Crain's Chicago Business, August 7, 2023

Danny Wirtz succeeds late father Rocky atop Wirtz Corp.

The 46-year-old, who has been CEO of the family-owned Chicago Blackhawks since 2020, will lead the fourth generation of Wirtzes I

By Steve Daniels and Danny Ecker

Northwestern unking crisis management

PR experts say the school’s vacillating message about the hazing scandal and slow response early on has only exacerbated its problems

By Leigh Giangreco

Attorney Ben Crump and Chicago-based law rm Levin & Perconti have mounted a erce offensive against Northwestern University, barraging the college with a slew of lawsuits alleging serious hazing within its football program. As the scandal has marred Northwestern’s athletic programs and upended its potential new stadium, the school’s public relations arm has not responded quickly enough, according to crisis communications experts.

“Unless everyone gets in the same room to map out and agree upon a prompt, transparent crisis response, then the longer you let the story fester, the worse it becomes,” said Ron Culp, a public relations consultant who teaches

at DePaul University. He added that Northwestern was slow on the uptake to gure out the seriousness of the allegations. “ at’s kind of where they got themselves o to a slow negative start in the public perception of what was going on there.”

e school’s vacillating message

See CRISIS on Page 14

JLL wants to unload part of its HQ space

By Danny Ecker

Danny Wirtz will take his father’s titles as chairman and president of Wirtz Corp., as the fourth generation of the family that owns the Chicago Blackhawks suddenly takes leadership of a sprawling and closely held business worth billions.

e Wirtz Corp. board approved the succession July 29, even as Danny Wirtz and others continued to plan services to honor Rocky Wirtz, who died unexpectedly July 25 at age 70.

A brief letter to shareholders con rmed the news. “ e board has full con dence that Danny is well-prepared to excel as the next-generation leader of Wirtz Corp.,” the letter said.

Rocky Wirtz’s passing was more shocking and unforeseen than that of his father, William, in 2007. Still, the family feels Danny Wirtz,

See WIRTZ on Page 26

LIST

See who’s atop our rankings of the Chicago area’s biggest foundations. PAGE 12

Jones Lang LaSalle makes money o of helping other companies lease o ce space. But even the brokerage giant recognizes it doesn’t need as much.

e Chicago-based company in July formally began marketing more than 61,000 square feet at its Aon Center headquarters for sublease, according to a yer. e space on the 47th and 48th oors represents about 30% of JLL’s workspace in the East Loop skyscraper, where its lease runs through May 2032.

NOTABLES

Separately, another big new sublease listing hit the market in recent weeks from cybersecurity company Trustwave, which put its entire 71,792-square-foot ofce at 70 W. Madison St. up for grabs, according to marketing materials. at o ering comes with a lease term that runs through October 2029.

e pair of new listings add more available o ce space to a downtown market already awash in it. e o ce vacancy rate in the central business

See JLL on Page 27

These leaders in nance are excelling in business and aiding their communities. PAGE 15

Danny Wirtz (right) listens to his father, Rocky, during a 2019 interview with Crain’s about the 25th anniversary of the United Center. STEPHEN J. SERIO

Apart from the Blackhawks, for which the Wirtzes are best known, the two big businesses are liquor and real estate.

Are taxpayers getting their money’s worth on pensions?

Though Chicago property owners have really had to sweat at tax time the past few years, they at least could take comfort that the money they were paying in fast-rising property levies was going toward a good cause: shoring up the city’s notoriously underfunded pension systems.

Billions of dollars later though — Chicago taxpayers now are spending $2.7 billion a year just on pensions, twice the share of the operating budget as it was as recently as 2015 — have we got our money’s worth? Two new critiques from people who know how to count suggest not, and though the situation may be a little better than the critics say, this whole subject of who pays what is ripe for a close look by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new pension study panel.

One critique, from Forbes

Magazine, was pretty predictable, more or less repeating what we knew: The city’s pension systems generally have only a quarter or less of the assets on hand to pay promised pensions. More telling was a scathing column penned by someone whose job once was to do something about the problem, Dana Levenson, who served as Chicago’s CFO toward the end of the Richard M. Daley administration. Under the eye-grabbing headline, “Something is rotten with the city of Chicago’s pension funds,” Levenson suggested that all of those additional billions “may have been a classic case of throwing good money after bad,” with unfunded liability and the pension systems’ ratio of assets to liabilities actually having gotten worse since the city began to contribute more late in Rahm Emanuel’s tenure.

Why? Levenson cites various theories, including costly rising benefits. But his main target is poor return on investment, with the pension funds earning an average of 7.2% between 2016

and 2022, compared with 12.8% for the S&P 500 stock index.

Levenson declined to comment further, letting his numbers — which appear to be accurate — speak for themselves. But others have lots to say, mostly on background without being named.

For starters, they say Levenson himself (and Daley) created this problem by sticking with an outdated formula that grossly underfunded pensions for decades. It actually was Emanuel and later Lori Lightfoot who ramped up funding to an actuarily calculated level, a level much closer to what actually was needed.

e new funding has made a di erence. According to a recent report by the Civic Federation, the funded ratio of assets to liabilities actually has pretty much stabilized since 2020 for the city’s pension systems, meaning that the funded ratio is not getting any worse. at’s something. e drop Levenson referenced occurred mostly in the period in which the new, higher spending was still being phased in.

On the other hand, by national goals set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, even with the increased contributions the city still is falling short. For example, the city plans to reach “full funding” in 40 years, backloading increased contributions. And it’s shooting for 90% funding, short of the 100% gure the standards board recommends. at means

turns in the same period, ranging from 6.929% to 7.4%, compared with a city average of 7.2%. A website that tracks returns by public funds nationally has similar data. at doesn’t mean Levenson is wrong. Privately, one past city nancial o cial concedes Chicago pension managers may have been a little slow in shifting assets from low-paying bonds and other

By national goals set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, even with the increased contributions the city still is falling short.

unfunded liability will continue to rise for many years.

What about those low returns on investment? Levenson’s gures are correct, but Chicago pension managers (all of whom failed to return calls and emails seeking comment) have plenty of company. For instance, average rates of return on the state of Illinois’ three big pension funds came in almost identical to the city’s re-

xed-rate instruments into higher paying but more volatile equities. But the debate over asset allocation and acceptable investment risk is eternal.

Bottom line, Johnson’s group has a lot to chew on. at said, the idea that we the taxpayers have sunk billions into pension funds that by some measures are worse o than they were is beyond galling.

One of the many, many unspoken problems for the White Sox

The Yankees are coming to town to play the White Sox this week, and a barely audible chorus of “meh” describes the anticipation.

The Cubs’ exhilarating charge into playoff contention heightens the irrelevance. The series would rate “back here in the tire ads” placement in the old newspaper days of display advertising.

The Sox in recent days conceded the obvious — they’re going nowhere this season — and backed up the truck, dumping two starting pitchers, four of their busiest relievers and their No. 2 slugger. They’ll field a much different team next year. That’s a good thing.

The Yankees lost reigning MVP Aaron Judge for 50 games. The resultant power outage and a patchwork pitching staff have them uncommonly low in the AL East, once again the MLB equivalent of British soccer’s Premier League.

And to think, Yankees-White Sox in August used to be a thing,

Corrections

often the thing in a Chicago baseball summer.

The Yankees were the Secretariat of the American League through the ’50s and ’60s, winning 13 pennants and eight World Series between 1950 and 1964. The White Sox were persistent challengers, breaking through in 1959 and coming agonizingly close often enough to induce chronic heartburn throughout the South Side.

Four games in August often settled matters. Dads would take to the front porch with transistors for Bob Elson’s radio call as Sox ace Billy Pierce took on Hall of Famer Whitey Ford in Friday night’s sold-out series opener. Pierce would nurse a 1-0 lead into the late innings, only to have a second-tier slugger like Hank Bauer or Hector Lopez pop one with a man on and ruin his night.

The Yanks would unload the lumber on Saturday — Mantle, Berra, Maris, Howard — and win again. After a Sunday doubleheader split, the Yanks would leave town with a lead two games bigger than the one they’d arrived with, and “wait till next year” was once again the South Side’s mantra.

It usually meant more of the same, but Sox-Yankees remained

In the July 31 Crain’s Forum story “Hybrid and remote work reshape how and where Chicago works,” Jonathan Dingel’s last name was misspelled.

In the July 31 story “Medline’s new boss has new bosses,” Jim Boyle’s director status was misstated. Boyle will join the board when he takes o ce as CEO, according to a company spokeswoman.

a thing until the late ’60s, when both teams fell on hard times. Just as the Cubs were starting to stir, the rivalry really lost its juice when the White Sox accepted assignment to the AL West after the American League expanded to 12 teams and split into two divisions before the 1969 season. Who were Sox fans supposed to get excited about or angry at, the Twins?

The ill-advised move played a part in the Cubs supplanting the Sox as the city’s team of choice.

What does it say about Chicago that a baseball team that failed miserably remains one of its most beloved? That would be the ’69 Cubs, who were astonishingly star-crossed in blowing a nine-game lead to the Mets over the final six weeks.

Still, those who survived it

prefer to remember the magic of April through August. And with four Hall of Famers in a lineup that seemed to play together forever, the Cubs of that era live on in their fans’ memories.

Blame the transitory nature of the modern game, but the White Sox haven’t had a similarly enduring team that stirs the soul.

See MCGRATH on Page 6

Greg Hinz

DAN MCGRATH ON THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS

Dan McGrath

Loretto strike reverberates at other Chicago hospitals

The strike hit only one Chicago hospital, but workers at many others have voiced similar complaints over pay and staf ng

By Katherine Davis

As a strike at Loretto Hospital continued last week, nearby hospital CEOs were likely taking note as complaints about low pay and understa ng echo at their institutions, too.

About 200 Loretto workers, represented by Service Employee International Union Healthcare Illinois, went on strike July 31 after failing to reach a labor agreement with leadership after two months of negotiations. Employees on strike range from mental health workers and radiology technicians to housekeepers and dietary sta .

e strike follows years of Loretto workers decrying what they describe as lower than market-standard wages and unsafe sta ng levels, union leaders say, but the criticism isn’t unique to the small, independent Chicago hospital.

See STRIKE on Page 24

City’s super-luxe apartment market thriving downtown

The recent building boom for rentals has brought with it a miniature boom tucked inside

e apartment-building boom of the past several years has brought with it a miniature boom tucked inside. Several of the buildings, designed for the luxury market, have within them an even higher class of superexpensive penthouses, the kind of premier space that used to be available only for purchase, in condo towers.

Upper-income households are grabbing them, at rents of $10,000 and up a month and more. Much more.

At the Row Fulton Market, a 43-story tower on Peoria Street, renters signed leases at over $15,000 a month for at least two penthouses this spring, months before they would be ready for occupancy. At 369 Grand, a 41-story tower in River North, renters paid $30,000 per month to rent at the top. ere’s a waiting list of renters hopeful they’ll get to live for a while in the $45,000-a-month Old Town apartment that has its own outdoor pool.

ose are all managed apartment buildings. Real estate sources say some condo owners who put their single units up for rent at over $15,000 a month have sparked bidding wars among potential renters, although because of the private nature of those deals, Crain’s could not get details.

“Everything that rents for $30,000 or more gets occupied,” says Emily Santos, an @properties Christie’s International Real Estate agent who handles several of the top-priced rentals.

Why would someone who can a ord to pay $120,000 a year for

housing, enough to cover the mortgage payment on a $1.8 million condo, choose instead to rent at $10,000 a month?

e simplest answer: Renting involves less commitment. at’s commitment to staying in the same building for more than a year or so, commitment of down-payment money that could perform better in the markets and commitment to living downtown at a time of uncertainty.

“It’s the optionality of renting,” says Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest, the rm behind several new buildings, including the Row Fulton Market. Bailey declined to give speci c dollar gures for the penthouse that has been leased in that building, but earlier this year the company told Crain’s the top rent would be $23,000.

“You can move in or out of a place at any time, and you don’t have to deal with trying to sell that asset when you move out,” Bailey says.

Selling can be a slog downtown these days, as the condo market crawls along under the burdens of the 2020s — rst COVID, then social unrest and now a slower-than-expected return to vitality downtown. Proceeds are often slim to none, with many condos selling for less than the sellers paid for them.

See RENTALS on Page 14

Outcome Health co-founder wants a high-pro le lawyer

Rishi Shah says he needs some of the money that was frozen during his fraud trial to add Neal Katyal to his defense team

Rishi Shah wants to hire Neal Katyal but says he needs millions of dollars that was frozen during his fraud trial to add the celebrity lawyer to his defense team.

Shah was convicted in April on charges that he defrauded pharmaceutical companies, investors and lenders out of nearly $1 billion while running Outcome Health, the health care advertising company he co-founded.

Since then, Shah has been sparring with prosecutors over assets that were frozen nearly

four years ago, when he was indicted along with co-founder Shradha Agarwal and fellow executive Brad Purdy.

Shah’s trial attorneys, Los Angeles-based Hueston Hennigan, recently withdrew from the case. Shah already had hired St. Louis attorney Richard Finneran of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner to represent him in the asset forfeiture proceedings.

e normally routine asset-forfeiture piece of the fraud case has become contentious. It’s clear from an Aug. 1 hearing in U.S. district court that the battle is go-

ing to be long and expensive and that Shah does not intend to go quietly. He faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced in October. Unlike the eranos case, in which founder Elizabeth Holmes never received a payout from investors in her failed startup, Shah and Agarwal took millions o the table.

e court froze $55 million in assets when Shah was indicted in November 2019. at’s how much Shah had left from investors, including Goldman Sachs,

I

Workers picket outside Loretto Hospital. SEIU HEALTHCARE

Dennis Rodkin

“Many health care institutions — hospitals, of course, chief among them — are experiencing a lot of challenges acquiring and retaining workers.”

Anthony LoSasso, DePaul University

“Everything that rents for $30,000 or more gets occupied.”

Emily Santos, an @properties Christie’s International Real Estate agent

John Pletz

Former Outcome Health CEO Rishi Shah I NEWSCOM See SHAH on Page 27

Hollywood is giving Ken Grif n the celebrity treatment

Billionaire Ken Griffin is getting the celebrity-actor treatment in an upcoming drama-comedy film chronicling the 2021 meme stock short squeeze of GameStop.

Sony Picture’s “Dumb Money,” which will premiere in theaters Sept. 22, casts Chicago-area native Nick Offerman as the Citadel founder. Offerman, who was born in Joliet and attended the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign, is perhaps best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom “Parks & Recreation.”

Gri n became a key gure in the GameStop/Reddit/Robinhood saga when Citadel funds and firm partners swooped in to provide $2 billion in support to an ailing Gabe Plotkin and his Melvin Capital Management fund. Melvin had suffered significant losses because of its heavy short position in GameStop, which Reddit users targeted by mobi -

lizing a mass-buy of the barren stock on no-fee trading app Robinhood.

Citadel Securities, a separate entity from Citadel the hedge fund, is also a major processor of

Robinhood trades — a dynamic that led to a lawsuit alleging collusion between Griffin and Rob -

inhood to stop customers from buying GameStop shares. A judge ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show there was any agreement between the parties to act in concert.

Star-studded cast

Offerman is just one of many big-name Hollywood stars in the movie. Plotkin’s character is played by Seth Rogen. Law & Order actor Vincent D’Onofrio plays hedge fund manager and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who, like Griffin, also pumped money into the Melvin fund. Sebastian Stan plays the founder of Robinhood. Paul Dano is cast as Reddit user (and lead trader in the saga via subreddit posts) Keith Gill. Pete Davidson and Shailene Woodley play supporting roles as Keith’s brother and wife.

The film is directed by Craig Gillespie and based on the book “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich.

Chicago-area new-home sales see biggest spring since 2008

“they’re seeing proof of what we’ve been saying, that supply is holding back sales.”

National builders make hay

Chicago-area builders sold more new homes this spring than they have since 2008, thanks in large part to the paucity of existing homes for sale, according to a new report.

Builders of production homes sold 1,438 new homes in the Chicago area in the second quarter, according to the latest data from Tracy Cross & Associates, a Schaumburgbased consultancy to the homebuilding industry.

It’s an increase of nearly 38% from the same time a year ago and the largest number of local sales in the second quarter in any year since 2008, according to the report.

down almost 30% from the same time in 2022. Together, one weak and one strong quarter totaled 2,643 new home sales in the region, o 2.4% from the rst half of 2022.

Dill says, “because you get everything new. New roof, brand-new mechanicals, on-trend cabinets and ooring.”

National rms were behind most of the newly opened local developments, Cross said in its report, and such developments reaped about 14% of the quarter’s sales volume.

“We’ve been saying you need to get the product on the market because there’s demand,” Doersching says. “Now there’s proof. ese national builders have been aggressive in getting new developments opened, and they’re performing.”

“I’m not at all surprised to see this surge,” said Erik Doersching, CEO of Tracy Cross & Associates. “Sales would have been even higher if more developments were open, but supply is constrained because there’s not enough building going on.”

e second quarter was so strong that it nearly compensated for a limp rst quarter, when sales were

e inventory of existing homes on the market is super low, largely because homeowners with sub-4% mortgages that predate the Federal Reserve’s recent interest-rate hikes are reluctant to sell because they’d have to buy with an over-6% mortgage.

“Low inventory is de nitely driving demand,” said Matt Dill, president of Beechen & Dill Homes, a Burr Ridge company that he’s the second generation to lead.

While low inventory may turn buyers’ heads from existing homes, when they start shopping the new homes, they’re easily convinced,

In Lemont, Dill’s rm has a development called Copper Ridge, with a mix of singe-family houses and attached townhouses. When townhouse sales began in April, Dill says, he expected to sell about nine by the end of the second quarter.

Instead, “we had 15 sales,” Dill says. at’s about half the product, sold in a few months. “It’s going great,” he says.

e townhouses are single-story designs with prices starting at about $505,000. Seven of 19 single-family homes, with prices in the upper $700,000s, have sold since January.

In all, Copper Ridge is selling “almost twice as fast” as he expected, Dill says. While building more homes

could help ll this year’s gap in inventory, Dill says building faster isn’t really possible, given the time it takes to acquire lots and the requisite municipal approvals and permits.

“I’d say we’re going at a good pace and want to keep things going that way,” Dill says.

Lucy Mierop, who represents many small developers’ individually built homes, says they’re also hesitant about rushing to ll the inventory gap.

“I’m telling my guys all the time, ‘If you’ll build more, you’ll sell them,’ but they’re reluctant,” says Mierop, a Re/Max Market agent based in Willow Springs. “ ey don’t want to get left holding the bag if things slow down. ey saw that in the last bust” in the early 2000s.

Deep-pocketed national rms have not been quite so reluctant and, as a result, Doersching says,

e top ve sellers of new homes in the Chicago region are all nationals, from No. 1 D.R. Horton, based in Texas, to No. 5 Ryan Homes, based in Virginia. Each of them had 230 or more local sales in the second quarter. ese rms routinely decline to talk to Crain’s about their sales.

Privately owned Chicago-based builders are far smaller. e two largest are Lexington Homes, with 35 sales during the quarter, and Beechen & Dill, with 32.

In the second quarter, newhome sales in the suburbs were up 46% from a year ago, to 1,368, according to the Tracy Cross report. In the city, sales were down about 35%, to 70.

e gures are similar for the rst half of the year. Suburban sales were up 1.3% from the rst half of 2022, to 2,472 sales, and city sales were down about 41%, to 139.

e Cross data includes only homes built in developments of 10 or more, which means individually built homes do not appear.

Jack Grieve

Nick Offerman portrays Ken Grif n in the upcoming lm “Dumb Money.” ISONY PICTURES

The tight inventory of existing homes for sale is a big part of the reason

Dennis Rodkin

“I’m telling my guys all the time, ‘If you’ll build more, you’ll sell them,’ but they’re reluctant.”

Lucy Mierop, a Re/Max agent based in Willow Springs

This house on Prospect Drive in Beechen & Dill’s Copper Ridge development in Lemont is for sale at just under $790,000. | RE/MAX IMPACT

‘Dumb Money,’ a drama-comedy centered around the GameStop stock saga of 2021, casts Chicago-area native Nick Offerman of ‘Parks & Recreation’ fame to play the Citadel founder

SATURDAY, SEPT. 23

SOLDIERFIELD , CHICAGO ALSWALKFORLIF E.O RG

Amazon Fresh redesigns two Chicago-area stores

The locations in Schaumburg and Oak Lawn get a slew of new products as the company tries to differentiate its offerings

Amazon Fresh is redesigning its stores, which started opening in 2020, and it’s beginning with two Chicago-area locations.

The stores in Schaumburg and Oak Lawn have been equipped with new products, grab-and-go options, Krispy Kreme doughnut shops and self-checkouts. The company plans to make similar updates to its Los Angeles-area locations later this year.

The e-commerce giant halted the rollout of Amazon Fresh stores last year, announcing during an earnings call that the concept accounted for part of an impairment charge it took. Amazon set about differentiating the grocery stores.

Claire Peters, worldwide vice president of Amazon Fresh, said in a statement that the two store refreshings were made “to offer even more selection at a better value.

“We are excited for our customers to experience the changes we have made just for them and to hear their feedback so we can apply learnings across our stores,” she said in the statement.

WE’RE ALL ABOUT THE

CONNECTION

THE NIGHT MINISTRY helps members of the community who are unhoused or experiencing poverty meet their basic needs and nd greater stability by providing housing support, health care, and other resources.

HUMAN

The first Chicago-area Amazon Fresh opened in late 2020 in Naperville and was the company’s first location outside California. It now has nine Illinois locations.

The updates include 1,500 new national and private-label products, new charcuterie offer-

MCGRATH

From Page 2

There’s not much to differentiate their on-field performance since ’69: The Cubs have made 10 postseason appearances to the White Sox’ seven, but the Sox claim 22 winning seasons to the Cubs’ 20. Each has won one World Series.

Attendance favors the Cubs by a lot, thanks to the shrewd marketing of Wrigley Field as a baseball shrine.

Rivalries are the lifeblood of sports — Ali had Frazier, the Bears have the Packers, Notre Dame has USC. The Cubs have the Cardinals, Brewers and (for ’69 survivors) the Mets. The Sox have . . . the Guardians?

Perception also matters. For as bad as they’ve been for much of their history, the Cubs grasp the importance of engendering hope. The Sox can’t seem to get out of their own way.

Take the current season. The

ings, international condiments and discounts. The stores will also have kid-sized carts and free fruit for children to munch on during the shopping trip and will host community events.

The additions could help bring some soul into the largely sterile stores, said Heather Lalley, editor in chief of Winsight Grocery Business. She said a lot of shoppers are turned off by the format, which can feel daunting and unfamiliar to them. Such a streamlined experience also isn’t top of mind for grocers like it was during the pandemic.

“It’s like if an alien envisioned what a grocery store might be like,” she said. “It has a very clinical, sterile (feel that in) April 2020 would’ve been outstanding, but now you want a little more life.”

Amazon Fresh’s first stores in the area used grocery carts equipped with technology that identifies items placed inside. As the company added more stores, it also added more checkout options. That includes Amazon’s “just walk out” technology, which allows customers to skip the line by using cameras and sensors to determine which items they pick up.

Amazon shook up the grocery industry in 2017 when it agreed to buy Whole Foods for $13.4 billion. It made changes at the health food chain, slashing some prices and giving perks to Amazon Prime members.

Sox promised big and delivered little — delivered nothing, really, including energy, enthusiasm and other inducements that draw fans to the park. Never mind the holes at second base and right field and the great unknown of a first-year manager — this team was built to win.

The Cubs made some incremental improvements and said let’s see what happens. When the All-Star break came and went, they found themselves on the cusp of contention in a winnable division. So they’re going for it. The next six weeks (and beyond) could be very interesting.

Chicago’s Team of Choice is a hard-won title the Cubs aren’t likely to surrender any time soon. It’s just as likely the Sox aren’t about to win it back.

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

Ally Marotti

Former AT&T campus lands an HQ

Cambium Networks is moving its main of ce to Bell Works Chicagoland

Danny Ecker

A publicly traded wireless networking company has signed on to move its headquarters to Bell Works Chicagoland, the revamped former AT&T campus in Ho man Estates that has quietly been lling with tenants amid a woeful o ce market.

Cambium Networks inked a longterm lease for 35,000 square feet in the overhauled building at 2000 Center Drive in Ho man Estates, according to a statement from the property’s owner, Inspired by Somerset Development. Cambium will move its main o ce early next year from nearby Rolling Meadows, where it occupies a similar amount of space at 3800 Golf Road.

e deal adds to a streak of smaller leasing wins for Holmdel, N.J.based Inspired (formerly Somerset Development) that have largely own under the radar but now tally up to more than 300,000 square feet of tenants, according to Inspired CEO Ralph Zucker.

at’s more than 60% of the space Inspired has transformed on the eastern half of the building, the rst phase of its plan to revive the abandoned corporate campus. e developer bought the 150-acre property in 2019 with a plan to spend $200 million turning 1.6 million

square feet of o ces and its surrounding land into a “metroburb”

— an urban-like hub in suburbia — with places for people to work, shop, dine and eventually live.

Cambium and other tenants that have moved to or will soon relocate to the space are validating the merit of that project at a time when many suburban o ce landlords are grappling with historically weak demand for workspace. Companies downsizing their o ces with the rise of remote work have pushed the amount of available o ce space in the suburbs to new record highs in each of the past 10 quarters, now standing at nearly 29%, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle. e space-shedding and higher interest rates are making it di cult for many property owners to pay o maturing debt, prompting a historic wave of distressed properties.

Cambium is leaving behind one such building in Rolling Meadows. Rosemont-based Brennan Investment Group recently bought the 3800 Golf Road property after its previous owner was hit with a $30 million foreclosure lawsuit. Brennan plans to demolish the building and redevelop the site with a warehouse complex.

“Companies must ensure that their corporate o ce raises the bar

when employees come to work,” Cambium President and CEO Atul Bhatnagar said in a statement on the new Bell Works lease. e company’s new headquarters includes a lot of space for employee collaboration and “the caliber of amenities, on-site coworking spaces and open common areas are unmatched.”

(On Aug. 1, Cambium announced that Morgan Kurk would take over immediately as CEO, with Bhatnagar continuing as a director.)

Cambium, which went public in 2019, will house its corporate o ce on the fourth oor at Bell Works and an engineering lab on the building’s ground oor in space that previously housed data servers and other technical equipment.

In addition to the Cambium lease, Inspired announced smaller deals in the past couple of months, with digital advertising agency JumpFly and aftermarket truck parts distributor network Vipar Heavy Duty leasing a combined total of 22,000 square feet.

In June the building debuted World’s Fair, a bar and restaurant operated by locally based Fairgrounds Craft Co ee & Tea with an outdoor patio designed to look like something out of the West Loop rather than the northwest suburbs. A new pop-up bar also recently

opened from Itasca-based Church Street Brewing.

Zucker, who led a similar redevelopment of the former Bell Labs research building in New Jersey, admitted the pandemic has weakened the o ce market but said its fallout is proving to help Bell Works, given companies’ focus on workspace that compels employees to show up rather than work from home.

“ e reason that urban o ce was (historically) more popular than the suburbs was because it had an amenity you didn’t have in suburbia called life,” Zucker said. “We have life — that’s a big di erence.”

Zucker also sees a competitive advantage in something he doesn’t have: an overbearing lender. An Ottawa, Ontario-based investor in January bought a $37 million loan

that Zucker had taken out in 2019 to nance the Bell Works project, according to county records. Zucker said that investor is one of his equity partners at Bell Works, meaning Inspired isn’t under pressure to pay o the mortgage when it comes due.

e previous lender, a venture of New York-based Taconic Capital, was willing to be patient with Inspired as it sought to lease up Bell Works but was not willing to add new debt or allow the developer to borrow more from someone else, according to Zucker.

A Taconic Capital spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Inspired said it has invested roughly $70 million into the property to date, including the $21 million purchase price in 2019.

The main corridor at Bell Works Chicagoland in Hoffman Estates DANNY ECKER

Power in Partnerships

When you look at the Chicago region, what do you see? Do you see the challenges that we face? Or do you see a promising future?

At United Way of Metro Chicago, we’re committed to seeing this promise, a future with stronger, more equitable communities where all people can thrive. This can only happen when we come together—businesses, government, philanthropy, individuals, nonprofits, and the community. Because when we’re united, positive change is truly possible.

Place-Based Investments

Community leaders and residents live, work, and intimately know their neighborhood’s biggest challenges and greatest opportunities. That’s why United Way launched our Neighborhood Network Initiative. For more than a decade, our place-based, resident-led approach to neighborhood transformation has been working alongside community partners throughout Chicago and the suburbs to bring their community-led visions and plans to life.

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation saw the early success of the Neighborhood Network Initiative, and, in 2018, they joined United Way to co-invest in the Networks. Then, following increased visibility, awareness, and two unprecedented investments from BMO in 2019 and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2020, the Neighborhood Network Initiative expanded into Englewood, Far South, and Garfield Park.

And in 2023, the Neighborhood Networks grew to 17 following a generous leadership gift from the Nicor Gas Foundation and a key partnership with Cook County to create the Transforming Places Program. The new suburban Networks include Elgin, Ford Heights/ Chicago Heights, Harvey, and Park Forest/Richton Park. Cross-sector partnership has allowed United Way to expand and deepen our impact through the Neighborhood Networks. Work that wouldn’t be possible without the power of partnership.

Equity-Based Investments

Building thriving communities can only happen when we more equitably invest in these communities. In 2021, United Way, with support from founding sponsor P eoples Gas , launched the United Neighborhoods Equity Fund to support small nonprofits led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individuals and operating in historically disinvested communities on the city’s South and West Sides and in the south suburban region.

Each grantee receives $50,000 of unrestricted funding, over two years, to be used according to the needs of the organization, plus capacity-building support and

networking opportunities. For some small nonprofits, this partnership helps them continue to provide essential services and supports their growth.

Urban Male Network, which provides positive mentorship for young men of color in the Chicago area, is part of the 2022–2024 cohort of the United Neighborhoods Equity Fund. Thanks to the partnership with United Way, Urban Male Network’s executive director, Dr. Marlon Haywood, was able to move from running his organization on a part-time basis to making it his full-time priority. They also expanded their mentorship programming to five more locations— reaching more young men and inspiring their growth and success.

Increased Access to Resources & Opportunities

Neighborhood transformation doesn’t happen overnight. Which is why we’re in it for the long haul through our place-based, equitable approach. We also know how important it is that our neighbors can meet their basic needs, like access to fresh food, a ordable housing, quality health care, and more.

In 2020, during the height of the global pandemic, people needed help—and quickly. Within just a few days of the world shutting down, The Chicago Community Trust and United Way came together to establish the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund, with support from the City of Chicago, foundations, businesses, and individuals. By the time the fund closed in early 2021, we had raised more than $35 million from 6,000 donors. These funds supported more than 400 nonprofit organizations providing emergency

services to people most impacted by COVID-19. When residents need support, not just during the pandemic, they often either don’t know where to turn or face hurdles in navigating the complex web of resources available. Which is why Cook County, the City of Chicago, and United Way launched 211 Metro Chicago earlier this year. This free, confidential helpline is available 24/7/365. Individuals simply call, text, or web chat with a trained, local Resource Navigator who assesses their needs and connects them with health and social services.

The Future

What does our next chapter look like? In our city? Throughout the region? At United Way, we’r e committed to being part of the next chapter in which our community thrives, our neighborhoods rise, and our people have the opportunities and access to the r esources they need and deserve.

Our job is to bring together the full community— the public sector, the private sector, the nonprofit community, donors, volunteers, everyone who wants to be a part of it—and make this vision a reality.

Our ask to you is to come join us. Join us as leaders in this community to create a stronger, more equitable city and region. That’s what our work is all about. The power in partnerships.

Join us at LIVEUNITEDchicago.org

TOP LEFT: Public, private, and community partners join United Way for the “Transforming Places” announcement of the expansion of the Neighborhood Network Initiative in the Southland; TOP RIGHT: 2022-2024 United Neighborhoods Equity Fund grantees; BOTTOM RIGHT: 2-1-1 Resource Navigator Liccia Latham connects individuals with health and social services.

The last thing downtown Chicago needs

Ideas that energize rally crowds on the campaign trail can have a way of causing heartburn in the cold uorescent light of City Hall’s fth- oor mayoral suite. at seems to be one of the realities Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is up against as he and his City Council allies seek to resurrect the long-stalled “Bring Chicago Home” proposal, a notion that’s been rattling around progressive circles for years. Bring Chicago Home would raise the one-time tax on the sale of properties at $1 million or more. As a candidate, Johnson argued vigorously for the idea, which would more than triple the real estate transfer tax on $1 million-plus property sales. In its virgin form, the ordinance would raise the tax from the current 0.75% to 2.65%, a hike that would boost the transfer tax on a $1 million sale to $26,500 from $7,500. ere are signs Johnson may be wobbling on the details just a bit, but more on that shortly.

As Crain’s Dennis Rodkin previously computed, had Bring Chicago Home been in e ect on the recent sale of a Wacker Drive o ce tower for $415 million, the tax would have been $10.99 million instead of today’s $3.1 million. e goal of the bill’s original draft: raising $163 million a year to fund a ordable housing and prevent homelessness.

e Bring Chicago Home idea has, not surprisingly, drawn vociferous pushback from commercial real estate owners in particular, who point out — correctly — that this kind of a tax, levied now, would deal a body blow to a downtown o ce and retail market that’s never fully recovered from the e ects of COVID and the work-

from-home ethos it engendered.

Hardly a day goes by now when Crain’s Chicago Business isn’t publishing a story about a lender seizing a downtown o ce building, or a foreclosure lawsuit hanging over a retail center, or a high-rise tenant looking to unload a giant swath of its o ce space. Laying a gigantic property tax hike on top of a market this fragile now will only suppress the ow of much-needed investment and further weaken the economic well-being of the city’s central core.

Bring Chicago Home boosters characterize the people who will pay the tab as nameless, faceless denizens of distant corporate o ces or fat cats for whom a $26,000 tax bill for a luxury condo purchase is mere pocket change. But the truth is the tax as currently

drafted would hit a lot of people who are far from fat cats, particularly in the residential market. In a major metropolitan housing market like Chicago — not to mention an interest rate environment that’s pushed up the monthly cost of every home being bought with a mortgage — a lot of middle-class homebuyers are stretching to cover the purchase price of even a modest home.

And as Crain’s columnist Greg Hinz recently pointed out, much of the city’s a ordable housing stock is in two-, three- and sixats, many of them owned by aging people for whom those properties represent their retirement account. An increasing number of those buildings are worth $1 million or more. “Taxing Uncle Joe 20 or 25 grand o the top is either going to reduce the nest egg

or force up rents, the exact opposite of what advocates say they want,” Hinz wrote.

If a late July hearing on the Bring Chicago Home proposal is any indication, it’s possible the Johnson administration is actually hearing and absorbing some of the pushback and rethinking at least a portion of its plan. en-outgoing Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara revealed to the City Council’s Housing Committee that the administration is considering a marginal rate rather than a blunt at tax — though she took pains to say the switch would be intended to make the tax less vulnerable to a court challenge, not so much that the whole idea of ratcheting up transfer taxes across the board is a bad one right now.

If Team Johnson goes the marginal-tax route, it means the new levy would apply only to that portion of a sale over $1 million. at means if a property sold for, say, $1.5 million, the rst $1 million would be taxed at the current 0.75% rate. e new 2.65% transaction tax would apply to the remaining $500,000. Which of course will generate a lot less revenue to fund the homelessness and a ordable housing programs that Johnson envisions. But that may be a trade-o Team Johnson is willing to make to get the ordinance through the City Council and onto a referendum ballot.

Downshifting to a marginal tax rate hike may be enough to make Bring Chicago Home palatable to homebuyers, but in the commercial real estate market, where transactions are measured in the tens of millions of dollars, a 2.65% bite will still in ict signicant pain in a sector that can hardly bear much more.

E orts at regional economic development paying o

In January 2023, we introduced the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership — GCEP — as a strategic driver of economic development for the Chicago region. Six months later, on behalf of the seven counties of northeastern Illinois — Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will — the city of Chicago and World Business Chicago, we share this sixmonth update.

GCEP made a signi cant impact shortly after its launch when it successfully intervened to retain S&C Electric, Chicago’s largest homegrown manufacturer. By preserving more than 300 jobs and paving the way for future growth in Palatine, the partnership showcased its ability to foster a thriving business environment.

GCEP’s ability to connect businesses with the region’s skilled workforce was showcased in a recent pitch to a large outof-state manufacturer. Now able to swiftly mobilize, the partnership brought togeth-

er key stakeholders from the City Colleges of Chicago and six community regional colleges, demonstrating Chicagoland’s vast network of resources that support talent solutions.

Last month we celebrated another resounding win for GCEP, as Lion Electric selected Will County as the site for its cutting-edge manufacturing facility. is decision further solidi es the region’s position as a leader in sustainable technology and the electric vehicle industry. e successful collaboration between Lion Elec-

economic diversity sets us apart. Moreover, one-third of growth capital investments in the rst quarter of 2023 went to startups in the suburbs, signaling the robust entrepreneurial ecosystem ourishing throughout the area.

excluded populations.

tric and local authorities exempli es the potential of public-private partnerships in driving economic growth with a strong focus on environmental sustainability.

Our region boasts numerous competitive advantages, making it an ideal destination for businesses to thrive. With nearly 4.9 million people in our workforce and the presence of the second-most Fortune 500 companies of any U.S. metro area, our

Not con ned to a speci c locality, population growth and available space are spread across the Chicago region, encompassing a distinct mix of urban, suburban and rural communities. Home to a network of diverse economic sectors and emerging industries, renowned institutions, a leading transportation hub, globally ranked innovation centers and with talent as our most valuable asset, the Chicago region boasts a literal ecosystem of intellectual repower driving transformative change here and around the world.

We remain committed to addressing disparities that persist in underinvested neighborhoods, communities and businesses throughout the GCEP region. Inclusive and equitable economic development provides the foundation of our mission, ensuring that the benefits of our regional approach to growth are shared by all, particularly historically

We are con dent the GCEP strategy will continue to drive prosperity for the 8.5 million residents of the greater Chicago area, and we invite you to visit WorldBusinessChicago.com/GCEP and discover how we can help your business thrive in the Chicago region.

Mike Buehler, board chairman, McHenry County

Deborah A. Conroy, board chair, DuPage County

Michael Fassnacht, president and CEO, World Business Chicago

Matt Kellogg, board chairman, Kendall County

Sandy Hart, board chair, Lake County Corinne Pierog, board chairman, Kane County

Toni Preckwinkle, board president, Cook County

Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, executive, Will County

CRAIN’S

Our region boasts numerous competitive advantages, making it an ideal destination for businesses to thrive.

Mayor Brandon Johnson

Hold plastic producers responsible for the harm they cause

Ihave spent a lifetime of summers on the shores of our Great Lakes. e depth of our community’s passion for protecting our lakes always inspires me. Volunteers at the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ Adopta-Beach program have worked hard for over 30 years to keep plastic o our beaches, preventing it from degrading into harmful microplastics that have already been found in our drinking water. It’s time for plastic producers and Great Lakes state governments to do their part by reducing plastic pollution at the source.

A growing body of science is establishing plastic production’s impact on our health. is year, an analysis by international experts published by the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics & Human Health con rms that plastic production, use and disposal causes signi cant damage to human health, the environment and the national economy, in addition to causing profound social injustices. Researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology estimate that more than 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes annually. University of Toronto researchers calculate that the amount of microplastics in the surface water of the Great Lakes is higher than plastic concentrations in the Great Paci c Garbage Patch. It’s time to start reducing plastic pollution at the source. Producers of plastic must be held responsible for the harm they cause and required to reduce their plastic footprint.

e Great Lakes can lead by example by building a regional system that includes source-reduction requirements for plastic polluters, encourages reuse systems, bans the worst toxins and practices and incorporates microplastics into our water-monitoring systems. We’re already starting this work in Illinois and look forward to discussing with other Great Lakes states how to build a coordinated regional approach that provides long-lasting solutions.

To those who say that’s unrealistic, look at California.

Last year, the state passed SB 54, which includes a mandate to reduce single-use plastic containers by 25%. California is also identifying the toxicity levels of microplastics, establishing a drinking-water monitoring program and changing labeling and testing methods to prevent plastic from leaking into waterways. Plastic pollution a ects more than just the East and West coasts, and it’s time our state and federal representatives worked together to advance coordinated extended producer policies across the Great Lakes.

Preventing pollution is smart for businesses and communities. It’s much less expensive to prevent pollution than to clean it up later, and prevention protects both our water and our community’s health. Together, the Great Lakes can build smart and e ective solutions to the seemingly intractable challenge of plastic pollution. Preventing pollution, and holding producers responsible, is the most cost-e cient way to ensure our precious drinking water and Great Lakes remain clean, healthy and vibrant for generations to come.

Andrea Densham is a senior strategic adviser for the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

ALAMY

BIGGEST FOUNDATIONS CRAIN'S LIST

Ranked by 2022 assets.

1 JOHN D. & CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION 140 S. Dearborn St.,Suite 1200,Chicago60603; MacFound.org

2 THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST 33 S. State St.,Suite 750,Chicago60603;CCT.org

Charles & M.R. Shapiro Foundation

The Hees Family

High-net-worth people do the math. ey’re aware that “they can put their excess capital in a twoyear treasury note that has a riskfree return of over 4% instead of forking that over as a 20% down payment,” says Quentin Green, an agent with Downtown Realty.

“ at’s one good reason they rent.”

e temporary commitment of renting appeals to two types of people who aren’t yet sure where in the city they want to be or whether city living will work for them: empty nesters coming in from the suburbs and working professionals moving from other cities. A third group are the people who simply want to jump around year to year, dipping themselves into an assortment of buildings and neighborhoods over time.

“ ere are very wealthy people who are living a transient lifestyle,” either for the short term or the long term, says Aaron Galvin, CEO of Chicago leasing rm Luxury Living.

e household income needed to qualify for a $10,000-a-month rental is about $445,000 a year, Galvin says. Such households often have more than one home, and it’s more likely to be the non-primary residence where they choose to rent, Green says, because they’re spending excess assets on the “fun” second or third home.

Another reason upper-tier apart-

ments are in demand: ey’re there.

In the past decade, “it’s been exponentially easier to get rental developments nanced than to get condo developments nanced,” Galvin says. “Developers are going to keep developing, so apartments are what’s been getting built.”

Aiming for a payoff

e high cost of land acquisition and construction tilts developers toward targeting higher-end rentals for a payo . Of about 27,000 new downtown apartments that have come online since 2016, Galvin says, the average rent is about $3,000. e over-$10,000 units are the icing on the cake, about 50 in all, he says.

More are on the way in projects from developers Onni and Sterling Bay, both of which are expected to

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Another luxury retailer exits Magni cent Mile

Bottega Veneta follows a long line of stores to leave the struggling strip

Alby Gallun

e Magni cent Mile is losing another high-end retailer: Bottega Veneta, which is decamping for a new boutique on Oak Street.

around 30%. An exodus of retailers has left big holes. Recent leases with brands such as Aritzia and Alo have lled some of the space but haven’t o set all the losses.

roll out new penthouse o erings soon. Both declined to comment.

It’s a relatively new phenomenon. Related’s Bailey dates the start of high-end renting in Chicago to 2013, when his rm and competitor Fi eld both unveiled amenity-rich rental buildings with high-priced apartments at the top. At the time, the top rent in Related Midwest’s 500 Lake Shore Drive was nearly $8,000 a month, and at Fi eld’s K2 it was $6,500.

Prior to that, “Chicago was only a buyer’s market,” Bailey says. “If you could a ord to live downtown, you bought. It was driven by a Midwestern value. In New York and San Francisco, (a uent) people rented, but in Chicago they bought.”

Since then, “the vast majority, probably 90%, of what’s been built has been rentals,” Bailey says. e resulting “optionality” has surely siphoned some power out of the for-sale market. It’s di cult to quantify because people who rent don’t have to report anywhere that they rst considered buying.

But Galvin says that in his experience, “it’s absolutely true that (rental buildings) have impacted the forsale market, because owning real estate in Chicago, especially in the downtown market, hasn’t proven to increase in value the way it did in generations past.”

CRISIS

From Page 1

around the hazing allegations has only exacerbated that slow response, experts say. In his own letter issued July 8 following e Daily Northwestern’s reporting, Northwestern President Michael Schill acknowledged that he “may have erred” in his decision to suspend head football coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks after assessing the school’s independent investigation of hazing. In another statement a week later, Schill addressed investigations into the school’s football and baseball programs, saying the litigation in those cases would bar him from further comment.

en on Aug. 3, Schill wrote an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune accepting the criticism over the hazing scandal while noting that the “blame and accusation are now being pointed indiscriminately and too broadly” at student athletes.

Walking back its decision to suspend Fitzgerald created a trust de cit for the university, according to Andrew Moyer, executive vice president and general manager at Reputation Partners. e multiple

e Italian fashion house signed a lease at 41 E. Oak St. and plans to move out of its longtime Chicago store at 800 N. Michigan Ave., across from the Chicago Water Tower, con rmed Fred Latsko, who owns the Oak Street property.

Bottega is moving into a space that handbag maker Maison Goyard agreed to lease in 2021 but never occupied, triggering a lawsuit from Latsko a few months ago. He declined to discuss the case.

Bottega’s planned move is another blow for North Michigan Avenue, Chicago’s most famous shopping strip. e Mag Mile is struggling to recover from COVID and an uptick in downtown crime, with a vacancy rate hovering

Meanwhile Oak Street — the Chicago home of the world’s most expensive fashion brands — has ourished the past few years amid a strong luxury retail market. e retail vacancy rate for the stretch of Oak Street from Michigan Avenue to Rush Street is 8.3%, according to Stone Real Estate, a Chicago retail brokerage.

In the past several years, retailers including Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier have left North Michigan Avenue for Oak Street.

Bottega is moving into space formerly occupied by Italian jeweler Pomelatto, which moved in 2020 to a smaller store at 37 E. Oak St. e Bottega space is 5,000 square feet, about half the size of its Mag Mile store, according to real estate information provider CoStar Group.

A Bottega representative did not respond to a request for comment. Bottega’s broker, Sharon Kahan, senior vice president at Odyssey Retail Advisors, declined to comment.

pending lawsuits also make responding to the press more dicult since those comments could resurface in court. In order to balance the tension between the legal strategy and the PR strategy, the university needs to address the perception that there is a negative culture permeating the athletic programs, Moyer said. at would not only mean crafting a proactive message saying the university takes any allegations seriously but also putting together a committee of faculty, student athletes, alumni and anti-hazing advocates, he said.

“ at shows that they’re taking it seriously without stepping into ‘Are we admitting guilt or not?’” Moyer said.

Choosing the next head football coach will also emerge as a critical part of turning the page on the hazing scandal, according to Jared Nelson, senior vice president at Edelman. Northwestern, like other Big Ten colleges, has a tendency to hire from within, Nelson said. But that could prove a liability if the rest of the team’s coaches knew about hazing.

“It’s probably not a wise choice to do that, given how deep-rooted a lot of the cultural issues are, and there’s actually value to picking an

outsider who brings outside credibility,” Nelson said. “ en they need to make sure that they put the right measures and mechanisms in place to prevent something like this from happening again and make sure that they’re protecting their student athletes.”

With Northwestern’s recent hiring of Skip Holtz from the USFL as a special assistant to interim head coach David Braun, the school may be following that outsider strategy. (Braun himself is new to the coaching sta for the upcoming season; his hiring as defensive coordinator was announced in January.)

And last week, NU named former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate the athletics department.

In some crises, PR experts will advise a CEO to take a front-facing approach and address allegations in a news conference. NU isn’t ready for that yet, Nelson advises. “ ere’s a time to do that and the time is when they turn the page. When they’ve done the work is when they’re ready to announce meaningful changes,” he said. “If I was advising them, I wouldn’t just necessarily tell them to go on now because their narrative is not good yet.”

Bottega Veneta’s longtime space at 800 N. Michigan Ave., across from the Water Tower I COSTAR

A rendering of a penthouse terrace at the Row Fulton Market COSTAR

Now that pandemic-related nancial emergencies have more or less subsided, what are notable nancial leaders in the Chicago area doing with their time? Plenty. ey are opening bank branches, acquiring companies, securing new clients, closing major deals and working out creative nancing for buildings and other infrastructure projects. ey are promoting diversity e orts at their companies and throughout the industry; they are mentoring younger talent; they are supporting the city with multimillion-dollar and even billion-dollar commitments to underserved communities and overlooked populations. Altogether, their work is making our corner of the globe an even stronger presence in the world of money.

—

By Lisa Bertagnoli

Stratos Athanassiades

Regional manager, Midwest

Red Oak Capital Holdings

Stratos Athanassiades maintains Red Oak Capital Holdings’ business across multiple Midwestern states. He’s arranged $5 billion worth of commercial real estatenancing in his 25-year career, including transactions involving Chicago’s Sears and AT&T towers as well as properties in Duke’s industrial portfolio. In the past 18 months, he’s overseen the nancing of $100 million of commercial real estate loans. Most recently, he oversaw the nancing of two phases of a student housing property at Illinois State University, three Phoenix multifamily communities for a single borrower, a value-add multifamily deal in Indianapolis and industrial facilities in Chicago and Melbourne, Fla. Athanassiades is involved with several animal shelters, including northern Illinois’ golden retriever rescue.

Robert Brown

CEO

Lincoln International

Robert Brown leads a team of more than 850 bankers at Lincoln International, which advised on more than 355 transactions in 2022. at year, Brown also led Lincoln’s acquisition of Spurrier Capital Partners, a boutique technology-investment bank that strengthens Lincoln in key areas across vertical and horizontal software, positions the company as a player in the investment banking advisory world and doubles the number of managing directors focused on software. Brown is a national board member of UNICEF, participating in missions to Mozambique and Honduras, and is incoming chairman of the Dean’s Business Council at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business.

Gustavus Bahr

Executive vice president, head of PNC’s insurance and diversi ed nancial institutions groups

PNC Financial Services Group

In 2022, Gustavus Bahr helped lead one of PNC’s best-performing teams, delivering more than 10% of PNC’s corporate banking revenue. He manages a team of 25 specialized bankers who assist clients in advisory, capital raising, nancing, treasury and asset management. Among his clients are some of the largest nancial services companies operating in private equity, broker dealers, market infrastructure and insurance services. A member of PNC’s national corporate banking leadership team, Bahr was involved in the coast-to-coast integration and transition after PNC’s acquisition of BBVA USA. Bahr serves on the Illinois Bankers Association board and has helped direct PNC’s regional philanthropic e orts, including $15 million to support early education across the Chicago area.

Brendan Carroll

Co-founder and senior partner

Victory Park Capital

Brendan Carroll is responsible for strategic initiatives and rm operations at Victory Park Capital, as well as sourcing, evaluating and executing investment opportunities. He was instrumental in closing $2.4 billion for VPC’s asset-backed opportunistic credit strategy in June 2022, and he spearheaded the launch of Triumph Capital Markets, a new a liate focused on structured nancing and capital-markets solutions. rough a joint investment fund, VPC has worked alongside the International Finance Corp. and IDB Invest, the private-sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank, with investments in nancial technology companies in emerging markets such as Latin America and the Caribbean. Carroll serves on the board and nance committee of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Sarah Billings

Senior vice president, head of payments and international PNC Bank

Sarah Billings leads product, operations and transformation for payments and manages PNC’s international treasury management services. She recently assumed responsibility for PNC Global Transfers, a cross-border payment business serving Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Under Billings’ leadership, PNC released a comprehensive treasury-management platform to service corporate clients doing business in Canada. Billings and her team have positioned PNC as a leader in payments innovation, especially in immediate payments and embeddednance, which has been instrumental in posting double-digit revenue growth and di erentiating PNC in treasury management. Billings serves on the Women in Payments Advisory Board and leads PNC’s sponsorship of Women in Payments’ annual Unicorn Challenge.

Jim Casselberry

Co-founder and CEO

Known

Jim Casselberry is CEO of Known, a nance and assetmanagement rm that works with founders, family ofces and large asset owners who value competitive returns and long-term impact. Known provides clients access to the Global Majority — the fastest-growing and most undercapitalized demographic on the planet. He helped close Known’s initial capital round in 2022. In the next round in 2023, he secured an anchor investment from one of the world’s largest banks. Casselberry is a board member of Arc Chicago, the appointed board of Bene t Chicago. He is also a trustee of Morehouse College and is leading its current capital campaign.

Melissa Conyears-Ervin City treasurer City of Chicago

Melissa Conyears-Ervin serves as investor of the city of Chicago’s cash holdings and is trustee for its pension funds. Recently she helped divest funds from the top 225 fossil-fuel companies through more than $70 million in sales and maturities. She sponsored an ordinance preventing the city from investing in fossil-fuel companies that fail to protect the planet from climate change and those that do not align with the city’s values. Social impact investments include $25 million to create hundreds of rst-time a ordable homebuyers on the South and West sides and an additional $10 million in community banks to spur development in minority communities. Conyears-Ervin serves on the board of the Chicago Development Fund.

Omar Daghestani Managing director Stifel

Omar Daghestani leads Stifel’s top-ranked national pension practice and manages the Chicago and Boston o ces. Over the course of his career, he has managed $28.8 billion in issues nationally. Along with Stifel’s CFO, he helped structure and execute the $452.58 million in Chicago wastewater transmission revenue bonds, helping the city earn its 13th credit upgrade with S&P; produced $19.1 million refunding savings; and helped release $31 million of unused reserves. Daghestani was fundraising co-chair for the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, raising $590,000 in 2023; he’s also treasurer of the City Club of Chicago and serves on the executive committee of the Civic Federation of Chicago.

CME Group

Among recent activities at CME Group, Terry Du y embarked on a landmark partnership with Google Cloud to bring expanded access, new products and e ciencies to derivatives markets. is included a $1 billion equity investment from Google and a 10-year agreement. is partnership aims to create real-time data and analytics capabilities while driving resiliency in the nancial ecosystem. In addition, the deal should enable CME Group to o er a more exible and scalable environment capable of creating a range of opportunities for the marketplace. Du y serves as a vice chairman of the CME Group Foundation and also oversees the company’s civic and charitable programs, distributing $8.3 million in grants and contributions in 2022.

METHODOLOGY: The individuals featured did not pay to be included. Their pro les were written from the nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for the list, nominees must serve in a senior leadership role in nance at their places of employment, live and work in the Chicago area and demonstrate leadership through mentoring, involvement in professional organizations and participation in community and civic initiatives.

Terry Duffy

Chairman and CEO

Brian Egwele

Founder and managing partner Egwele & Co.

Brian Egwele is sole shareholder of Egwele & Co., a Black-owned M&A boutique investment bank. In September 2022, it was the exclusive nancial adviser to All City Environmental Services, a provider of liquid waste removal and plumbing services across the Chicago area, in connection with its sale to Liquid Environmental Solutions, a recycler of liquid waste. He orchestrated the sale process amid rising in ation and interest rates as well as fears of a recession, yet obtained a premium valuation from a strategic buyer backed by a multibillion-dollar private-equity rm, Audax Private Equity. Egwele serves on the board of the Lincoln Park Zoo and is treasurer of Uniting Voices Chicago.

Patricia Felts

Strategic investment managing director Fifth Third Bank

Patricia Felts leads Fifth ird Bank’s engagement with ntech companies through its corporate venture-capital arm. Recent accomplishments include Fifth ird’s 2021 acquisition of Provide, a digital-nance platform for health care practices. In March, confronted with the sudden collapse of a tech-focused bank, she worked directly with VC rms over a long weekend to support startups with their banking needs. A 2022 investment in Drive Capital helped enable this outcome; Drive Capital invests in next-gen companies (including some based in Chicago), and this partnership provided critical support to many portfolio companies during this challenging time. Felts is a contributing member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Council.

Kevin Goldsmith

Managing director for community development tax credits and intermediaries lending JPMorgan Chase

Kevin Goldsmith oversees a national community development tax credits team that originates new markets tax credits, historic tax credits and lending for community development nancial institutions. He expanded the rm’s market share in this space, managing a $4 billion tax credit portfolio and more than $500 million in loans to CDFIs in support of low-income communities. His team nanced many Chicago projects in the past year, including a $6.4 million equity investment for BUILD to develop a new youth center in the Austin neighborhood. Goldsmith is a member of the Urban Land Institute’s Chicago Yield Cohort and is on the board of the Chicago Community Loan Fund.

Jill Griebenow

Executive vice president, CFO, treasurer and chief accounting of cer

Cboe Global Markets

Jill Griebenow leads a global team of 50 associates in three o ces that has helped guide Cboe to record nancial results for 2022 as well as record net revenues and adjusted earnings for the rst quarter of 2023. Recent achievements include the successful integration of recent acquisitions across the globe, including Cboe Digital and acquisitions in Japan, Australia and Canada. She was instrumental in overseeing the development and ongoingnancial maintenance of Cboe’s new trading oor, which holds more than 350 people on any given day, to facilitate trading, liquidity and price discovery in global derivatives contracts. Griebenow is treasurer of Navy Pier’s board of directors.

There are more than 131,815 chief nance of cers currently employed in the United States. 28.1% of those are women, while 71.9% are men.

— Zippia.com

Mark A. Heckler

Regional president Fifth Third Bank

Last year, Mark A. Heckler was named to lead Fifth ird’s second-largest market, with responsibility for 174 nancial centers and 2,400 employees. He also shares responsibility for furthering local efforts under Fifth ird’s Empowering Black Futures neighborhood program, a $20 million lending investment and philanthropy initiative aimed at revitalizing the South Chicago community. He’s also led the region’s business development e orts, with 98 new client relationships across commercial banking and wealth and asset management. Additionally, Fifth ird holds a 7% deposit market share in Chicago. Heckler serves on the boards of Adler University, VanderCook College of Music and the Civic Federation.

Carlton W. Lenoir Sr. Executive director Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund

Carlton W. Lenoir Sr. leads daily operations of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, which serves 92,000 members. He manages 12 direct reports and a total sta of 130, oversees $12 billion in funds alongside an $80 million operating budget, and is leading a multiyear pension-administration system modernization project. In the past year, CTPF invested 48% of its assets with rms owned by minorities, women and people with disabilities; it is considered a leader among its peers in prioritizing that these investments remain at the core of the portfolio. Lenoir founded the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association’s executive directors’ roundtable. He’s also a member of the National Council on Teacher Retirement.

Anthony Maggiore

Managing director and Midwest and Canada segment head for middlemarket banking and specialized industries

JPMorgan Chase

Tony Maggiore leads teams of commercial bankers across 14 Midwestern states and Canada. His responsibilities include chairing the Midwest operating committee, where he represents the rm in meetings with community members and elected o cials while also acting as the primary channel for collaboration across lines of business at the rm. In Chicago, he establishes connections with business owners and elected o cials and drives the rm’s $30 billion commitment to racial equity. In hiring, he focuses on diverse backgrounds to develop generational leadership. Maggiore is a member of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and serves on the boards of the Goodman eatre and World Business Chicago.

Terri McNally Founder and president Global Capital

Ltd.

As president of Global Capital Ltd., an asset management and equipment nancing company, Terri McNally partners with clients — Fortune 1000 companies in 13 countries — throughout the life cycle of deals. Global Capital funds its own transactions. An expert on nancial statement and cash ow analysis, she has closed in excess of $1 billion in equipment nancing. McNally, a member of the National Leadership Forum and a former board member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, is a frequent speaker on mentoring female entrepreneurs in the United States, as well as in Mexico City, Dubai, Berlin and the United Kingdom. In 2010 she co-founded Women for Wounded Warriors.

Mark Heckler Chicago Region President

The average chief nance of cer’s age is 51 years old. The most common ethnicity of chief nance of cers is white (76.1%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (7.9%), Asian (7.7%) and unknown (3.9%).

— Zippia.com

Robert Meyers

President, chief commercial of cer and managing member Republic Business Credit

Robert Meyers is focused on expanding Republic, which has grown 400% since he acquired the business in April 2016. He is involved as a mentor within the organization and has implemented management strategies, such as sta training and supporting upward mobility, to grow the Republic team by 50% with little turnover. He helped secure the acquisition of Republic Business Credit by Renasant Bank in 2022 and ensured that employees maintained their positions after the transaction. Meyers is vice president of the Secured Finance Network’s management committee, having completed a term as president of the Midwest chapter. He’s also chair of the network’s audit and nance committee.

Patricia

Steeves O’Neil

Senior vice president and CFO Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center

Patricia Steeves O’Neil is responsible for the hospital revenue cycle, nancial reporting, internal audit, nancial planning and budgeting at Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center. She’s also a board member and treasurer of Rush Health and chairs its nance committee. Recently she steered Rush nancially through an extraordinary period of growth as it expanded its network of outpatient clinics and opened the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building, a destination center for cancer, neuroscience and digestive diseases care for the Chicago area.

O’Neil serves on the board of Sparks Ventures, a business-driven philanthropy that supports local children with health care education and nutrition. She’s also on the investment committee for St. Ignatius College Prep.

— Zippia.com

Jeffrey Schneider Partner, COO Victory Park Capital

Since 2020, Je Schneider has negotiated and closed on $1.5 billion in commitments across several funds, arranged $500 million of rated credit facilities with a large insurance company and helped launch Triumph Capital Markets, an a liate focused on structured nancing and capital markets solutions. He led e orts to close a $200 million levered investment vehicle focused on legal post-settlement opportunities, a niche asset class that provides private credit to the legal industry. He also was instrumental in launching and building Tradable, a tech platform that provides investors with streamlined access to private assets. Schneider is on the board of the Private Equity CFO Association.

Sandeep Shah CFO Kabouter Management

Sandeep Shah oversees accounting, budgeting, nancial planning, forecasting and reporting at Kabouter Management. As CFO, he’s been instrumental in the growth of this Latino-owned investment adviser into a multibillion-dollar rm. e most recent major deal he orchestrated was the sale of rm equity to an employee stock ownership plan that made Kabouter 100% employee-owned. e transaction required coordination with the rm’s principals and senior leadership team, outside counsel, banking institutions and plan administrators. His forecasting also helped navigate the rm through the pandemic. Shah is involved in several nonpro t organizations, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository, My Block My Hood My City, World Relief Chicagoland and Cradles 2 Crayons.

Since joining Republic, Rober t has led the company to achieve unprecedented growth, including a successful acquisition in 2022. He is deeply committed to his work, and his personable demeanor is often on display when interacting with clients. Outside of work, Robert is a dedicated husband and father to three boys, and an avid fan of golfing and supporting local, Chicagoland breweries. Congratulations, Rober t, on this well-deserved recognition!

About Republic Business Credit

Republic Business Credit is a market-leading commercial finance company supporting the working capital requirements of companies nationwide. Republic partners with its clients to provide up to $15 million in senior credit facilities to rapidly growing businesses, start-ups and companies experiencing recoverable distress. www.republicbc.com

Chief nance of cers are most in demand in New York. The construction industry is the highest-paying for chief nance of cers.

Olibia Stamatoglou

Managing director, CFO and chief compliance of cer

Victory Park Capital

Olibia Stamatoglou led e orts to streamline operations to support Victory Park Capital’s growth while maintaining a substantially consistent operations headcount. She has overseen day-to-day management and operations, managing 70% growth in regulatory assets under management, a 160% increase in capital activity and an 80% increase in deal count. She also has implemented corporate policies including ongoing employee training and education to increase awareness of internal bias while developing and delivering on the rm’s diversity key performance indicators, increasing the company’s female employee base by 64% and its ethnically diverse employee base by 500%. Stamatoglou launched an annual Day in the Life program to educate Chicago Public Schools students in underserved communities about career paths in investment management.

Chris Sweetland President, Illinois

and Wisconsin region

Huntington National Bank

During the last scal year, Chris Sweetland grew revenues in his region by 40% while leading a successful integration of 1,100 new colleagues and 100 retail locations, tripling market presence and making Huntington the fourth-largest local bank by locations. He also developed eight business a nity groups, a fully sta ed inclusion council and a summit event that convened nine local community groups to discuss solutions to Chicago’s a ordable housing and wealth gaps. Sweetland sits on the board of Neighborhood Housing Services, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Mercy Housing Lakefront and Junior Achievement of Chicago. He’s also on the board of Nourishing Hope and supports Hesed House in DuPage County.

Peter Tsoulogiannis Partner Sla te Asset Management

Peter Tsoulogiannis heads Slate’s global investments team, originating and executing acquisitions, raising capital and establishing new investment platforms. He helped launch Slate’s U.S. debt platform in 2021 while growing the rm’s U.S. equity assets under management. He plays a key role in Slate’s recruitment and retention e orts, increasing Slate’s U.S. headcount to 46 from three professionals since 2019. Recently he oversaw Slate’s acquisition of a $425 million grocery-anchored 14-property real estate portfolio in the Sunbelt region, signi cantly increasing Slate’s exposure to resilient, high-performing properties anchored by leading grocers. In 2022, Tsoulogiannis was appointed co-head of Slate’s D&I committee and helped initiate the rm’s partnership with Veterans on Wall Street.

Chad Turner Director

Bank of America

At Bank of America, Chad Turner leads a global team in Global Transaction Services, a unit serving thousands of companies with cash management and payments solutions. His group, Account Analysis, manages the collection of billions of dollars of revenue of behalf of GTS. He often works with clients to devise bespoke solutions to complex situations. For example, a multinational in the mining industry needed to view its account information across multiple jurisdictions and tech platforms, so Turner’s team created an automated solution that generates a global, consolidated view of its accounts. Turner serves on the boards of Access Living and Disability Lead, two Chicago-area nonpro ts that promote opportunities for people with disabilities.

Michael J. Vrchota

Executive vice president, PNC corporate banking market leader for Illinois and Iowa

PNC Financial Services Group

In the last year, Michael J. Vrchota’s team generated record revenue and grew PNC’s client portfolio, the highest increase since 2012. He counseled more than 100 middle-market and large companies in 2022, including a public company in the completion of a $2 billion transformational acquisition. He also handled a complex, generational ownership transition for a midsize family-owned business, outlining a multistep strategy and establishing a purchase price, term loan and subdebt facility nancing. e second piece of the strategy provided liquidity options through a partial employee stock ownership plan. Vrchota is a volunteer and supporter of Bears Cares, Common Pantry, Greater Chicagoland Food Depository, Friends of Audubon and the Hamlin Park Baseball Association.

LEADERS IN FINANCE

Maria Watts

Co-head of global consumer; managing director, nancial sponsors group

Baird

Maria Watts provides senior leadership to the consumer sector of Baird global investment banking while managing nancial sponsor client relationships. Serving on various committees at Baird, she played a signi cant role in establishing career development, mentorship and work-life balance practices now considered standard protocol. Watts and her coverage partners recently served as the sell-side adviser on the sale of Aden & Anais to Transom Capital Group. Baird was also selected as the buy-side adviser for AEA on AEA’s acquisition of Burke Porter Group from CGIF. Watts is a member of e Economic Club of Chicago and Pipeline Angels, an organization that creates funding for underrepresented and LGBTQ entrepreneurs.

Lynn Wiacek

SVP-general ledger management

Wintrust Financial

Lynn Wiacek oversees 27 employees in accounting operations at Wintrust, which includes the banking, mortgage, premium- nance, wealth-management and holding-company divisions. She works closely with performance measurement, treasury,nance transformation, treasury management, loan and deposit operations, and tax and reporting to resolve analytical-review issues. Over the past 18 months, she played an integral role in converting Wintrust’s nancial accounting and reporting platform through the design, build and testing phases. Wiacek was the lead on the nancial data model and the nancial accounting and business asset modules, and she assisted with business processes, projects, banking and settlement, accounts payable, general ledger le integrations and system security. Wiacek has organized food collections for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Suzanne Yoon

Founder and managing partner

Kinzie Capital Partners

Suzanne Yoon leads one of the nation’s few private-equity businesses founded and led by a woman and an Asian American. Kinzie executes acquisitions in the range of $3 million to $15 million of EBITDA. She recently announced the close of the rm’s rst institutional and largest fund to date, with $150 million in commitments. In 2022, Yoon facilitated the expansion of the footprints of portfolio companies Chelsea Lighting into Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Colony Display into Bartlett. Yoon and her team also executed the acquisition of GT Golf Holdings. Yoon co-founded the Chicago chapters of the Private Equity Women Investor Network and the Women’s Association of Venture & Equity.

Janet Zelenka

CFO and chief information of cer Stericycle

Janet Zelenka is involved in executing the company’s business priorities: driving organic growth; modernization, including the opening of four new facilities; implementing an enterprise resource planning system; and signi cantly lowering net debt and debt leverage. Recently she’s been instrumental in divesting more than a dozen businesses across North America, with the net proceeds leading to a strengthened balance sheet through debt reduction, simplication of the business and margin improvement. In December 2021, she helped lead the acquisition of a regional medical waste service provider in the Midwest, further strengthening Stericycle’s presence in that region. Zelenka is a member of e Chicago Network and the Chicago chapter of the American Statistical Association.

The most common degree for chief nance of cers is a bachelor’s, with 72% of chief nance of cers having one. The secondand third-most common are a master’s, at 20%, and an associate, at 5% — Zippia.com

CRAIN’S DINING AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

From private dining to specialty steakhouses, here are options for your next business meal.

BRASS TACK

11 East Walton, Chicago, IL 60611 312-646-1402 • brasstackchicago.com

Discover the ultimate of ce lunch escape! Savor the Walton Rush Express Lunch at only $25. Relish in a half porchetta sandwich or half turkey club, along with a Caesar or house salad, macaron, and beverage. Treat yourself to a delightful and budget-friendly meal that will leave you craving more.

THE M ROOM

450 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654 312-224-1650 • mroomchicago.com

Explore the ingredients and avors used in The Macallan whisky making process at The M Room. The intimate dining space showcases a new Patio and Bar Menu, carefully crafted to supplement the existing chef-tasting menu; recent editions include Tartare Bites with Rice Puff, Chives, and Cured Egg Yolk.

BLVD STEAKHOUSE

817 West Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60607 312-526-3116 • blvdchicago.com

Located in the Fulton Market District, BLVD Steakhouse is a classic American steakhouse inspired by Hollywood’s Sunset Blvd. Helmed by Celebrity Chef/Partner Joe Flamm, the restaurant embodies the glamour and luxury that de ned Old Hollywood offering sophisticated yet approachable service along with prime cuts and fresh seafood, innovative twists on 1950s cocktails, and an award-winning list of wines.

REMINGTON’S AMERICAN GRILL

20 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60602 312-782-6000 • remingtonschicago.com

Located across the street from downtown Chicago’s cherished Millennium Park is Remington’s – a classic American grill and steakhouse serving up warm hospitality, unparalleled service, and satisfying cuisine. Remington’s menu features classic American fare and Chicago Steakhouse classics. The luxurious and rich interiors create an appealing ambiance for travelers and locals alike with the perfect setting for social gatherings and private parties.

ROSE MARY

932 West Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607 872-260-3921 • rosemarychicago.com

Located in the Fulton Market District, Rose Mary is inspired by Celebrity Chef/Partner Joe Flamm’s Italian heritage and the bold, bright avors of Croatian cuisine. The award-winning restaurant offers a seasonal menu featuring house-made pasta and risottos, fresh seafood, and grilled meats, along with craft cocktails and a diverse list of Eastern European wines.

GRILL ON 21

208 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60604 312-634-0000 ext. 3 • grillon21.com

A Cut Above Classic. Located on the 21st oor of the Lasalle Hotel, Grill on 21 is a modern approach to a classic steakhouse, blending timeless dishes with a contemporary ambiance. Centrally located in the heart of Chicago’s Financial District, an ideal destination for professionals, fancy date nights, and locals alike. The menu features a diverse array of grilled steaks, chops, hearth-roasted sh, poultry, and plantbased items.

ROSEBUD RANDOLPH

130 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601 312-473-1111 • rosebudrestaurants.com

Rosebud Randolph, located steps away from Millennium Park, features three levels of stunning dining spaces, making it the perfect spot for any occasion. The menu highlights century-old, Italian, family recipes including hand-made pastas, meatballs, steaks, seafood and more.

Rosebud Restaurants have been serving Chicago and the surrounding suburbs since 1976.

CRAIN’S DINING AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

showcases a variety of Chicagoland restaurants, bars, private spaces and entertainment venues. This special advertising guide will highlight new menus, spotlight chefs and promote any upcoming special events. To reserve your spot in the guide, please contact Menia Pappas at menia.pappas@crain.com.

ACCOUNTING

ORBA, Chicago

ORBA, one of Chicago’s largest independent accounting, tax and consulting rms, is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph A. Odzer, CPA, MST as its new Managing Director. Joe joined the rm out of college in 1986 and became a director in 1997. In the past, he has served as a member of the rm’s Executive Board. Joe will succeed current Managing Director, Mark A. Thomson, CPA, who has held the role for 12 years, and is retiring after more than 43 years of service at the rm.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

LSFG, Chicago

LSFG welcomes Adam C. Blake as a Financial Representative. With 20 years of Financial Services experience working closely with individuals, families, and business owners helping them grow and protect their wealth for the future - he brings a depth of product knowledge and experience to the rm. Crafting tailored strategies for clients’ unique goals, Adam’s client- rst philosophy helps ensure customized solutions for each individual’s needs. TC134839(0723)1

HEALTH CARE

LAW FIRM

Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC, Chicago

Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres welcomes Samantha Contreras to the rm as an associate in the Private Client Services practice group. Samantha advises clients on a range of estate planning services and tax matters. Prior to joining the rm, she worked with the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Notre Dame Of ce of Gift Planning on various tax matters, and with the National Immigrant Justice Center aiding families in the early stages of the asylum process.

NON-PROFIT

The Chicago Community Trust, Chicago

Sheila M. Cawley will join The Chicago Community Trust as Chief Philanthropy Of cer. In this role, Cawley will leverage her expertise and relationships to increase philanthropic support to strengthen the Chicago region and the people who call it home. With nearly 30 years of civic and philanthropic experience, Cawley has demonstrated an ability to connect philanthropy to impact. She recently served as the Senior Vice President & Chief Revenue Strategist at the Museum of Science and Industry.

ACCOUNTING / CONSULTING

MichaelSilver, Deer eld

MichaelSilver announces the appointment of Joshua Prince, CPA, as Partner. Josh has over 13 years of experience providing consulting and compliance services to businesses and high-net-worth individuals. He helps his clients stay up-to-date on tax developments, optimize their tax strategies, and minimize tax liabilities. Josh advises on tax issues, such as entity selection, planning and projections, foreign reporting, state and local considerations, government tax audits, and federal tax credits.

Access Community Health Network, Chicago

Mahomed Ouedraogo has been named Chief Executive Of cer for Access Community Health Network (ACCESS), one of the nation’s largest networks of federally quali ed health centers and the largest Medicaid provider in Illinois. Mahomed joined ACCESS in 2006 and has served as ACCESS’ CFO for eleven years and CIO for the past eight years. He has more than 20 years of strategic leadership and extensive scal management, technology expertise, and value-based care management experience.

NON-PROFIT

Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, Chicago

ART

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Gwendolyn Perry Davis, Chief Operating Of cer at MCA Chicago, has also been appointed Deputy Director. Gwendolyn joined the MCA in 2011 and previously led the MCA’s Development Department. As a member of the senior leadership team, she plays a key cross-functional role in strategizing, managing, and leading initiatives to help achieve the MCA’s ve-year strategic plan. Prior to her transition to the arts, Gwendolyn was a Senior Director at University of Chicago’s Booth School.

LAW FIRM

Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., Chicago

Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. is pleased to announce that Melissa “Missy” Turk Firmage has been elevated to principal in the rm’s Estate & Trust Administration & Litigation and Estate Planning & Asset Protection groups. She focuses on estate and trust litigation and administration, breach of duciary duty claims and duciary defense, elder law and trust and estate-related appellate work. She represents clients on contested and non-contested guardianships for adults with disabilities and minors.

LEGAL

Benesch, Chicago

Juan Andrés Mata has joined Benesch as an Associate in the rm’s Litigation Practice Group. Juan Andrés has represented clients in a wide range of complex litigation matters in commercial and nancial litigation. He has experience in pre-litigation resolution strategy, drafting pleadings and successful motions across various litigation stages.

Mata Wilkes

Chris Wilkes has also joined Benesch as an Associate in the rm’s Litigation Practice Group. Chris most recently served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Raymond W. Mitchell in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division and in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District. Christopher has experience researching and drafting opinions and dissents, and preparing memoranda.

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation announces Sandra J. Wortham as its Executive Board President. Sandra is the principal attorney of The Law Of ce of Sandra J. Wortham, LLC. Prior to founding her rm, Sandra served as a civilian Deputy Director in the Chicago Police Department Bureau of Patrol. A staunch advocate for smart public safety policy, Sandra brings professional and personal experience to the Board as she is also the sister of fallen Chicago Police Of cer Thomas E. Wortham, IV.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Baird, Elgin

Brianna Hook joins Baird’s Private Wealth Management business as a Financial Advisor in the Elgin, Ill. branch. She comes to Baird from FNBO, bringing nearly a decade of experience assisting individuals, families and businesses to make personalized nancial decisions about their future. Brianna earned her bachelor’s degree from Huntington University and is an active member of the DeKalb Rotary Club. She lives in Sycamore with her husband and two children.

LAW FIRM

Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., Chicago

Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. is pleased to announce that Margaret M. Salinas has been elevated to principal in the rm’s Corporate Transactions & Business Law practice group. She concentrates on corporate transactions, including stock and asset sales and acquisitions and represents middle-market companies and business owners in a variety of industries. Margaret is also involved in contract preparation and negotiation, entity formation, ownership structure and day-to-day business matters.

LEGAL

Porter Wright, Chicago

Jennifer M. Huelskamp focuses on employment litigation and counseling. She represents clients in state and federal courts and in proceedings before government agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Jen also practices in general commercial litigation. She is named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America. Jen graduated from Northwestern University Pritzker School of law, cum laude, and University of Notre Dame.

NON-PROFIT

SGA Youth & Family Services, Chicago

SGA Youth & Family Services assists children and families through their Cycle of Opportunity, offering parenting, early childhood, education, and workforce development services. SGA is delighted to announce that Martha Guerrero has been promoted to CEO/President. Beginning her career with SGA 25 years ago as Director of Contracts & Grants, she has held various leadership roles. Martha’s passion for helping families and considerable business and program development acumen progress SGA’s mission.

To order frames or plaques of profiles contact Lauren Melesio at lmelesio@crain.com or 212-210-0707

Winnetka mansion sells for $12.5M, priciest so far in ’23

Dennis Rodkin

A lakefront mansion in Winnetka sold for $12.5 million, the highest price paid for a Chicago-area home so far in 2023.

e Sheridan Road property, a ve-bedroom house with a swimming pool and a private stretch of Lake Michigan beach, moved fast. Just 46 days passed between the home going on the market and the sale closing. Originally listed June 12 at $12.85 million, the mansion went under contract June 29, and the sale closed July 28.

e sellers owned the house through a trust that conceals their names in public records, and the buyers are not yet identi ed in public records.

Neither of the real estate agents involved in the transaction — Jena Radnay of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate for the sellers and Edward Gobbo of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago — responded to requests for comment.

e sale pushed out of the year’s top slot a Michigan Avenue penthouse that billionaire Ken Gri n sold for $11.2 million in January.

e sale also is the highestpriced in Winnetka since July 2022, when Justin and Kristen Ish-

bia paid $16 million for a Winnetka home, their fourth.

Another big one is pending and could eclipse the $12.5 million price tag. at one, a Mediterranean villa that was priced at $14 million, went under contract in mid-June.

e one that just sold had had extensive work done since the last time it sold, for $5.35 million in 2016.

ose buyers made extensive decorative upgrades, according to the listing Radnay posted when they put it up for sale in June.

Among other things Radnay lists: ey painted the red brick exterior

white; replaced the roof; redecorated the interior; tted out the third oor with an o ce, bathroom and gym and added an outdoor kitchen and other landscaping improvements.

Stairs lead down the blu from the backyard to a cove-shaped private beach. at keeps shallow water warmer in summer than

what’s o shore on a broader beach.

As the rst Chicago-area home to cross the $12 million line this year, the house is in rare air; in 2022, by the end of the year there were six sales at that extreme upper level. ree of them were mansions, two in Winnetka and one in Lake Forest, and above them at the

top three slots were downtown condos that went for $17.4 million, $20 million and $20.56 million.

e Sheridan Road mansion is the year’s 43rd Chicago-area home to sell for $4 million or more. at’s about half the 85 that had sold at that level by this time last year, a pace that has been consistent this year.

It might not last long at the top, though. Here’s why.

PHOTOS BY SLOKA PHOTOGRAPHY

Over the past year, workers from several Chicago hospitals have rallied and protested over similar issues. Recent examples include other “safety-net” hospitals, which predominantly serve low-income residents on Medicaid, including Roseland and St. Bernard hospitals. Workers from both institutions rallied alongside Loretto workers in July.

St. Bernard workers have since settled on a contract with leadership and were set to ratify the agreement Aug. 2, says Greg Kelley, president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois. Meanwhile, Roseland workers are still bargaining with their management. Leaders from Roseland and St. Bernard declined to comment on the strike at Loretto.

Grievances haven’t been isolated to small South Side safety-nets, though. Institutions as large as Northwestern Medicine and Sinai Chicago have faced similar demands and complaints from some of their workers over the past several months. Now with the strike at Loretto, leadership at nearby hospitals have new reason to fear their own workers will be willing to do the same if their demands are unmet.

“Everybody is paying attention in the industry,” says Anthony LoSasso, a health and labor economics professor at DePaul University. “If you’re a hospital leader, you’re concerned. You don’t want things to reach that level of antipathy and strife.”

While many hospital employees, especially nurses, have long had strong union representation, the COVID-19 pandemic re-energized labor activity as many health care employees worked through dicult and sometimes dangerous conditions.

Worker shortage

Meanwhile, society complimented health care workers with terms like “essential” and “hero,” but the admiration couldn’t eliminate the unprecedented stress and burnout.

As a result, some workers left the sector for good, exacerbating an industrywide worker shortage. e trend, compounded by in ation, has left many hospitals vulnerable to the demands of their shrinking talent pools, meaning Chicago hospitals may have to come to terms with paying more for labor in the foreseeable future, LoSasso says.

“Many health care institutions — hospitals, of course, chief among them — are experiencing a lot of challenges acquiring and retaining workers,” he says. “Workers can demand more of health care employers.”

SEIU Healthcare Illinois said it has been easier to reach labor agreements with hospital leadership recently, a trend that could be related to the widespread labor shortage.

“Whether that actually gives us more power, I’m not sure,” Kelley says. “But it certainly re ects a lot more energy and a desire to do things like take strikes.”

On the lower end of pay raise demands, SEIU Healthcare Illinois is

asking Loretto to increase the wage for a housekeeper to $17 per hour and that of a certi ed nursing assistant to $19.

Kelley says that with Loretto’s safety-net designation, the hospital is heavily supported by public money, such as grants and reimbursements from Medicaid, arguing that the state has given the hospital enough to meet the union’s compensation and sta ng demands.

“We work really hard with legislative folks to make sure that safety-nets were able to pay folks decent wages, particularly coming out of COVID,” Kelley says. “Having done that, Loretto still hasn’t done its part in helping raise the oor and improve conditions for their sta .”

In response, Loretto management has pointed to its nancial challenges, writing in a July 31 statement that the union’s demands “far exceed the hospital’s current economic reality.” Loretto’s chief human resources and compliance o cer, Ruby Smith, later told Crain’s that the hospital is operating with $3 million less funding this scal year.

“Despite a reduction in funding, we’ve made tremendous progress in creating e ciencies in ournances and operations,” Smith says in an email, adding that the hospital has already given merit increases to all employees.

But without the pay bumps the union is asking for, Kelley says, the hospital will “exacerbate already really bad sta ng problems at Loretto.”

e union says certain positions at Loretto are understa ed by 25% to 35% and that the hospital saw 60% sta turnover in the past year. Workers are sometimes leaving health care altogether to work in retail or as gig workers, but some are also departing for Loretto’s competitors.

Labor expenses

e competitive labor market has caused hospitals everywhere to spend more on recruiting and retaining employees. Nationally, hospitals’ expenses per full-time provider were up 4% in the second quarter compared to the same time

period a year ago, according to new data from Kaufman Hall, a health care consulting rm.

But higher labor expenses won’t a ect all hospitals the same way. Inevitably, it will be harder for small, already struggling hospitals like Loretto to keep up with some of their larger peers in a hot labor market. A 2021 report published by the Health Care Council of Chicago illustrated the nancial bind safety-net hospitals like Loretto are in, warning that those in Chicago could lose nearly $2 billion by next year.

Meanwhile, large health systems, such as Northwestern Medicine or Advocate Health, can often absorb higher expenses more easily than their small, independent peers, LoSasso says. With a bigger patient base and a larger share of the market, they often have the ability to pass on costs to insurance companies without fear of being dropped from coverage networks.

“If you’re a small independent hospital not a liated with a big system, you have very little market power,” LoSasso says. “You can be dropped from a network without much consequence. Blue Cross can tell you ‘No, we’re not going to pay you more because frankly, we can live without you.’ at’s the real squeeze.”

Limited market power combined with relying on government payers rather than private, for-pro t insurers makes it even more di cult for safety-net hospitals to compete for labor, as they can’t easily negotiate rates with programs like Medicaid. Loretto previously told Crain’s that about 64% of the hospital’s annual revenue comes from Medicaid.

It’s unclear how much longer Loretto workers will strike. Union leaders maintain they will wait for their demands to be met. Meanwhile, Loretto management describes negotiations as “stalled.”

However it ends, the strike could have signi cant rami cations for the local hospital industry, says Robert Bruno, a labor and employment professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“How (Loretto) respond(s) will be real important for whether there is more turmoil in hospitals across Chicago,” he says.

The union says certain positions at Loretto are understaffed by 25% to 35% and that the hospital saw 60% staff turnover in the past year. SEIU HEALTHCARE ILLINOIS

46, is more prepared than his father was at the point he took over, even though he was in his mid50s. Rocky Wirtz gave Danny Wirtz more responsibility in a broader array of family businesses than he had experienced when his turn came, according to Guy Chipparoni, who worked closely with Rocky Wirtz over many years, helping handle communications for a family that plays an important role in Chicago’s business and civic scene but also prizes privacy.

Chipparoni likened Danny Wirtz’s apprenticeship over the past decade to a co-pilot in a plane that Rocky Wirtz was ying. At times, Danny Wirtz would y the aircraft himself. By contrast, Rocky Wirtz had experience only with Wirtz Corp.’s liquor business when his father died, forcing him to learn on the job, particularly regarding the hockey team. “Rocky had to gure out where the plane was,” Chipparoni said.

Danny Wirtz inherits leadership of a company that includes one of the nation’s largest liquor distributors, a portfolio of vintage apartment buildings all over Chicago and a small bank in the Chicago suburbs, as well as the Blackhawks and co-ownership of the United Center on the city’s West Side. e surprising timing of his ascension coincides with the beginnings of a ground-up rebuild of the Blackhawks and ambitious, long-term real estate development plans uncharacteristic of a family that for decades treated its real estate empire as a cash cow.

Helping matters is that, unlike 16 years ago, when Rocky Wirtz took over a moribund Blackhawks organization with no experience owning a pro franchise, Danny Wirtz has been CEO of the team since 2020. Rocky Wirtz’s 16-year run heading the family business featured a revival of the Blackhawks and a merger of the Wirtz liquor franchise with a larger player that ceded complete family control of that to become a bigger player in the industry.

Rocky Wirtz’s younger cousin, Arthur Wirtz III, will play an important role going forward as well. Arthur, 55, is on the Wirtz Corp. board and is a senior executive with Breakthru Beverage Group, the liquor business.

Added burden

No matter how well Danny Wirtz is prepared, being the undisputed boss is di erent than being a higher-up. e burden of representing the next generation adds to it.

Speaking generally about businesses owned and run by wealthy families and the challenges when a new generation takes over, Leigh Rocklin, lead faculty for Loyola University’s Next Generation Leadership Institute, says it’s not easy to be a successor.

“You are born into a story already being told,” she says. “ at’s not my quote, but it’s a quote we use often. . . . It’s hard to be born into a story and to discover who you are.”

At a Crain’s event just four months ago, Rocky Wirtz spoke about the future and the plan to keep Wirtz Corp. as a family-owned enterprise.

“My grandfather had great faith that future generations of Wirtzes were going to be able to progress the business, and fortunately, we’re still in business,” he said. “I think the key thing is, you have to have leadership. You can’t sit down and say, ‘When I pass away, what’s going to happen?’ So we have gured that out.”

When Rocky Wirtz addressed the audience at the Crain’s event in March, the succession plan he alluded to was perceived as a long way o . “I’m not going anywhere. I’m still chairman,” he said. “But,” he added, referring to his decision three years ago to put Danny Wirtz in charge of the hockey team, “I said (to him), ‘I’m here to help you, and I’m here to work with you any way I can.’ We’ve got to bring young people in. You just can’t hold onto something for the rest of your life.”

It’s one thing to have a succession plan. It’s another to execute it, particularly in the potentially fraught setting of any family accustomed to generational wealth. Personal issues and unhappiness over how assets are distributed can derail leadership blueprints that seemed settled. Just ask the Pritzkers.

ere’s no sign of that kind of fractiousness looming here.

But the Wirtz family has a history of disagreement in the immediate aftermath of generational change. In 2010, less than three years after Rocky Wirtz’s ascendancy, his brother Peter and sisters Gail Wirtz Costello, Karen Wirtz Fitz and Alison Wirtz sued him over a family-owned beer distributorship in Nevada and Minnesota. e case was settled, but not before a run through court on an issue that a spokesman for Rocky Wirtz said “could have been simply resolved around a table,” e New York Times reported at the time.

Apart from the Blackhawks, for which the Wirtzes are best known, the two big businesses are liquor and real estate.

e booze distribution business

The company’s board now Chairman: Danny Wirtz, 46. President of Wirtz Corp.

Family directors:

Bruce Wirtz MacArthur, 75. Rocky Wirtz’s cousin. Former chairman, First National Bank of South Miami.

Arthur M. Wirtz III, 55. Rocky Wirtz’s cousin. Executive vice president, Breakthru Beverage Group.

Hillary M. Wirtz, 44, Rocky Wirtz’s daughter, Danny’s sister. Director of diversity and inclusion, Breakthru Beverage Group.

Outside directors:

Nadine Heidrich, 69, retired chief nancial of cer, Wirtz Corp.

“We’re trying to make it into more of a campus,” Rocky Wirtz said during the Crain’s event. He estimated that while it cost roughly $180 million to build the United Center itself in the early 1990s, he and Reinsdorf spent another $600 million since then on new practice facilities nearby and arena expansion and upgrades. Danny also will see that through, Chipparoni said.

Asked that day about his legacy, Rocky Wirtz spoke of his aspirations that his kids, including Danny and his daughter, Hillary, build on what he and the rest of the Wirtz family have built.

“I always believed in trying to make the next generation of the Wirtz family better business (people) than I am. If I’ve done that, I’ve done my job,” he said.

— one of the largest in the country, operating in 14 states — is expected to su er little, if any, disruption. Rocky Wirtz was co-chairman along with Charles Merino , whose New York-based Charmer Sunbelt Group merged with Wirtz Beverage Group in 2015 to create Breakthru. Danny Wirtz is vice chairman, and Arthur Wirtz is executive vice president in charge of operations as well as a board member. e company hired former National Restaurant Association chief Tom Bené as CEO in 2021. Merino didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Real estate holdings

It’s real estate where question marks loom. Rocky Wirtz was more deeply involved in that business in recent years. e family’s holdings are best known for their half-ownership of the United Center on Chicago’s West Side alongside the family of Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Much of the family’s real estate holdings trace back to Arthur Wirtz, Rocky Wirtz’s grandfather, who acquired apartment buildings throughout Chicago at discounts after the 1929 stock market crash as he began building the empire. For decades, those buildings were a source of steady cash, and the family did little but collect rents.

“We had everything through real estate,” Rocky Wirtz said during the Crain’s event of his family’s business origins, noting that the only reason his grandfather got into professional sports was because he “bought the tenant” of its Chicago Stadium property.

Since 2014, the manager of the Wirtz real estate portfolio has been Don Vitek, who joined the company after a 16-year run with developer Draper & Kramer.

Rocky Wirtz’s death comes amid recent moves to shrink the vintage portfolio.

Wirtz Residential last year sold ve apartment buildings totaling 164 units in Evanston and unloaded several apartment properties in 2020 and 2021 on Chicago’s North Side, including a 75-unit property

John Miller, 69, CEO of Rellim Capital Management and co-chairman of business service and products provider Envoy Solutions.

Jeffrey Vender, 74, former anesthesiology department chairman, NorthShore University HealthSystem.

in Lincoln Square and an 81-unit building in Rogers Park.

e family still owns around 1,200 apartment units elsewhere on the city’s North Side and a vintage o ce tower at 333 N. Michigan Ave., along with its United Center interest. Vitek also oversaw Wirtz’s ground-up apartment development at 2950 N. Sheridan Road in Lakeview, a 20-story, 82unit building that debuted in 2017. at Sheridan Road development, a rarity for Wirtz, merely foreshadowed Rocky Wirtz’s far larger development ambitions. He led the family’s recent plan to develop some 700 acres of farmland it owns in Lake County into a master-planned community, dubbed Ivanhoe Village, with a town center with locally run shops, a mix of residential development and an array of nearby amenities. Not everyone in the clan was on board, Rocky Wirtz acknowledged.

Asked at the Crain’s event in March how some of his family members reacted to his vision for the family farm, he said some worried they’d lose the privacy of their sprawling family getaway. “I don’t think they can get their arms around it yet. ey’ll get there. But with all due respect, they don’t have the votes,” he said with a smile. How his “votes” transfer, and how those who now hold them respond, raise questions about the future of that ambitious development that only the family will be able to answer.

Danny is committed to continuing the Ivanhoe development, Chipparoni said.

Additionally, the Blackhawks recently proposed a $65 million expansion to roughly double the size of the team’s Fifth ird Arena community ice rink just south of the United Center and sought zoning rights from the city of Chicago to eventually build as many as 1,200 residential units and 663 hotel rooms next to the facility.

Yet Rocky Wirtz demonstrated his rm grip on the family baton over the past couple years, even as he took steps toward passing it to his children. e struggle was on full display during a public town hall event in February 2022, when Danny Wirtz was asked by a reporter about changes the Blackhawks organization was making after issuing a report in late 2021 with disturbing details about how it mishandled sexual assault allegations against a former team video coach in 2010 — a scandal that resulted in a con dential but undoubtedly costly settlement between the team and plainti Kyle Beach.

When Danny Wirtz began to answer — ready to speak as chief executive of a franchise trying to move on from a dark period in its history — Rocky Wirtz cut him o and castigated the reporter for asking about it, part of a viral tirade that ripped the scab o a healing wound for the franchise. ough Rocky Wirtz later apologized for the outburst, it illustrated a struggle to relinquish his role as the public face of the franchise and raised questions about who would determine the team’s path forward.

It was three years before that jarring moment when Rocky and Danny Wirtz appeared at a separate Crain’s event alongside Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Reinsdorf — Jerry’s son and the Bulls’ president — during an in-depth discussion about the United Center, which then was turning 25 years old.

What should the leadership of the facility look like after the next 25 years, Rocky Wirtz was asked.

“Someone from the Wirtz family and someone from the Reinsdorf family,” Rocky Wirtz said. “ at’s what’s nice about it. It’s a true joint venture and the spirit of it is, we always work together to make each franchise better and the building better.”

Rocky and Danny Wirtz were on the same page during that 2019 discussion about future improvements at the arena. It would be Danny, Rocky Wirtz said, who would spearhead e orts like adding a sportsbook at the venue, which has since been built out and is awaiting a license from the Illinois Gaming Board.

Perhaps unintentionally providing something like a Wirtz business philosophy, “As Dad says, gure it out,” Danny Wirtz said then.

Rocky Wirtz quickly followed: “On my tombstone, (it’s) going to be: Just gure it out.”

Danny Wirtz STEPHEN J. SERIO

district reached an all-time high of 22.6% midway through the year, boosted by companies shedding workspace as they embrace the remote work movement. Sublease listings have been a key contributor to that supply and demand imbalance, with companies including Salesforce, Meta and Golub Capital recently putting big chunks of their o ces on the secondary market.

e total amount of downtown

o ce space available for sublease surpassed 8 million square feet during the second quarter, according to data from brokerage CBRE. at was up from about 6 million square feet a year earlier and 3.3 million square feet when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

JLL’s listing stands out from the crowd, though, because a big chunk of its business comes from o ce buildings — managing them, selling them or leasing them on behalf of owners. JLL advises clients on their space needs whether they want more or less of it, but workers at the real estate services rm and other rms that handle leasing or management for o ce buildings generally made quicker returns to the o ce during the pandemic. Showing a commitment to the o ce is important when o ces are a focal point of your business, after all.

Still, like many other companies looking to get rid of unwanted ofce space and save on real estate costs, JLL is embracing the new cadence of work.

“While the way we work has changed, and exibility is here to stay, the o ce remains central to reinforce culture, drive collaboration and innovation and enable professional growth,” a JLL spokesman said in a statement. “Just as we’re helping clients with their workplace transformations, we’re doing the same at our own JLL ofces that remain a central hub for where our people work each day. Following a detailed analysis and feedback from JLL employees of

From Page 3

Google and Pritzker Group Venture Capital, which had put $488 million into his company in one of the biggest startup investments ever in Chicago. Shah and Agarwal initially were supposed to get $225 million from that investment, but much of that money was clawed back by investors who sued once the allegations of fraud became public.

Shah’s attorneys say the frozen funds improperly included $4.8 million that Shah invested before 2015, as well as $1.1 million in cash. ey’re asking U.S. District Judge omas Durkin to release the money so Shah can hire Katyal, a former acting solicitor general who represented the federal government before the U.S. Supreme Court and is a Georgetown University law professor and a legal analyst for MSNBC.

“While Mr. Shah would prefer to

how our Chicago headquarters at the Aon Center is being used, we identi ed opportunities to optimize our workspace and bring our teams closer together, which has resulted in a decision to sublease a portion of our o ce space.”

At Aon Center since ’96

JLL also had a tough start to 2023. A slowdown in commercial property sales and leasing played a key role in its revenue dropping by nearly 2% year over year in the rst quarter to $4.7 billion, according to regulatory lings. JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich said during a May conference call with industry analysts that o ce leasing globally during the rst quarter was down 18% year over year.

JLL has been at the 83-story Aon Center since 1996. e company most recently signed a long-term extension in 2014, when it had around 1,200 employees in the Chicago area. A JLL spokesman said the company’s local headcount today is between 1,200 and 1,300 people.

With just over 201,000 square feet, JLL is the third-largest tenant at the tower, behind Aon and au-

have (Finneran) and Mr. Katyal involved in the upcoming stages of his defense, each is only engaged on a limited basis as Mr. Shah awaits the disposition of the instant motion,” Finneran wrote in a court ling. “If Mr. Shah is not granted access to the untainted funds that the government has illegally restrained to this point, then he will have to make di cult choices as to which attorneys and rms to retain and which to let go — a choice that the Sixth Amendment does not compel him to make.”

How much money Shah has is a recurring subject of debate in court proceedings now that he has been convicted, along with Agarwal and Purdy.

Seeking freeze

Prosecutors want to seize all the frozen money as ill-gotten proceeds from the crime, which occurred between 2015 and 2017.

Much of that money went into a venture fund called Jumpstart

the importance of having a cool o ce in recruiting young engineering talent. Trustwave at the time had just wrapped up a 12-month stretch in which it hired 160 people, bringing its Chicago headcount then to around 500.

Now, “Trustwave has made the strategic decision to sublease its Chicago o ce to align its real estate and facilities strategy with its ‘Moments at Matter’ philosophy and business needs,” a Trustwave spokesman said in a statement to Crain’s. “Moments that Matter is Trustwave’s approach to workplace exibility that brings employees together for times when in-person interactions are most impactful, but otherwise allows them to work remotely. As a global organization, Trustwave recognizes the value of a distributed workforce which allows for 365x24x7 coverage to better serve clients and protect against today’s shifting threat landscape.”

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dit, tax and advisory service KPMG, according to data from real estate information company CoStar Group.

A JLL marketing yer plays up the large amount of gathering spaces in its o ce for employee collaboration and 546 total workstations across the two oors. e sublease listing comes after the Aon Center’s owner, New Yorkbased 601W, narrowly avoided defaulting on its $678 million debt package tied to the building. 601W recently inked a lease extension with anchor tenant Aon — which substantially cut back its space — and struck a deal with its lender to extend the loan maturity date by four years. Prior to that extension, the loan was due to mature on July 1.

Changing needs

Like JLL, Trustwave also wants to shed downtown o ce space. But the cybersecurity company doesn’t see a need to hold onto any of it.

at’s a big swing from six years ago, when it built out a fancy new o ce on two oors at its longtime 70 W. Madison home and touted

Ventures as well as other investment funds. Some of those investments in startup companies produced millions in returns, according to court lings.

Prosecutors also want to freeze other assets belonging to Shah to pay what they think will be more than $300 million in restitution to investors, lenders and customers of Outcome Health. e government is asking Durkin to garnish or freeze additional Shah assets until a restitution order is decided, along with whatever prison sentence Shah might get.

Shah’s attorney argues that such an order would violate his Sixth Amendment rights, which include hiring the attorney of his choice.

Durkin will have to decide whether the government or Shah gets the money now that he’s been convicted.

“ e money you’re seeking — I’m not sure it’s yours,” the judge said during the hearing. He hasn’t yet issued a ruling. “Mr. Shah has the right to an attorney. I’m not

Trustwave’s o ces on the 57-story building’s sixth and seventh oors include a stairwell and large atrium connecting the oors, 444 workstations and 21 conference rooms.

Trustwave was sold in 2015 for $770 million to Singapore-based telecom giant Singtel.

Some prospective tenants have gravitated to sublease o erings, lured by the bene ts of bargain rents in move-in ready space at a time when construction costs for new buildouts are still high and many companies are seeking to preserve cash.

Health care insurance marketplace GoHealth in June was in advanced talks to sublease more than 89,000 square feet on the 17th oor of the Merchandise Mart from software provider VelocityEHS, according to people familiar with the negotiations. GoHealth is expected to consolidate its downtown employees there from multiple small o ces in River North.

JLL brokers Mike Curran and Annie Nicolau are marketing the JLL space for sublease. Belle Spinnell, Amy Craig and Matt Carolan of JLL are representing Trustwave.

sure post-conviction he can use it to appoint an attorney of his choice — if one will be appointed for him.

“You’re asking me to release money that there may be a goodfaith reason to believe may be used for restitution.”

A key question is how much money Shah has beyond what the government already has frozen. Finneran said he didn’t know but that he was working for a reduced rate. Shah isn’t required to disclose it.

Shah’s attorneys already have indicated that the $4.8 million they argue was wrongly frozen by the government before trial prevented him from hiring the attorneys he originally wanted because he didn’t have enough money. Based on lings by Shah so far, it’s likely to become an issue to appeal his conviction.

Shah, Agarwal and Purdy have led motions asking the judge to throw out their convictions or grant them new trials.

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JLL is the third-largest tenant at the Aon Center.

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