY JOHN R. BOEHM

PNC Bank’s Illinois leader sees good signs ‘across the board’ for business activity

A recent survey shows small and midsize businesses are largely optimistic about their futures — more so than they’ve been in decades

Rising optimism about the U.S. economy will bolster business activity in 2024 as companies build on the surprising strength of 2023.

“The second half of that year actually ended up being stronger than we may have anticipated heading into the year,” Scott Swanson, Illinois president and territory executive of the Midwest for PNC Bank, said in an interview with Crain’s. “That momentum, with the reduced concern around recession . . . has all started to build a little more confidence and stability and helps business owners to think about . . . their own outlooks.”

Pittsburgh-based PNC’s most recent survey of small and midsize businesses, which was released on Feb. 28, showed 55% are highly optimistic about the national economy. That was the

highest in 22 years and up from 34% in fall 2023 and 26% a year earlier.

Despite the optimism, businesses will still be closely monitoring key economic indicators before making big investments, said Swanson, who joined PNC in 2013 after serving as Illinois CEO at Charter One Bank.

“I think there still is a caution,” Swanson said. “It takes time. There is a level of conservatism on ensuring that there is more clarity and stability looking forward before companies access capital or debt, and so we still see that.”

PNC’s survey also showed 79% of respondents are optimistic about their own businesses.

The national trends picked up in the survey are mirrored locally, as the broad array of industries in the area such as transportation, distribution, logistics, food, food manufactur-

ing, packaging and professional services are a good barometer for the country.

“The wonderful aspect of the Chicago economy is that it his highly diverse, and we are seeing generally positive trends across the board,” Swanson said.

PNC had $17.2 billion in deposits in the Chicago area as of June 30, 2023, giving it about 3% of the total market share, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Recommits to Loop tower e bank recently recommitted to its namesake Loop o ce tower with a lease extension that tied it to the building for another decade but reduced its footprint by close to 20%. Swanson said the consolidation will provide more functional workspace for its employees and bring them closer together instead of being spread out across the building.

“Chicago had been a very good market for us for continued growth,” Swanson said. “We look at Chicago as a continued source of growth for our company.”

Businesses’ concerns about a recession during 2023 that never came to fruition left many with strong balance sheets as they put off making investments throughout the year. That could cut into demand for

loans even as activity picks up during the first half of the year.

“We feel very good about the general dynamics and the conditions of businesses and their ability to invest through their capital basis to support that growth in the near term,” Swanson said. “This will be a year of improved business conditions. We think as we continue through the year, we will see increased business activity.”

Mark Weinraub

Scott Swanson | PNC

Law rm moving to riverfront skyscraper

Crowell & Moring is cutting its footprint by about one-third and relocating from NBC Tower in Streeterville to an of ce building at 300 N. LaSalle St.

Law firm Crowell & Moring is moving its local office to a skyscraper along the Chicago River and shedding about one-third of its workspace, another example of a tenant shrinking and upgrading its downtown footprint.

e rm signed a lease last month for about 50,000 square feet on two oors in the 60story o ce tower at 300 N. LaSalle St, a spokeswoman con rmed. Crowell & Moring, which entered the Chicago market through its 2021 merger with legacy Chicago patent law rm Brinks Gilson & Lione, will move from about 75,000 square feet in Brinks’ longtime home in the top ve oors of NBC Tower located at 455 N. Cityfront Plaza in Streeterville.

The move squares with the downsizing trend that has pained office landlords since the COVID-19 pandemic supercharged the remote work movement. In 2023, tenants collectively moved out of more space than they moved into for just the second year since the Great Recession, losses that have pushed the downtown vacancy rate to an all-time high and left the central business district with a deep pool of distressed properties.

Law firms have been prevalent among those scaling back their offices, with names like

Neal Gerber & Eisenberg, Winston & Strawn and Greenberg Traurig all inking deals last year for new offices with less square footage.

Newer buildings popular

Many companies that have cut back on space have also flocked to the newest and most updated buildings in the most coveted locations, hoping to encourage employees to show up more frequently. Vacancy at top-tier, or Class A, buildings downtown has only inched up since 2020, while Class B vacancy has surged, according to data from real estate services firm CBRE.

For Crowell & Moring, the pending move to 300 N. LaSalle comes as the building’s owner puts $30 million into a range of renovations that will fortify it as a “premium building where we will create a state-of-the-art space to foster creative collaboration with clients and colleagues,” Andrew Avsec, Crowell’s Chicago office managing partner, said in a statement.

“We recognize the changing dynamics in the workplace and are confident that 300 N. LaSalle St. will enable us to execute on our ambitious growth plan for Chicago and attract top talent, while continuing to deliver exceptional client service — all while operating more efficiently with less space, as we are doing throughout the firm.”

The deal notches a win for The Irvine Company, based in Newport Beach, Calif., which has been trying to refill around 850,000 square feet in the 1.3 million-square-foot tower at 300 N. LaSalle following the loss of Kirkland & Ellis to Salesforce Tower and Boston Consulting Group to the Fulton Market District. Winston & Strawn last year helped plug some of the gap by leasing nearly 150,000 square feet in the building, and Irvine is close to finalizing a deal with real estate investment trust Ventas for about 50,000 square feet.

Irvine issued a statement calling 300 N. LaSalle “the ideal workplace” to help drive the success of a firm like Crowell & Moring, and touting its “financial strength and stability” as a landlord at a time when many building owners are staring down debt maturities that are jeopardizing control of their properties.

NBC Tower nancially sound

Yet Crowell & Moring is set to leave a building whose owner also appears to be on solid nancial footing. German investor Metropolis Investment Holdings, which has owned the property at 455 N. Cityfront Plaza since the late 1990s, has no debt on the building and is sending a message to prospective new tenants that it has invested in building upgrades that compa-

nies want.

Those will be key to backfilling office space in a location in the North Michigan Avenue submarket, which hasn’t been the office destination it once was as trendy vintage buildings and proximity to public transportation have become high priorities for companies.

“Ownership has been preparing for Crowell & Moring’s expected lease termination for some time now,” said Tran -

swestern Executive Vice President Eric Myers, who oversees leasing in the tower. Metropolis spent part of the pandemic investing in the building’s 20thfloor amenity space, including the addition of a golf simulator and bar lounge, Myers said. “Any vacancy in the market can be a challenge, but we are excited at the chance of leasing the top floors of the building for the first time since the building was built in 1989.”

Starwood sells Chicago Ridge Mall after debt trouble

The property likely sold for a fraction of its former value after the loss of a department store and the owner’s failure to pay off an $80M mortgage

A Florida investor has scooped up a mall in the southwest suburbs from a seller that’s wiped out on its investments in Chicagoarea retail centers.

Boca Raton, Fla.-based Second Horizon Capital bought Chicago Ridge Mall from a venture led by Miami-based Starwood Capital Group, which failed to pay off an $80 million mortgage that came due in July 2023.

Executives at Second Horizon declined to provide the sale price, which was not available online in Cook County property records as of Feb. 29, but it’s likely the shopping center traded for a fraction of what it was once worth. e property’s appraised value fell to $63 million as of August, according to Bloomberg loan data, down from $129.7 million in 2012.

The mall along Ridgeland Avenue between 95th and 99th streets struggled after the closure of a Carson’s department store in 2018 and a Sears store in 2021 (the Sears space was not owned by Starwood), since malls depend on department stores to drive foot traffic to the other retailers. The shopping center got some good news when Dick’s Sporting Goods leased about a third of the vacant Carson’s store. The mall’s occupancy was 82% as of September, according to Bloomberg data tied to the loan.

Upgrades planned

Second Horizon co-founder Howard Levine said the rm plans to put a signi cant amount of capital into upgrading the shopping center to build on that occupancy.

“The center has really good consistency on traffic flow

and tenants,” Second Horizon co-founder Camilo Varela said.

“The asset is just a center of the community, just core to the area.”

While it’s an opportunistic play for the buyer, a sale at the appraisal price would mean a signi cant haircut for commer-

cial mortgage-backed securities bondholders. e loan was packaged with other property debt and sold to investors in a CMBS o ering, and the loan balance was about $76.1 million, according to Bloomberg data. Starwood declined to comment on the sale.

Starwood bought the 592,000square-foot Chicago Ridge Mall as part of a seven-property acquisition from e West eld Group that also included the Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet. e rm also ran into trouble with that property, surrendering it to a lender after missing payments on an $85 million loan in 2020. New York-based Namdar Realty Group, which specializes in investing in distressed retail centers, picked it up for $31.4 million in July 2023, industry publication e Real Deal Chicago reported.

Starwood also lost the Promenade Bolingbrook and the Arboretum of South Barrington after loan defaults on the properties.

Chicago Ridge Mall is the fourth acquisition for Second Horizon Capital, which was founded in 2021. The firm’s other holdings are shopping centers in Kingston, Mass.; Little Rock, Ark., and Richmond, Va., that total an estimated value of $55 million, according to data from research firm MSCI Real Assets.

Rachel Herzog

Danny Ecker

300 N. LaSalle St. COSTAR GROUP

Chicago Ridge Mall is the fourth acquisition for Second Horizon Capital, which was founded in 2021.| CHICAGO RIDGE MALL

NASCAR

From Page 1

a decade working at the Daytona International Speedway, Giese now lives in Chicago and is focused entirely on organizing the summer event. “ ere’s a lot that we wanted to do in Chicago, and the weather prevented us from doing a lot of it.”

NASCAR postponed and ultimately shortened last year’s inaugural edition of the Cup Series race in Chicago after a record 3.35 inches of rain drenched the city on the day of the event.

“What we showed was versatility,” said NASCAR’s chief sales ocer, Je Wohlschlaeger, himself a longtime Chicago resident, referencing the race team’s response to the rain.

Weather aside, NASCAR ocials cast the inaugural race as a successful proof of concept.

Concerns over tra c congestion, noise disturbances and public safety weighed on race o cials leading up to the Fourth of July weekend. But the event ended without incident, and with the rst race now well in the rearview, organizers believe they have put most of those worries to bed.

“We don’t get any questions anymore about, ‘Gosh, what’s it going to do to tra c?’” Wohlschlaeger said.

Added NASCAR chief marketing o cer Peter Jung: “Now that we’ve got year one under our belt, we’re in

a much better place within the community.” Big events like the Chicago Street Race will always have some folks concerned about disruptions, he said, but race o cials can point to the results of last year to quell those worries rather than addressing them in the abstract, as they had to do ahead of the inaugural race. NASCAR o cials are also quick to tout the economic impact that last summer’s race had on the city. e event brought in some $109 million to the local economy, according to a report commissioned by Choose Chicago and conducted by the Sports Industry Research

Center at Temple University. at is a far cry from the economic jolt of productions like Lollapalooza but still nothing to sco at for a new venture.

“It’s a great starting point, a baseline for us to only improve for this year,” Giese said. “ e rst year really showed what the opportunity is. We learned so much in year one that it’s only going to make us better in year two.”

Year one in Chicago was also a win for NASCAR itself. e sport is desperately trying to reach new audiences and expand its fan base, which has long been on the de-

cline. “Everything we do as a company ladders up to drawing in new fans to watch our sport,” Wohlschlaeger said.

Roughly 85% of attendees at the rst Chicago Street Race were rsttime race-goers, with ticket holders hailing from all 50 states and 15 countries, according to the o cials.

“It de nitely achieved that goal of exposing people to NASCAR for the rst time,” Jung said.

With the long-term future of the Chicago Street Race still an open question — NASCAR’s deal with the city runs through 2025 but carries the possibility for extension — per-

haps the most consequential takeaway from the o cials’ re ections is that they remain bullish on relations with city and state regulators.

Giese praised the work of the city’s O ce of Emergency Management and characterized the transition from coordinating with the Lightfoot administration, which inked the original three-year deal with NASCAR, to the Johnson team as a “steady drumbeat of planning.”

“It’s a group that knows how to put on big events,” she said of the city’s numerous planning teams. “We’ve really leaned into their expertise on what works best in and around Grant Park. It has been used for so many amazing moments, whether it’s the NFL Draft or Lollapalooza, and to be able to tap into that expertise has been incredibly bene cial for us.”

While not all Chicagoans agree with the favorable assessment of year one, the city bought into another year — albeit only after NASCAR sweetened the deal to the tune of $2 million — and the 2024 Chicago Street Race is on track for July 6 and 7.

NASCAR o cials now just hope for some Chicago summer sun come race day.

“We feel like we have un nished business there,” said Wohlschlaeger. “We didn’t get to showcase to the world what NASCAR truly is under sunshine and dry conditions. Putting on a safe race for the fans and for the competitors — in sunshine — would be awesome.”

Roughly 85% of attendees at the rst Chicago Street Race were rst-time racegoers, with ticket holders hailing from all 50 U.S. states and 15 countries, according to of cials. | JOHN R. BOEHM

UTILITIES

From Page 3

of a bribery scandal at ComEd that would eventually lead to its CEO’s conviction on felony charges and bring down former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan — Gov. JB Pritzker laid out an eight-part outline for energy policy and ethics reform.

Parts of that plan would eventually inform the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and 2022 Reimagining Energy and Vehicles Act, both of which the Pritzker administration celebrates as major policy wins.

But one element of that plan has yet to come to fruition: a prohibition on utilities recovering costs

for charitable contributions from ratepayers.  ese charitable contributions, according to Pritzker’s 2020 policy statement, were often used “to curry favor with elected o cials.”

“Utility company charitable donations should be exactly that — charitable,” Pritzker’s o ce said at the time. “ ey should come from the pockets of the corporation or their executives, not from the pockets of ratepayers.”

Governor’s neutral position e governor has not taken a position on the legislation pending in Spring eld.

Analyses from WBEZ in 2021 and the Chicago Tribune in 2015 found that some charitable contri-

butions from ComEd went to politically in uential nonpro ts and groups that advocated for the utility’s interests, although the company denied exerting political pressure on its grantees.

ComEd’s Breymaier told Capitol News Illinois the company is proud to support organizations that improve workforce training, protect the environment and provide social services. She also noted that regulators review all spending, including those contributions.

David Schwartz, a spokesperson for Chicago-area gas utilities Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, noted that the ICC capped the amount of charitable spending the companies could charge to customers at about $4.5 million.

e consumer advocates pushing for this legislation stressed that they are not seeking to end utilities’ charitable contributions, but rather to require that shareholders bear the cost.

“We’re not opposed to charity, it’s a great thing,” Je Scott, AARP’s associate state director, said. “But it should be coming out of shareholders’ pockets. Plain and simple.”

Nationwide, Illinois is one of a few states that allow utilities to charge customers for charitable contributions, according to Matt Kasper, deputy director at the pro-renewable Energy and Policy Institute.

“Illinois really stands out for allowing this practice to continue to the level it’s happening right now,”

Kasper said.  e number of states reexamining what costs utilities can recover is growing. Last year, Colorado, Connecticut and Maine all passed laws banning certain expenses from being charged back to ratepayers — including charitable giving.  is year, California, Virginia, Maryland, Arizona, Ohio and New York all introduced legislation similar to Illinois’, according to Kasper.  Utilities can also exert in uence through membership in trade associations, such as the American Gas Association and Edison Electric Institute.

Each year, Illinois electric and gas utilities spend $6.5 million in membership costs to trade associations, chambers of commerce and other civic groups, according to CUB.

Two years ago, EEI advocated for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revisit its policy on granting utilities “right of rst refusal” for transmission line construction and this year it led comment with the Environmental Protection Agency over clean air rules.

e AGA also regularly supports policies favorable to the gas industry, such as last year when they o ered comments to the Department of Energy and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Utilities also pay for “goodwill advertising,” another category of spending that would be banned under the proposed legislation.

“ e goodwill advertising is basically brand recognition and creating general warm and fuzzies about your company that also happens to be a regional monopoly with no competition, by statute,” Eric DeBellis, CUB’s general counsel said in an interview. “ is is e ectively a form of lobbying directed at the public, so you’re paying for them to try and make you like them.”

Peoples Gas’ Schwartz and representatives of Ameren and Nicor echoed ComEd’s spokesperson in their defense of the companies’ spending.

“Regulators always closely examine all of our costs, including charitable contributions,” Schwartz said in a statement. “We are committed to serving Chicago and the northern suburbs, including nonpro t community organizations.”

A representative of Ameren Illinois, which operates as both a gas and electric utility for much of central and southern Illinois, noted that the company makes investments in “organizations and causes that build stronger communities and support a better quality of life for our customers.”

Nicor Gas spokesperson Jennifer Golz also added that the northern Illinois gas utility provides funding to charities, including to its own emergency assistance program administered by the Salvation Army, without seeking to recover the costs from ratepayers.   Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

NURSES

From Page 3

systemic industry issues.

About 87% said they are experiencing moral distress, and 32% say they have cared for more than six patients at one time. Only 27% said the nurse-to-patient ratio is adequate and safe, and 98% cited unsafe sta ng as a reason they were considering leaving the profession.

e survey, conducted from October 2022 to February 2023, was distributed by nonpro t Nurses Take DC and analyzed by researchers at the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute.

COVID-19 ushered in unprecedented levels of stress and overwhelming caseloads that pushed many health care workers out of the eld during the rst two years of the pandemic. at, in turn, intensi ed a labor shortage that predated the pandemic but has continued to be felt among nurses and their hospital employers across the state.

MCA

From Page 3

On its website, the museum said it had planned for a de cit in scal year 2023 and anticipates another one next year, as the federal aid that got it through the worst of the pandemic dries up.

“Like many other cultural institutions post-pandemic the MCA experienced revenue shortfalls in the years following COVID,” an MCA spokesperson said to Crain’s in an email. “Since that time we have been transparent about our nancial outlook as well as taking active steps to ensure the longterm scal health of the museum and are con dent in a sustainable path forward.”

RESTAURANTS

From Page 1

Center, restaurants and event venues are expecting to host a slew of dinners, parties and other gatherings surrounding the convention.  Operators throughout the city are jockeying for the business. e Chicago committee launched a vendor directory on Feb. 15 that includes more than 1,700 venues and restaurants that have said they’re willing to host tangential events. Some restaurants have bolstered their own event teams and already are courting various delegations.

DNC host cities have previously seen economic impacts of about $150 million to $200 million, and the Chicago committee expects the same for this year’s convention. ere will be big parties, dinners with politicians and events for groups in private dining rooms.

e crown for many restaurants? A full buyout.

“It’s going to be unbelievable business for Chicago,” said David Flom, managing partner at Chicago Cut Steakhouse. e River North restaurant had four show-

“COVID created an increased awareness and particularly a vulnerability to the frontline health care provider that further accentuated the relentlessness of this inadequate sta ng problem that de nes the most expensive and the most comprehensive healthcare system in the world,” says Robert Bruno, an author on the report and a professor and director of the labor studies program at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. “ ere’s a need to keep ringing the re bell.”

e latest estimates peg Illinois at being short 15,000 registered nurses by 2025. As demand rises, Illinois is not keeping up, the report states. About 6,000 of the state’s registered nurses passed the National Council Licensure Examination in 2022, but there were 7,870 registered nurse openings in Illinois in 2022.

Labor action rises

Concerns around safe sta ng levels have surfaced at several Chicago-area health systems, where unionized nurses have picketed and in some cases even held strikes over what they described as dangerously

While museums haven’t fared as badly as Chicago’s theater sector following the pandemic, there has still been an overall decline in attendance and subscription numbers, the industry’s key revenue pillars.

Attendance drops

Between 2019 and 2022, Chicago museums have seen inperson attendance drop by 14%, according to a recent study by the Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. The study found the main reasons for Chicago’s struggling cultural sector were “dwindling ticket sales, increased costs and private donations that failed to keep pace with inflation.”

Another concern for the muse-

ings with potential event clients on Feb. 13, all DNC-related.

Chicago Cut has received calls from “big-time” politicians’ o ces wanting to reserve private rooms for a few dozen people, Flom said. Other groups want to have dinner with a donor or a company executive. ere are delegations looking for large spaces, too.

High expectations

Flom is expecting groups to buy out Chicago Cut every night the week of the convention. One group has expressed interest in buying it out for three nights. at’s a rarity, he said. Sometimes a charity will buy out Chicago Cut for an event, or a couple will rent it out for a wedding. Once, the cast of “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.” had its cast party there. Booking such events for a week straight, though, is an anomaly.

e glitzy building overlooking the Chicago River is in a prime position to capitalize on the DNC. It is taking over the second oor in the glassy 300 N. LaSalle St., adding about 4,500 square feet of private dining. at expansion is set to wrap up this spring.

A few blocks north, Gene &

low sta ng levels. Nurses at Ascension St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet went on strike for the third time in a year over sta ng concerns and other issues.

At UChicago Medicine, Scott says he was among nurses who voted in favor of authorizing a strike in February. Sta ng issues aren’t the only reason nurses are looking to take to the picket line, though. Scott says UChicago Medicine nurses, represented by National Nurses United, are also seeking pay raises and other safety improvements.

“Despite being in bargaining for ve to six months now, we’re still very far apart from management on our core issues, sta ng among them,” Mechanic says.

A representative for UChicago Medicine did not respond to a request for comment.

e state of Illinois doesn’t have any laws on the books that require hospitals to maintain speci c nurse-to-patient ratios. However, the state does require hospitals to create sta ng committees at their organizations, a body intended to provide sta ng recommendations from nurses and other health

um is the drop in donor contributions. e museum reported over $10 million in support from individual contributions, corporations and foundations in scal year 2023. at number is down from the more than $12 million it reported in scal year 2022.

Now, a unionizing museum workforce will only add to the museum’s growing expenses.

On Feb. 14, in a public letter signed by 32 employees of the museum, sta members announced their intent to form a union with the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Council 31, which has also spearheaded e orts at the Field Museum and Art Institute of Chicago.

In the letter, the workers said they are “overworked” and fre-

Georgetti’s beefed up its event and marketing director position. e 83-year-old steakhouse recently hired a director who can handle speci c requests that might come along with DNC attendees, like the need for more security.

ird-generation owner Michelle Durpetti said the restaurant’s private dining business has continued to evolve post-pandemic, and customers increasingly want to rent out entire restaurants. COVID decimated the city’s events and convention business. Durpetti said her optimism started to return last summer, when NASCAR hosted its rst street race in Chicago.

Such events, along with the DNC, have the potential to help improve Chicago’s reputation and bolster restaurant business along the way, Durpetti said. Restaurant owners throughout the city have complained in recent years that potential customers’ concerns about crime keep them from dining out.

“So often, all you hear is Chicago played in this very negative light,” Durpetti said. “I’m really hopeful the DNC brings back some of Chicago’s sparkle.”

care workers.

But the U of I survey shows that just 45% of nurses knew that requirement existed, and only 48% reported their hospital had one. Furthermore, 45% reported that recommended sta ng levels were used less than 25% of the time, and just 39% of nurses said they believed sta ng was based on patient needs.

Some lawmakers and nurses unions, including National Nurses United and the Illinois Nurses Association, are pushing for bills to be implemented, but hospital industry lobbyists have argued against those policies, Bruno says.

A bill at issue is the Safe Patient Limits Act, or House Bill 3338, which calls for setting the maximum number of patients that may be assigned to a registered nurse in speci ed situations. e bill, which is pending in the Illinois General Assembly, would also authorize the Illinois Department of Public Health and the attorney general to enforce nurse patient limits.

e Illinois Health & Hospital Association, which represents nearly every hospital in the state, says it

quently required to work “outside our job responsibilities,” including working evenings and weekends to “compensate for the sta shortage.”

“While we understand the challenges all museums face, measures to balance the budget while also aiming to return to pre-pandemic attendance numbers have caused a vicious cycle of sta burnout and turnover,” the letter reads. e letter said workers will seek to expand bene ts to include parttime workers and “and overtime and comp time for extra hours worked.” ey are also asking for wages that “keep pace with the rising in ation and cost of living in Chicago.”

“We’re seeing high turnover and

e Chicago 2024 Host Committee is working to connect DNC attendees to restaurants throughout the city. Its vendor list includes MingHin Cuisine in Chinatown, Brown Sugar Bakery on the South Side and Revolution Brewing in the Logan Square neighborhood.

e list includes vendors beyond restaurants, too, such as boat tour agency City Cruises Chicago and digital ad company Demeter Media.

Diverse vendors

More than 70% of the businesses included in the vendor list identi ed as diverse, according to a news release from the host committee.

“Disseminating the DNC vendor directory and venue map is a signi cant step towards spreading the economic bene ts of the convention around,” Executive Director Christy George said in the release. “Chicago’s robust small business community is on full display.”

e host committee will keep the directory open, so venues and restaurants can continue to sign up to be included.

e push to get attendees out

“strongly disagrees” with the assertion that a bill like HB 3338 would solve burnout and shortages in the profession.

“ e Illinois hospital community opposes statutorily required nurse sta ng ratios advanced by House Bill 3338,” IHA President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi says in a statement. “Patient care decisions should be made by local nurses and hospitals, not based on a onesize- ts-all approach mandated by state law. . . .Mandated sta ng ratios would undermine hospitals’ ability to provide quality, accessible care, particularly in Illinois’ most vulnerable communities.”

Instead, Wilhelmi advocates for nurses and hospitals to make decisions on sta ng levels on a case-bycase, hospital-by-hospital basis.

Other states, however, have passed nurse-to-patient sta ng laws. In California, a law sets speci c ratios depending on the type of care setting. For example, the law requires there only be one patient per operating room or trauma care nurse. Meanwhile, in surgical settings, the law requires just one nurse for every ve patients.

loss of some really incredible people because I believe that we aren’t paying employees what they’re worth and so they go to other institutions,” said LloydPrinceton Cangé, who works as a visitor experience associate at the MCA.

He told Crain’s the museum is currently on a hiring freeze, which adds more stress to a workforce that says it is already stretched thin.

“Everybody there is doing at least a job and a half, at the very least,” Cangé said.

Next, the workers will seek a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election, where eligible employees will cast their votes on whether they want union representation.

into the neighborhoods is necessary, said Jodi Fyfe, CEO of e Paramount Group, which includes Eden Restaurant in Avondale and Paramount Events & Catering. She’s hoping a delegation will buy out Eden, or at least rent out one of the restaurant’s private dining rooms. But getting people to take the extra step to head up to Avondale will make it trickier.

“Getting people from point A to point B is never easy,” she said.

e Illinois Restaurant Association has been working with the host committee and its members to prepare them for the event.

Restaurants with the right size private dining areas are working to book events with Fortune 500 companies, which come to the DNC with lobbyists — and deep pockets, said Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association. e next most desirable groups include big state delegations, such as California or New York.

“Four years ago, we were in the pandemic, so you didn’t have a real convention,” Toia said. “ ese people haven’t been together like this, so I think there will be a lot of entertaining going on.”

Walgreens plans a strategic review of its entire operation

Following recent C-suite turnover, the drugstore chain’s new CEO, Tim Wentworth, said the review process will examine everything

As Walgreens Boots Alliance aims to turn around its business, boost pro ts and clarify a longterm growth strategy, executive and board leadership are planning a strategic review of the company in April, CEO Tim Wentworth said March 4 at the annual TD Cowen health care conference.

Wentworth said he and other executives intend to “align” the company’s board, including Executive Chairman Stefano Pessina, on the direction of several segments of the company, including retail footprint and asset ownership.

“ ere will not be a big bang after that, where we announce and unveil some incredibly new Walgreens,” Wentworth said. “What you will see is that will be the starting gun for a lot of work that we have to we have to deliver.”

He said the Deer eld-based company will communicate with investors throughout the review process as it reaches conclusions.

While Wentworth said he intends for the review to provide strategy and earnings guidance to investors, he warned that any decisions will take time.

“ is is not a 12-month turnaround story,” said Wentworth, who was brought on in October to rightsize the organization, cut costs and, refocus on core segments of the company following quarters of lagging earnings and a dropping stock price.

Wentworth said Walgreens will evaluate the role of its more than 8,000 retail locations. e company has already embarked on shrinking that footprint as it seeks to optimize the retail segment’s performance. But at the TD Cowen health care conference, Wentworth said while the footprint may shrink, retail remains central to the company’s core strategy, whether it be a traditional pharmacy location or one that also offers health services through something like primary care provider VillageMD, in which Walgreens

holds a majority share.

“We need to get the footprint right,” Wentworth said. “We need to look at the eet not based on what it's doing today, but what we need it to do in ve years, given our services aspirations.”

Part of that will include evaluating store formats and nding capital to support any changes.

Shields ‘a terri c asset’

e second priority of the strategic review is to align the board on Walgreens' portfolio of assets, which aside from VillageMD also include post-acute and home care rm CareCentrix and specialty pharmacy Shields Health Solutions, Wentworth said.

“We believe in the future of those businesses,” Wentworth said. “ at's not the question. e question is: Are we the most appropriate place . . . as 100% owners?”

Bloomberg reported in January

that Walgreens was looking to sell Shields, but Wentworth said at the TD Cowen conference that he isn’t interested in selling it at this time.

“Shields is a terri c asset and I love the fact that we've got it,” he said. “We are looking at Shields to make sure we think about the best way to get the most value for the marketplace and for ourselves by owning that.”

Wentworth, however, did leave the door open to Walgreens selling o U.K. drugstore chain Boots, saying that if Walgreens chose to pursue a transaction, o oading Boots would take a minimum of 15 months.

e nal piece of the strategic review will focus on gaining clarity and agreement from the board on smaller pieces of Walgreens’ business, like clinical trials and pharmacy ful llment centers.

Walgreens next earnings call is scheduled for March 28.

Taylor Swift made homemade Pop-Tarts — Kellanova wants her recipe

When she’s not on a world tour, or rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs, Taylor Swift likes to bake, even trying her hand at Pop-Tarts.

In a recent interview on NBC Sports, Chief’s head coach Andy Reid said that Swift had baked homemade Pop-Tarts for the team’s o ensive line.

e Pop-Tarts brand team was listening. e Kellanova-owned brand put out a full-page ad in the Kansas City Star on March 1, asking Swift to share her recipe.

e ad reads: “To KC’s most famous fan, he heard you have a Pop-Tarts pastry recipe. We’re tortured not knowing more about this DIY delight. What’s the ling? Does it have frosting? Do they have little holes? So let’s make a deal. We are making a donation to Harvesters, a local Feeding America partner food bank, and will double it if you share (your version) of our recipe with the mass-

MOTOROLA

From Page 1

initially, I did not think that, but my opinion has changed over time,” says Keith Housum, an analyst at Northcoast Research in Cleveland. “The deal with Silver Lake cost shareholders quite a bit of dilution in their shares, so it was

es. is time we’ll make sure coach gets a bite. You in?”

e ad also shows a beaded bracelet that spells out “Crazy Good”—a nod to the friendship bracelets that Swift’s fans trade at her concerts, and the tagline of Pop-Tarts’ latest “Crazy Good” campaign meant to have consumers consider Pop-Tarts outside of breakfast.

Pop-Tarts PR agency Weber Shandwick was behind the ad.

It’s unclear if Swift has responded to the friendly challenge, having recently landed to play her shows in Singapore. Swift has shared her recipes with fans before, like her chai sugar cookies with icing.

It is the latest example of a brand seeking buzz by playing o of Swift’s popularity.

Mascot goes viral

Pop-Tarts’ Taylor Swift appeal comes about two months after the brand’s mascot went viral for being toasted and eaten by the win-

not just the interest that Motorola paid on the convertible notes that (the company) incurred. In hindsight, with the appreciation the shares have seen and the increase in profitability, I’d have to say both sides were winners in this equation.”

Silver Lake’s co-CEOs, Greg Mondre and Egon Durban, joined Motorola’s board as part

ning team of the Pop-Tarts Bowl college football game.  Kellanova did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Kansas City Star ad, but Kellanova chief marketing o cer Julie Bowerman previously spoke to Ad Age after the bowl game,

of the deal. Mondre is expected to remain on the board after the next election in May.

“I still find the investment unusual for a company with the earnings power and financial flexibility of (Motorola) at that particular point in time,” says Dave Novosel, an analyst with Gimme Credit. “Motorola indicated that Silver Lake had exten -

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saying, “When you hit a home run, you certainly continue to ride it. I think you’ll continue to see us building o the platform of “Crazy Good,” with mascots, and more fun and humor.”

Erika Wheless writes for Crain's sister publication Ad Age.

sive expertise in the technology sector via other investments. And that knowledge could have been beneficial to (Motorola) as it expanded its portfolio. As it turns out, the company filled in gaps in its offerings via acquisitions. So everything worked out great for both parties, but I am not sure Motorola would do a similar deal in the future.”

Erika Wheless, Ad Age

Katherine Davis

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