Crain's Chicago Business by crainschicago

REAL ESTATE: Get ready for higher prices and fiercer bidding wars. PAGE 3

NOTABLES: Chicago’s top residential real estate brokers. PAGE 15

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 5, 2021 | $3.50

Lightfoot gets a $2 billion boost

It was always going to be a tough sell, but now the ghost of Block 37 looms

New federal rescue plan gives city far more than it got in prior bailouts

CHICAGO’S SHARE

Here’s how much money Chicago received from the three federal spending bills. American Recovery & Reinvestment Act

BY A.D. QUIG

2009, $831 billion total

JOHN R. BOEHM

Lori Lightfoot is about to get the biggest windfall any Chicago mayor has received in modern memory, if not ever: nearly $2 billion in federal money, with relatively few strings attached. How Lightfoot spends the money will help shape not only the course of Chicago’s COVID recovery, but also the city’s longterm financial condition and her own political future. Effective allocation of so much money could advance Lightfoot’s priorities to invest in neighborhoods outside of downtown, reduce poverty and protect workers, while bolstering her re-election chances.

HOW THE PANDEMIC MADE A BAD SITUATION WORSE AT THE THOMPSON CENTER BY DANNY ECKER

hen Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill allowing the state to sell the Thompson Center, developers salivated over the prospect of overhauling a full city block in the heart of the Loop as companies were pouring into downtown.

Two years and one global pandemic later, the odds appear long of finding anyone to buy the property anytime soon. The state of Illinois this month will begin soliciting bids from See THOMPSON on Page 35

“IT’S A REAL PUZZLE OF WHAT ONE WOULD DO WITH IT, AND WHAT IT WOULD COST.” John Buck, developer

$515 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act 2020, $2.2 trillion total

$1.2 billion American Rescue Plan Act 2021, $1.9 trillion total

$1.9 billion Source: Crain’s reporting, Civic Federation

Perhaps most important to city taxpayers and a mayor expected to face voters again in 2023, the federal dollars could ease pressure for another tax increase. “Getting a pile of money? See WINDFALL on Page 35

Ready to eat out again? So is everyone else. Reservations are hard to snag as restaurants endure operating at 50% capacity and vaccinations speed up BY ALLY MAROTTI Finding restaurant reservations is becoming more challenging as diners start venturing out after a year of eating mostly at home. Bookings made at Chicago-area restaurants on OpenTable were up 48 percent the week of March 1, compared to the first week of February. The increase comes partly from a steady easing of restrictions, but restaurant operators say the spike in demand is driven by another key component: People want to eat out again. “With all of these vaccinations,

people are out and about right now,” says Sunny Mehra, owner of Japanese steakhouse Roka Akor, which has Chicago-area locations in River North, Oakbrook and Skokie. “It is overwhelming.” As of press time, 15.2 percent of Chicago residents have been fully vaccinated, and 29.8 percent have had one shot. As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout gains speed, more people feel comfortable dining indoors. It is also one of the few options newly vaccinated people have for a See RESERVATIONS on Page 34

TECH TAKEAWAY

YOUR VIEW

Here’s how one executive rode out the pandemic.

Immigrant entrepreneurs can fuel Chicago’s recovery.

PAGE 6

PAGE 10

2 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

GREG HINZ ON POLITICS

What’s the best approach to affordable housing?

COSTAR GROUP

60 percent of regional median income. To those who think that might be a little rich, consider the cost of operating conventional public housing. Or consider that the Feigenholtz/ Tarver bill would merely revive and expand the old Class 9 affordable tax break that existed under former Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan. But there is a problem: Experts say the measure would generate only about 15,000 more affordable units countywide, not nearly enough. Another, similar carrot-style bill would provide rent subsidies by doubling the filing fee for recording a deed to $18 from $9 now. That’s certainly less than the direct tax on real estate sales Lightfoot once pushed (the real estate transfer tax) but still might not provide enough revenue. Ergo, the Really Big Stick plan, offered by Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, to lift the state’s ban on local rent control laws. Guzzardi insists locals ought to have the right to talk about doing something and wouldn’t necessarily repeat the mistakes of officials in New York City and San Francisco, where middle-class housing has all but disappeared. But his bill has picked up some momentum. How much if of this is going ANY PLAN COULD EFFECTIVELY BE any to pass remains UNDONE BY ASSESSOR FRITZ KAEGI. uncertain. The two carrot bills seem to have the most backing at the 20 percent of units available moment, as does Lightfoot’s at affordable, below-market plan to stiffen requirements rates, up from 10 percent now. under the city’s affordable And instead of buying their housing ordinance. way out as they currently can The irony is that whatever by contributing to a developpasses and whatever good is ment fund, builders would accomplished could effechave to provide at least half of tively be undone by Cook those affordable units on site, County’s new reform-minded mixing up people of different assessor, Fritz Kaegi. economic backgrounds. Kaegi has begun reassessNot surprisingly, developing the county one third at ers are squawking that the a time, and initial results price is so high the market are that his biggest prowill die. On the other hand, posed hikes are not on office as my colleague Alby Galbuildings or factories or sinlun pointed out, they also gle-family homes but for-rent squawked about the original, apartments, up a whopping 2015 affordable-housing law, 112 percent in northern which preceded a construcCook, far more than any other tion boom. Still, should there category except for property be a stiff price to get a routine owned by not-for-profits. zoning approval? Kaegi’s office replies that he’s A different approach is just doing his job and deterbeing offered by state Sen. mining the true market value Sara Feigenholtz and Rep. of property, which is true. But Curtis Tarver, both Chicaif taxes on apartment buildgo Democrats. It would cut ings go up a ton, guess what property taxes by as much as also rises: rents. 35 percent on landlords who I suspect the next phase of keep enough units available this drama won’t be pretty. at a low enough rate, as low as undamentally, there are two ways to motivate people and get them to do what you want. One is offer rewards, compensation or outright bribes, aka “the carrot.” The other is to swat that mule right on the hindquarters or threaten to do so, “the stick.” But which is the most effective in that important but somewhat arcane aspect of endeavor known as creating and maintaining affordable housing? A whole series of bills and proposals now pending in Springfield and Chicago take both approaches to the problem. There is general agreement that there is a problem. There’s not nearly enough affordable housing in this town or in the suburbs, and the situation has only become worse amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The question is, which approach ought to pass? One proposal, from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, would make developers of high-end housing downtown and in wealthier neighborhoods pay a premium if they need something from the city, such as a zoning change, a grant, or approval of a land purchase. Under her new plan, developments covered by the ordinance would have to make at least

The Hilton Chicago Downtown hotel on Michigan Avenue

Unpaid property taxes reveal landlords’ pain during pandemic

Outstanding bills illustrate the commercial real estate sector’s woes and give clues about which building owners may be giving up their fight to weather the storm BY DANNY ECKER Nearly eight months after bills were due, Cook County is still awaiting close to $200 million of its commercial property tax collections for the second half of 2019 as COVID-19 keeps strangling economic activity. According to data from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, landlords have yet to pay about 6 percent of commercial property taxes that were originally due last August, with late fees waived

through Oct. 1. And with those payments still owed, another $1.1 billion is outstanding for 2020 property tax bills that were due in early March—more than onethird of the total amount billed— though property owners can still pay those without penalty before May 3. The delinquencies highlight the pain still afflicting major commercial properties more than a year into a pandemic that has devastated many commercial landlords. Those that haven’t

paid either of the past two bills also give some clues about owners that may be giving up their fight to weather the storm and hold onto their properties, choosing perhaps to let their lenders or other parties deal with them down the road. Among the prominent downtown properties whose owners have not paid their 2020 bill and are still delinquent on their 2019 second installment: the Hilton See TAXES on Page 7

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 3

A cloud over weed

Reported probe of GTI won’t help image upgrade

A TIGHT MARKET IS GETTING EVEN TIGHTER March set a record for homes under contract. Higher prices and fiercer bidding wars will likely follow. BY DENNIS RODKIN

THE LOW MORTGAGE RATES and pandemic-era changes in housing needs that have propelled a surge in home sales is about to deliver an even bigger wave. In March, Chicago-area homebuyers put 18,758 homes under contract, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. That’s by far the highest figure in any month in MRED’s records, which date to January 2008. “It’s been like a frenzy, and it’s exhausting,” says Andrea Leu, an @properties agent in Elm-

hurst. She’s had six properties go under contract in recent weeks, which she says is more than usual, though she declines to give specifics. In the years before the pandemic and low interest rates juiced up the market, the most homes put under contract in a single month was 12,969, in April 2016, and in the current market conditions, the most contracts in a month was 14,252, in June. That is, March contracts were 44 See CONTRACTS on Page 33

CRAIN’S ILLUSTRATION / GETTY AND @PROPERTIES PHOTOS

BY JOHN PLETZ

“OBVIOUSLY THERE’S A BOTTLENECK. MARCH IS REALLY THE BEGINNING OF THE REAL ESTATE SEASON, AND WE’RE SEEING NO SIGNS OF INVENTORY LOOSENING UP.”

A report that federal investigators are probing possible corruption at a leading Chicago-based marijuana company comes at a bad time for an industry on the rise. Green Thumb Industries’ image suffered a serious blow when the Chicago Tribune reported March 29 that the company is under federal investigation for possible “pay-to-play” violations. The Tribune story, based on unnamed sources, didn’t say

“THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY IS IN ITS INFANCY. THIS IS NOT HELPFUL TO WHAT THEY’RE TRYING TO DO.” Joseph Mello, an associate professor at DePaul University

exactly what potential crimes the feds are investigating, only that they “have been scrutinizing campaign donations and other steps Green Thumb Industries took as it sought to secure growing and distribution licenses in Illinois and several other states.” No charges have been filed, and GTI accused the Tribune of publishing “unfounded allegations.” In a statement, GTI said it “possesses absolutely no evidence to corroborate claims that there is an open investigation by federal authorities.” The Tribune said it stands by the story. Regardless of the outcome, any hint of impropriety is

Anne Rossley, agent, Baird & Warner

See WEED on Page 13

Who loses in state’s war on consumer lenders? Faced with loan caps, high-rate lenders sharply reduce their offerings BY STEVE DANIELS With Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s March 23 signature on the Predatory Loan Prevention Act, Illinois now has, by most accounts, the nation’s most stringent state law on what nonbank consumer lenders can charge. Lenders aren’t responding by lowering their rates, though. Instead, they’re sharply reducing their offerings in the market or assessing whether to continue to charge higher interest rates than the law allows through arrangements with out-

of-state banks that many believe are protected by federal law. Caught in the middle are millions of Illinois consumers who live paycheck to paycheck. Those with poor credit scores often have no access to credit other than through nonbank lenders that market loans made over the internet or at retail locations. The industry says it serves as lenders of last resort when, say, a car breaks down or an unexpected health care bill hits, as well as a means for consumers to improve their credit and seek better deals in the future.

The new law imposes a 36 percent cap on interest rates for a range of products, including auto-title loans, payday loans and longer-term unsecured installment loans. The latter category has been the source of most of the industry’s growth in recent years, and some of the country’s largest players are headquartered in Chicago, including Enova International, Avant and OppFi. Enova and OppFi serve consumers with FICO scores

 SUPPLY AND DEMAND High-cost installment loans to Illinois consumers grew steadily in the years leading up to the COVID era. ILLINOIS CONSUMER INSTALLMENT LOANS Up to $4,000, between 36 percent and 99 percent interest

Number of loans

Loan volume

500,000

$800 million $600

400,000

482,013

$400 $200

300,000

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Source: Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation

See LENDERS on Page 34

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

441570 442044 460092 467837 482013

$619 million

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 441570 442044 460092 467837 482013

4 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JOE CAHILL ON BUSINESS

CHICAGO COMES BACK Samir Mayekar

another. United permanently eliminated the fees last summer, and rivals quickly followed suit. The fine print: “basic economy” passengers still pay change fees. The coming travel recovery will test the limits of airlines’ commitment to customer satisfaction. Even as carriers try to make nice with passengers, they face pressure from Wall Street to reclaim lost financial ground. Airlines have to deliver revenue and profit growth to investors while paying off billions in debt taken on to survive the pandemic. Abandoning some of the practices that anger customers would cost airlines plenty of revenue and profit. The change fees they’ve sworn off generated $2.8 billion for U.S. carriers in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That’s real money, but far less than airlines get from another source of customer irritation—baggage fees. U.S. carriers collected $5.8 billion in baggage fees during 2019. Uncomfortable, cramped seating is a big customer complaint. But those skinny seats with inadequate legroom allow airlines to cram more paying customers onto every flight. COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMER Airlines execs would SATISFACTION WILL BE TESTED. have to think long and hard before curtailing these practices that alienate customturn to pre-pandemic conditions ers but boost bottom lines. And will be a mixed blessing at best they’d need a compelling reason for travelers. Before COVID-19 to do so. struck, carriers often treated Here’s one: competition. Aircustomers like bothersome cargo line competition has increased to be loaded, or fat cash cows to recently after years of decline be milked mercilessly. following a series of mega-mergFor a decade or more, travelers ers that gave big carriers virtual endured unexplained delays, monopolies on many routes. abrupt cancellations, shrinking Passengers with no real choice seats, vanishing legroom, overamong airlines also had no booked flights and a seemingly choice but to take any abuse a endless cascade of extra charges. monopoly carrier dished out. Airlines’ public image hit bottom As the gains from consolidawhen people around the world tion leveled off, however, major saw video of a bloodied tickairlines seeking more growth et-holder dragged off an overstarted invading each other’s turf. booked United flight in 2017. At the same time, aggressive disAirlines are promising to treat counters challenged full-fare carpassengers better. The sight of riers in strongholds like Chicago’s all those empty seats during the O’Hare International Airport. depths of COVID-19 apparently In that environment, customfostered a greater appreciation er service started to become a for paying customers. At an competitive differentiator, a trend industry conference last month, likely to continue after COVID United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby abates. Carriers such as JetBlue predicted not only a business use an extra couple inches of legturnaround but a sea change in room as marketing tools. Southcustomer relations. west still doesn’t charge baggage “We’ve had a huge focus on fees, something for American changing the customer culture,” and United to think about as the Kirby said. “We were going to do discount giant enters O’Hare for that before, but the pandemic the first time. gave us new opportunities to do A post-COVID demand surge it.” likely will lift most, if not all, airOne of those opportunities was lines for a while. Carriers hoping the fee United charged customfor more than a short-term ers for changing flights. Before boost should give travelers a the pandemic, many carriers better ride than they got before charged passengers $200 or more COVID. for switching from one flight to People are booking flights again, filling airline executives’ heads with visions of a return to air travel as we knew it before COVID-19. Major carriers report rising reservations as expanding vaccine availability started to release a year’s worth of pent-up demand. For airlines, increasing ticket sales mark the start of a long climb out of the financial crater caused by a pandemic that sent business down by 95 percent at one point last year. But a post-COVID rebound is more than an opportunity to repair airline finances. It’s also the industry’s chance to fix its chronically troubled relationship with customers. Passengers coming off a yearlong hiatus from flying may be ready for a fresh start. Carriers that show a real commitment to improving the air travel experience can start to erase painful memories of past abuses and build a lasting foundation of goodwill with customers. Provided, of course, that they’re willing to give up the practices that cause passengers so much pain. Otherwise, a re-

Adaptive leadership lessons from the pandemic

Chicago Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar talks about the skills that have been vital for civic and business leaders finding their way through the crises of the past year BY EMILY DRAKE AND TODD CONNOR Chicago Comes Back is a weekly series on ChicagoBusiness.com providing leadership insights to help your business move forward, written by leadership consultants Emily Drake and Todd Connor. Drake and Connor facilitate Crain’s Leadership Academy. Drake is a licensed therapist, owner of the Collective Academy and a leadership coach. Connor is the founder of Bunker Labs and the Collective Academy and is also a leadership consultant. Check out previous installments at ChicagoBusiness.com/comesback. EMILY DRAKE: This week we connect with Samir Mayekar, Chicago’s deputy mayor for economic and neighborhood development. Samir, you bring a lot of relatability and diversity in experience to the role you have. And you certainly picked an interesting time to get into city government, to say the least. I’ve heard you say, though, that the mission of the work has never been clearer. Can you elaborate? SAMIR MAYEKAR: Our mission is focused on people, particularly the people working and living in the city of Chicago. Parts of the city were built to handle the challenges that the pandemic illuminated, but many weren’t. That’s where adaptive leadership really came into play—making sure you are shifting to the demands in front of you. And you can’t do that unless you have a great team. The team is the baseline of how I think. It’s also important to surround yourself with outside support. In the early days of the pandemic, we relied on project managers and advisers from the Civic Consulting Alliance and Bloomberg Associates who advise mayors all across the world. We had to make sure we had the right people in the room. TODD CONNOR: I think a lot of leaders will relate to that—how the pandemic surfaced who on their team had what strengths, and sometimes, who no longer fit. Even further, implementing a network of teams that can work

together a multidisciplinary approach, which we find refreshing and have seen be very effective. When we work with leaders, we’re talking about teams and time. If you think about the time horizon for Chicago coming back, how have you held both short- and long-term views the last year? SM: Mayor Lightfoot really challenged us to think not only about how to handle the immediate crises of the day, but preparing for the future, too. Short term, it was all about PPE, testing, alternate care facilities and other near term crisis response efforts. Then it was addressing how to responsibly handle the shelter-in-place order to facilitate a swift reopening. Alongside all of that, we launched and then published the first economic recovery plan of any American city, and that laid out the longer-term frame into how we focus on equitable recovery. So, we were always holding two futures in front of us. Again, adaptive leadership is what helped us move the way we did. TC: I hear a sense of bounded optimism with how you’re describing your role—and I think that’s such a core skill for leaders. To be confident and decisive, but also honor the crisis, the sheer scale of what we endured in 2020. Keeping that in mind, and knowing you are a startup CEO at heart, we have to ask about the future, because I know you have a vision. Has it become more aspirational?

SM: Definitely, and specifically in three areas. The first is the notion of truly aligning around equitable recovery and focusing on racial equity. There’s a window right now of opportunity where corporate leaders across the world are paying attention—and we’re seeing that in Chicago. We had over 60 C-level executives sign a letter supporting inclusive economic growth and equitable recovery, including Roger Hochschild, the CEO of Discover Financial who, a few weeks ago with Mayor Lightfoot, announced he’s going to build a 1,000-person customer care center in Chatham. That might not have happened without the events of 2020. The second is, when you think about the trajectory of cities, we will have a reinvention of the public realm. You’re starting to see that with outdoor dining, even in Chicago winters, and I think you’re going to see it in the way people commute and the way people live in their neighborhoods. The third area is the future of the workplace. A lot of ink has been spilled on this, but having more flexibility for the workforce, I think, creates a lot of opportunities for an affordable city like Chicago that has vibrant neighborhoods and a significant infrastructure and access to transit. We are the No. 2 destination for relocation right now. When people leave California, they come to Chicago. ED: Outside of the professional realm, and city government and policy thinking, where are you finding inspiration to continue leading and growing yourself? SM: I look to inspiration from the arts. I grew up as a musician. I still am a percussionist. Artists see fundamental truths about the world and express them in ways that some of us in the business community or policymaking community just might not see.

KENDALL KARMANIAN

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6 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS PAID ADVERTISEMENT

THE TECH TAKEAWAY

DON’T LET YOUR BUSINESS GO UP IN FLAMES!

Jim Ryan Ryan, 54, is president and CEO of Itasca’s fast-growing Flexera, a software company with 1,300 employees globally and nearly 300 in the Chicago area. He and his wife have two daughters and are empty-nesting in Clarendon Hills and on Kiawah Island, S.C. By Laura Bianchi

NEW TAX LAW Allows fire sprinkler system installation and retrofits to be fully tax deductible. The May 2020 Federal COVID-19 legislation has strengthened Small Business Section 179 expensing to include both new fire sprinkler installation and building retrofits. In the past, the cost of a fire sprinkler system upgrade was tax deductible over a 39-year depreciation schedule. With Section 179 expensing, these costs can now be fully expensed in the same year. In the past, small businesses were only able to fully deduct small equipment purchases like computers, and light duty vehicles that were used more than 50% of the time for business only use.

system or retrofit completed between September 27, 2017 and December 31, 2022 will be able to be fully expensed in one year. After 2022, the allowed deduction percentage is as follows:

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THE LUXURY COLLECTION: SPRING PORTFOLIO

What keeps you up at night? This industry is ruthlessly competitive, destroying and re-creating itself over and over. Every day, month and year we have to be nimble and run faster and build upon success. But that’s everything I love about tech, too.

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Um, gesundheit? Ha! It’s a very nice red burgundy wine ranging from $100 to $2,500 a bottle. The last ones I cracked open were in September, when we flew down to our place in Kiawah.

What was the occasion? We have had this place for a decade and had just done a big renovation. Because of COVID, I decided to work remotely from there, and moved back in April. I’m a pretty high-octane individual, but a couple of clicks slower down here suits me just fine.

> A favorite quote? It’s from the late Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop and a human rights activist. “Be bold. It’s the only place left uncrowded.”

> <

Elaborate, please? My parents ran out of money for college at the end of my sophomore year at Marquette, but I was determined to finish. A friend got me a job as an intern at IBM at $10 an hour, $15 if I went over 40 hours a week.

Your favorite piece of tech? My home is automated to the hilt with Control4 smart technology. I can control the drapes, lights, music, video and hot tub all by voice. My kids cringe when I ask for “ ‘Better Call Saul,’ season 5, episode 3.”

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 7

TAXES from Page 2 Chicago Downtown hotel on Michigan Avenue and the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive, as well as the Drake hotel on the Mag Mile and a property at 330 E. Wacker Drive owned by GEMS World Academy, a Dubai-based international school. In the suburbs, owners of the River Oaks Center mall in Calumet City and the defunct Lincoln Mall in Matteson are on the list of landlords with both bills outstanding. As a comparison, about 7 percent of 2019 first installment commercial property tax bills weren’t paid on time—or roughly the same share that is still outstanding for the 2019 second installment eight months later. That shows how bad things are for commercial landlords and the daunting recovery ahead for downtown, says Pappas, who laments the number of vacant storefronts on high-profile corridors like Michigan Avenue and State Street. “There are a number of commercial buildings that (could) go into foreclosure, and for me, where I sit, that is a sad scenario,” she says. “I spent 52 years working to build this city and watching it go into a downward spiral is sad to

say the least. I look at it and I say, ‘How many more years will it take for this to come back?’ ” Pappas’ data spotlights the rough past 12 months for hoteliers, with travel crushed by the pandemic and many owners facing possible foreclosure after missing loan payments. At the 1,544-room Hilton Chicago and the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive combined, Tysons, Va.-based owner Park Hotels & Resorts still owes more than $6.1 million for its 2019 tax bill on top of what it owes so far for 2020. A Park spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did a spokesman for the pandemic-stung mall owner Namdar Realty Group, which still owes 2019 taxes for River Oaks.

OVERDUE BILLS

Some properties under distress are unsurprisingly on the list of 2019 delinquent bills, such as the Pittsfield Building at 55 E. Washington St., which is in receivership and also delinquent on its 2017 and 2018 tax bills, county records show. A 41-story Loop office tower at 105 W. Adams St., where the owner of most of the property and its lender are battling in court, also has an outstanding 2019 bill. The nonpayment total for the 2019 second installments has

dramatically shrunk since the original Aug. 3 due date, when roughly one-third of the $3.3 billion the county billed for that period was outstanding. The county has collected about $3.4 million in late fees for those, as taxpayers are subject to an interest penalty of 1.5 percent of their bill for every month they are late. But now owners of some of the area’s best-known properties are once again taking advantage of the two-month grace period for the 2020 first installment bills. That list includes Willis Tower, where private equity firm Blackstone Group still owes nearly $19.3 million in property taxes for its first 2020 installment, and Woodfield Mall, where Indianapolis-based mall giant Simon Property Group has nearly $10.8 million outstanding. Other properties with outstanding 2020 bills include the office towers at 300 N. LaSalle St., 70 W. Madison St. and 1 N. Wacker Drive; as well as Northbrook Court, Old Orchard, Orland Square and Chicago Ridge malls. EQ Office Senior Vice President and Portfolio Director David Moore, who oversees Willis Tower on behalf of Blackstone, says in a statement regarding

COSTAR GROUP

Unpaid Cook County property taxes show commercial real estate’s COVID pain

River Oaks Center mall in Calumet City the 2020 property taxes that ownership is “participating in a program that is available to all commercial landlords and we will pay the taxes when they are due.” Some investors argue landlords are practicing sound financial management holding onto cash as long as they can without penalty, but Pappas rebuked any taxpayers that are able to pay but choosing not to until just before late fees are assessed. “This was designed for those in need due to COVID,” she says citing commercial property owners “with great financial statements” who didn’t pay.

“What they’re doing by not paying is putting stress on a taxing district that would have otherwise gotten that money. . . .That’s not what the (waived late fee) ordinance was intended to do.” The two-month extension on late fees will also apply to the property tax bills due this August, but Pappas says she plans to encourage the county board to issue a statement promoting the honor system for paying by the deadline. “If you can pay, pay,” she says. “And the people who don’t, I’ll just publish the list. I’m not going to police them, I’ll just embarrass them.”

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8 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

talking

WEALTH

RETIREMENT PLANS DESIGNED FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES

Which Retirement Plan Is Right for Your Business?

If you own a small business, there are many retirement plan alternatives available to help you and your eligible employees save for retirement. For most closely-held business owners, a Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account (SEP IRA) was once the most cost-effective choice. Then the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) became a viable alternative. Today you may find that a defined benefit or 401(k) plan best suits your needs. To make an informed decision on which plan is right for your business, review the differences carefully before you choose. Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account (SEP IRA). This plan is flexible, easy to set up, and has low administrative costs. An employer signs a plan adoption agreement, and SEP IRAs are set up for each eligible employee.

JAY R. POCIUS

Managing Partner J.M.Equity Advisors (312)964-8557 jayson@jmequityadvisors.com www.jmequityadvisors.com Jay R. Pocius is the Managing Partner at J.M.Equity Advisors. His multi-generational investment planning approach allows him to build relationships with his clients’ families and give them the clarity, confidence, and advice necessary to plan for the responsible stewardship of family wealth over generations.

The maximum an employer can contribute each year is 25% of an employee’s eligible compensation, up to a maximum of $290,000 for 2021. However, the contribution for any individual cannot exceed $58,000 in 2021. Employer contributions are typically discretionary and may vary from year to year. With this plan, the same formula must be used to calculate the contribution amount for all eligible employees, including any owners.

Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE). If you want a plan that encourages employees to save for retirement, a SIMPLE IRA might be appropriate for you. In order to select this plan, you must have 100 or fewer eligible employees who earned $5,000 or more in compensation in the preceding year and have no other employer-sponsored retirement plans to which contributions were made or accrued during that calendar year. There are no annual IRS filings and employer contributions are tax deductible for your business. The maximum salary deferral limit to a SIMPLE IRA plan cannot exceed $13,500 for 2021. If an employee is age 50 or older before December 31, then an additional catch-up contribution of $3,000 is permitted. Each year the employer must decide to do either a matching contribution or non-matching contribution of 2% of an employee’s compensation. Defined benefit pension plan. This type of a plan may be a good solution for a profitable company with stable cash flow. It generally produces a much larger tax-deductible contribution for your business than a defined contribution plan; however, annual employer contributions are mandatory since each participant is promised a monthly benefit at retirement age. Since this plan is more complex to administer, the services of an enrolled actuary are required. All plan assets must be held in a pooled account, and your employees cannot direct their investments. Certain factors affect an employer’s contribution for a plan, such as current value of the plan assets, the ages of employees, date of hire, and compensation. The maximum annual benefit at retirement is the lesser of 100% of the employee’s compensation or $230,000 per year in 2021. This plan design should only be considered with the intention of significant, annual funding for a minimum of 5 years. 401(k) plans. This plan may be right for your company if you want to motivate your employees to save towards retirement and give them a way to share in the firm’s profitability. 401(k) plans are best suited for companies seeking flexible contribution methods. When choosing this plan type, keep in mind that the employee and employer have the ability to make contributions. The maximum salary deferral limit for a 401(k) plan is $19,500 for 2021. If an employee is age 50 or older before December 31, then an additional catch-up contribution of $6,500 is permitted. The maximum amount an employer may contribute is 25% of the eligible employee’s total compensation. Generally, IRS Forms 5500 and 5500-EZ must be filed each year. Once you have reviewed your business’s goals and objectives, you should check with J.M.Equity Advisors to evaluate the best retirement plan option for your financial situation.

Investment Products and Services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member FINRA/SIPC. J.M.Equity Advisors is a separate entity from WFAFN.

P008_CCB_20210405.indd 8

Aon CEO, execs got full 2020 salaries after all

Salaries of firm’s senior leadership and directors were restored after they’d absorbed 50 percent cuts; rank and file had their pay reduced 20 percent in early COVID shock BY STEVE DANIELS In the end, everyone got paid. Aon CEO Greg Case and other senior executives, as well as directors, collected their full salaries and cash compensation last year after agreeing to a temporary 50 percent reduction when Case imposed 20 percent salary cuts on most of the insurance brokerage’s workforce in the early days of the pandemic. Case received his full $1.5 million salary, with the company deciding to restore the executives’ pay in November, according to Securities & Exchange Commission filings. Rank and file had their salaries restored July 1 after absorbing 20 percent reductions for two months for what Case at the time said was a precautionary step to avoid layoffs due to the COVID-related economic shock. “After four months of carefully monitoring the situation, the data tell us the worst-case risk has diminished significantly and we no longer need the temporary 20 percent salary reductions to protect our team,” Case wrote then. Rankand-file workers were reimbursed for the two-month reduction. Aon continued the pay cuts for Case and the other senior execs, though. Those were restored Nov. 1, according to filings.

Greg Case

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London-based Aon for decades was headquartered in Chicago and still employs thousands here. The salary cuts, announced just a few days before they went into effect May 1, upset many workers, and Aon struggled to ease the anxiety. As it turned out, Case’s total 2020 pay package was his third highest at Aon since succeeding founder Patrick Ryan as CEO in 2005, according to a March 26 proxy filing. His compensation totaled $20.2 million, with $2.2 million in cash bonus on top of the $1.5 million salary. Stock awards totaled $15.9 million with extras such as housing and cost-of-living allowances accounting for the rest. An Aon spokeswoman declined to comment.

Aon had a momentous 2020, striking a transformational deal to acquire Willis Towers Watson, the world’s third-largest commercial insurance brokerage. The deal is pending, as it’s under review in Europe for how it could affect insurance-industry competition. Once it closes, which is expected this year, Aon will be the world’s largest insurance brokerage. For all the drama, Aon’s stock last year increased 1.4 percent in a year in which the S&P 500 soared 16.3 percent. Stock of archrival Marsh McLennan, currently the world’s largest business insurance brokerage, went up 5 percent. As of March 30, Aon’s stock was up nearly 10 percent for the year, outpacing Marsh’s 3.3 percent.

Naperville apartment complex could sell for $100 million

Ohio investor is looking to cash out as suburban rentals perform well during pandemic BY DANNY ECKER

An Ohio real estate firm that has picked up a handful of suburban Chicago apartment complexes over the past seven years is now putting one up for sale, hoping to cash out amid healthy demand for suburban rentals. Miamisburg, Ohio-based Connor Group has hired brokerage Newmark to sell the Glenmuir of Naperville apartment complex at 2064 Rockport Lane in the western suburb, according to industry newsletter Real Estate Alert, which reported the property could fetch bids of around $102 million. That price for the 321-unit property would tower over the $61.8 million Connor paid in 2014, a testament to a suburban apartment market that has performed well during the COVID-19 crisis. While many other real estate sectors have suffered over the past year, the suburban multifamily occupancy rate rose to 95.4 per-

cent at the end of 2020 from 95 percent a year earlier, according to data from appraisal and consulting firm Integra Realty Resources. Rents rose over that period, too, helping fuel more supply in the works; Integra estimates developers could complete more suburban apartments this year than they have in any year since at least 1996.

FULL HOUSE

Against that backdrop, Newmark is marketing a 22-year-old Naperville property that is 98 percent occupied and has landed 11 new leases and 48 lease renewals with rent increases over the past three months, according to Real Estate Alert. The property includes 23 two-story buildings on more than 22 acres, with average monthly rents of $1,686, the newsletter reported. It’s unclear how much capital Connor Group has put into the Glenmuir property during its

ownership tenure, and a spokeswoman did not provide a comment on the decision to sell. Connor refinanced the property in 2019 with $50 million in new debt, when the complex was appraised at $79.4 million, according to research firm Real Capital Analytics. The company, which owns and operates 43 apartment communities across 15 markets, has been among the most active apartment buyers in the Chicago suburbs in recent years. After entering the market with the Naperville deal, Connor paid $62.1 million in 2015 for an Aurora apartment complex, bought a 586-unit apartment community in Arlington Heights in 2016, the 290unit Tapestry Glenview complex in 2017 and a 306-unit Wheaton complex in 2018. Connor unloaded the Aurora property in 2019 and now owns more than 1,500 units in the area, including the Naperville property for sale.

4/2/21 12:37 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 9

McCormick Place to lean on state to cover shortfall BY DANNY ECKER The agency that runs McCormick Place expects it will owe the state of Illinois about $15 million that taxpayers will need to chip in to help the convention center owner meet its current debt service obligation as it continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority disclosed the figure during a board meeting March 30, forecasting that the agency will need to lean on the state for the first time since the Great Recession. The shortfall adds to the financial carnage for one of Chicago’s most important economic engines, where the loss of 223 events so far to COVID cancellations has left the city and state without some $3 billion in local estimated economic impact they would have generated, according to MPEA. MPEA collects taxes on hotels, auto rentals, food and beverage sales, and airport taxi pickups to pay its annual debt service, which totals nearly $63.4 million for its fiscal year that ends June 30. Those tax revenues are normally enough to cover MPEA’s debt payments. But when they fall short, the agency uses state sales tax proceeds to close the gap, committing to pay back the state later with any future tax surplus.

With the convention center almost entirely empty for the past year and Chicago hotels languishing during the crisis, MPEA tax revenue will fall well short for the fiscal year, even after draining all of its reserves. Its tax collections for the fiscal year through February totaled about $32 million, or nearly 24 percent below a level that would put it on track to cover the debt service. That gap might have been a lot greater had MPEA not refinanced its debt in September to shrink the immediate debt burden. Tax collections through February are down $88.8 million from the year-earlier period, according to the agency. Hotel taxes alone—the largest tax revenue generator for the agency—were down 89 percent year over year for that period to just $5.4 million. Had MPEA not refinanced the debt, the agency would have relied on the state for closer to $130 million, according to a statement from MPEA spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty. “MPEA has taken every step possible to avoid a draw on state sales tax. However, the sudden, unexpected drop in tax revenue made it impossible to avoid,” the statement said. But the agency is counting on a comeback soon: “Assuming recovery in authority taxes happens as forecasted,

DANNY ECKER

For the first time since the Great Recession, the agency that runs the convention center will need taxpayers to chip in about $15 million to meet its debt obligation

McCormick Place has stood almost entirely empty for the past year; 223 events have been lost so far to COVID cancellations. MPEA expects to fully replenish the $30 million reserve and repay the state in full over the next three to four years,” the statement said.

OTHER AID

The shortfall disclosure comes just a couple of weeks after MPEA asked state legislators for other financial help to weather the COVID storm. The agency in March requested the reinstatement of a $15 million incentive fund to help lure conventions and trade shows for the next five years and as much as $40 million to help shore up its operating budget when the next fiscal year begins July 1. MPEA remains unsure when

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events will return to the convention center—and, when they do, how many people they will be allowed to host at once. The state last month announced the convention center soon will be allowed to have up to 1,000 people in a room at a time—an increase from what has been a 50-person limit—though there is no set date for that new limit to begin, and the city of Chicago could still enforce stricter guidelines. The projected debt service shortfall numbers are “further reiterating the theme of looking forward to having the economic activity rebound,” said MPEA Board Chairman Jeff Bethke, who was

overseeing his first MPEA meeting after being named to the post in February. It took years for MPEA to pay back the state the last time its own tax revenues fell short of its debt obligation. MPEA owed the state close to $60 million for shortfalls between 2008 and 2010. The agency restructured its debt in late 2010 to adapt to fallout from the Great Recession. That tab was paid back incrementally until 2017, when the state allowed MPEA to sell nearly $300 million in new bonds. A portion of proceeds from that bond sale were used to pay off the roughly $42 million MPEA still owed the state.

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10 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

EDITORIAL

A once-in-a-generation opportunity

IT’S TIME FOR CORPORATE CHICAGO TO FULLY EMBRACE THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER. cials who met with Crain’s on March 30 to deliver an update on the project. But the Obama Presidential Center needs more than corporate money to launch in every sense of the word. If the center is to truly live up to the mission the former president and first lady have in mind, Corporate Chicago must be a full partner—and given the scope of that vision, it’s an effort that more local employers ought to not only welcome but embrace. The Obama Foundation, under the leadership of former White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, is walking a challenging balance beam of sorts, aiming to bring fresh

energy to an investment-starved swath of Chicago while trying to avoid touching off a gentrification wave that could threaten to displace the very people the organization wants most to help. To do this, the Obama Foundation has put in motion a variety of programs designed to create opportunities for the people already living around Jackson Park. The Obama Youth Jobs Corps is just one example, a program that offers paid internships to hundreds of high school seniors while also preparing sophomores and juniors for these opportunities via “soft skills” coaching and other types of mentorship. The foundation has also set in place ambitious diversity and inclusion efforts around every aspect of its operations, from the crews that will actually build the center to the teams that will run it once it opens. And with so much new real estate development either underway or proposed between the South Loop all the way down to Woodlawn, the Obama Presidential Center could be a catalyst for a genuine revival of the South Side, in part by drawing an estimated 700,000 visitors annually. The hope is to turn the area around the center into a destination beyond the cam-

tiful stretch of lakefront. Chicago’s civic leadership has long recognized the need to infuse more investment dollars and employment opportunity into South Side communities. The Obama Foundation’s stewardship could provide a blueprint that allows Chicago corporations to get involved while also honoring the Obamas’ desire to lift up rather than shove aside their neighbors. Some big local companies have opened their checkbooks already— most notably Exelon, Boeing, Blue Cross parent Health Care Service Corp. and Illinois Tool Works. But when asked about support beyond those early benefactors, Jarrett confessed that gifts from Chicago’s business community have been “a little slow” lately. Now is the Chicago business community’s chance to get behind a once-in-a-generation opportunity to spark much-needed change on the South Side—not only by writing big checks, but by reaching out and asking what local companies can do to support the internship and entrepreneurship opportunities that the foundation hopes to generate. Does your business need thoughtfully prepared interns? Are you looking for a new way to deploy your philanthropic dollars? How about diversifying your supplier ranks? Maybe it’s time to start a conversation with the Obama Foundation. THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

ith more than $800 million in commitments and cash on hand, you might think the Obama Foundation has plenty of support from Chicago’s corporate players to get the long-awaited Obama Presidential Center off the ground and then some. And you’d be nearly correct—there’s little doubt that, with various legal and zoning roadblocks now out of the way, the center will be built in the foundation’s chosen location, roughly 18 acres of Jackson Park land skirting the city’s southern lakefront. In fact, construction is set to begin around Labor Day, according to Obama Foundation offi-

pus itself—a place with a thriving restaurant, retail and recreation scene that takes advantage of other nearby amenities like the Museum of Science & Industry, the DuSable Museum, the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, the Robie House, Chinatown, Guaranteed Rate Field, the Illinois Institute of Technology campus and, of course, the neighborhood’s especially beau-

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YOUR VIEW

Immigrant entrepreneurs can fuel recovery

s our economy re-emerges from the pandemic, it’s abundantly clear that entrepreneurs will be the driving force of our recovery, and we must support promising startups and the jobs they create. Chicago is well-positioned thanks to an ecosystem of universities, nonprofits, incubators, accelerators and investors helping entrepreneurs build new innovation-driven companies. This ecosystem has helped launch startups that have grown to employ thousands, including Groupon, Grubhub, Spot Hero, FourKites, Relativity and Cameo. Notwithstanding those successes, growth of our startup community has been stifled by an outdated immigration system that often prevents immigrant entrepreneurs from establishing and growing their startups. Unlike many of our international peers, the current U.S. immigration system doesn’t provide a specific immigration option for startup founders—commonly known as a “startup visa.” Instead, immigrant entrepreneurs are left to navigate an antiquated system largely rooted in employer-sponsored visas, like the H-1B. The limited and uncertain immigration options often force entrepreneurs to abandon their innovative ventures in search of employers who can

Fiona McEntee is an Irish immigrant, U.S. citizen and managing immigration attorney at McEntee Law Group in Chicago

Matthew Bragg is an economic development leader and director of the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition.

sponsor their visas—turning job-creators into employees in the process. Countless immigrant entrepreneurs have struggled with this outdated system. Mert Iseri is a Turkish immigrant and the CEO/ co-founder of health care technology company SwipeSense. He founded the company with Yuri Malina while attending Northwestern University. The company recently added in-hospital contact tracing to its roster of sought-after services like asset track-

ing and hand hygiene. Iseri was ultimately successful in getting an O-1 extraordinary ability visa but vividly recalls the difficulty navigating the immigration system. “The uncertainty of the process was quite stressful. I’m immensely proud of the work that we’re doing here at SwipeSense, and I’m proud to have built our company in the U.S. It would be great for immigrant entrepreneurs to have access to an immigration option like the startup visa. Giving these future founders that opportunity would open floodgates of innovation, and keep the U.S. competitive globally for years to come.” Recognizing the deficiency in the current system, the Obama administration attempted to address the problem by creating the International Entrepreneur Rule, or IER, a stopgap executive action reserved for well-funded immigrant startup founders. However, despite clear need and widespread support, the IER was shelved by the Trump administration. With the Biden administration in office, there are renewed calls to fully implement the IER, but doing so doesn’t go far enough. Similar to other executive actions on immigration—most notably DACA— the IER could be eliminated by a future ad-

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited. Send letters to Crain’s Chicago Business, 150 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601, or email us at letters@chicagobusiness.com. Please include your full name, the city from which you’re writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes.

P010-P011_CCB_20210405.indd 10

ministration. To ensure the U.S. is able to attract job-creating immigrant entrepreneurs in the long term, Congress should prioritize passing a startup visa through legislation, thereby solidifying this immigration option into law. Perhaps nowhere is the need for a startup visa more evident than at our universities. Supported by a growing network of university entrepreneurship centers across Illinois, nearly 1,400 startups have been founded on our campuses since 2010. These startups are advancing innovations in AI, biotech, renewable energy and robotics—raising more than $1.9 billion and creating nearly 5,000 jobs in the process. Our universities attract some of the brightest talent from around the world, so it should come as no surprise that a staggering 40 percent of these university-born startups have a foreign-born founder. However, many are forced to abandon their startups for the security of employer-sponsored visa options. Economic recovery is a collective action which includes supporting immigrant entrepreneurs, the jobs they create and their positive impact. Our country was built on immigration and innovation. It’s the great American success story.

Sound off: Send a column for the Opinion page to editor@ chicagobusiness.com. Please include a phone number for verification purposes, and limit submissions to 425 words or fewer.

4/2/21 3:46 PM

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Another post-COVID challenge Joe Cahill, writing on what Chicago needs to activate a postCOVID agenda, cites challenges to attracting companies and workers on the one hand, while stemming departures on the other (“A postCOVID pivot is possible, Chicago—but only if we act now,” March 12). I would add another: Illinois is one of only 11 states that has an estate tax. It snares one if the estate is valued at $4 million. Asset values have escalated due to the soaring stock market and significant real estate price appreciation in some markets. With the government’s

easy money policies, impending inflation could further escalate valuations. I suspect many people are unaware of the onerous Illinois estate tax or that their net worth creeped into its grasp. By the way, New Jersey eliminated its estate tax several years ago to stem the tide of companies and residents fleeing. KENNETH WHITE Chicago

Target at home on Mag Mile Maria Pappas should have done her research before spouting off

that Target doesn’t belong on the Magnificent Mile (“Is the Mag Mile ready for Target?” March 8). Over 50 years ago, North Michigan Avenue was not the shopping powerhouse it evolved to be. I remember Bonwit Teller, Saks Fifth Avenue and Stanley Korshak were the big draws. But among those fine stores, there was a Woolworth’s and a Musket & Henriksen drugstore. If there was a place for those stores then, there certainly is room for a Target now.

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12 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

The surprise reaction to Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan BY GREG HINZ Illinois business groups don’t like the “terrible” proposed hike in corporate taxes. Some Democrats wish he had gone a little farther and included a rollback of the federal cap on deducting state and federal taxes, generally known as SALT. But with visions of hundreds of billions of dollars in new road, airport, rail and water projects dancing in their heads, reaction here to the new $2.25 trillion infrastructure package laid out by President Joe Biden is generally and perhaps surprisingly positive. For instance, Mark Denzler, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, says his members “generally support infrastructure projects” as a spur to their business and realize that “certainly you have to be able to pay for it.” Denzler stopped short of endorsing Biden’s call to largely reverse corporate tax cuts pushed through under ex-President Donald Trump, specifically moving the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent and boosting levies on overseas profits. But neither did he say no. “It’s our hope that the presi-

dent will work with bipartisan members on both sides of the aisle because this is important to the country,” says Denzler, noting that IMA backed a state gasoline tax hike that was part of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2019 Illinois infrastructure plan. Considerably more hostile to Biden’s proposed tax hikes is Illinois Chamber of Commerce chief Todd Maisch, who called the levies “a terrible idea . . . the same old scenario: tax the rich.” But Maisch left the door open to resolving something, saying alternate revenue sources such as more public/private partnerships, raising the federal gasoline tax and even tolling what are now free interstate highways “should be on the table.”

AROUND ILLINOIS

The chamber is “still digesting” the proposal, Maisch says, but meanwhile pushed for more money to go to airports, water projects and the CREATE freight rail program, all of which in his opinion have been neglected in recent federal spending. Maisch’s bottom line: “Other than the funding source, we think this is incredibly important to the state of Illinois.”

Some Chicago-area congressional members had only good things to say. And though a few from other areas of the country are saying a SALT cap repeal must be in the package to get their vote, Illinois reps aren’t. “Sure I’d like to end the cap. I get constituent calls all the time,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston, says. However, “It’s not a make or break for me.” Schakowsky terms the infrastructure proposal “really transformative” and says something of this magnitude may not have been proposed since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s initiative during the Great Depression. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, says in a phone interview that he expects the plan will change some in negotiations, adding that he’s “open to any reasonable way to pay for it,” including corporate hikes. “I like the fact that it’s this big and impressive,” Quigley says, indicating that he hopes the package in the end will include funds to rebuild North Lake Shore Drive, extend the 606 trail, rebuild “75 – and 100-year old public schools” and at least begin replacing lead water pipes, work that Chicago does not have the money to do.

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With visions of hundreds of billions of dollars in new projects dancing in their heads, Illinois business groups generally support the package—despite ‘terrible’ tax hikes

Joe Biden For Washington Republicans, “this is the real pivot point,” he says. “If this isn’t something they can get behind, it’s nothing.” And while he, too, would like a SALTcap repeal to be included, “I’m not going to oppose this bill because it’s not perfect.” A spokeswoman for Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Chicago says he’d have something to say a little later. Another Democrat, Sean Casten of Downers Grove, says in a statement for a country now starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden proposal is “an opportunity to build an economy that’s stronger, more equitable and positioned for growth.” Continued Casten, “That means we’ve got to make investments in

clean energy infrastructure big and bold enough to do what’s scientifically and economically necessary to lower emissions, spur innovation, and revitalize our energy sector while creating millions of new jobs. It’s past time we get it done.” U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, put out a statement that includes a fair amount of wiggle room: “While more needs to be fleshed out on the proposal, I remain hopeful that President Biden will be the bipartisan president he pledged to be and work across the aisle on this important issue. The 16th District needs more support to rebuild our roads, bridges, waterways and highways, not more taxes on our family farms.”

Organized labor pushes Exelon nuke bailout in clean energy bill BY STEVE DANIELS With Commonwealth Edison and parent Exelon largely on the sidelines as the state grapples with its energy future, organized labor is looking to step into the breach. A coalition of unions representing workers engaged in operating, maintaining and building power plants is supporting legislation introduced today in the state House and Senate that would bail out financially ailing nuclear plants that otherwise might close, as well as sharply increase ratepayer-financed money for new wind and solar development. The coalition, known as Climate Jobs Illinois, is pushing the Climate Union Jobs Act, which essentially seeks to preserve thousands of union jobs at plants at risk of closing while creating new ones in the growing green-energy sector. The bill would require developers of renewable projects to use union labor if they’re getting financial support from the state. The money, like the $2.4 billion bailout Exelon obtained from

Springfield in 2016 in order to keep open two nukes, would come mainly from new surcharges on the electric bills of Illinoisans. Such bill adders—which fund Exelon’s bailout, renewable projects and energy-efficiency programs run by utilities like ComEd—currently add up to more than $6 per month on the average household bill in the state.

THE BILL

The labor-backed legislation would double the budget for new renewable projects, likely adding another couple bucks to customers’ bills. Supporters of the measure said at a press conference last week they were unsure how much another nuclear bailout would cost. They expressed some hope it might be cheaper than the $235 million per year that Exelon got the last time. But the measure would support four nukes rather than just the two that already get extra cash. So even if the benefit were less per plant, it’s conceivable at least another $2 monthly could be added to the

bevy of surcharges. That would bring such charges benefiting specific power facilities and environmental programs to more than $10 monthly on average. “If we’re going to reach our clean energy goals in our state, it’s going to require investment,” says Pat Devaney, Illinois AFL-CIO secretary treasurer. He and others say the legislation would provide $150 million for bill-paying assistance to low-income households. Significantly, given that ComEd employs union workers as well, the coalition’s bill would end formula rate setting, the annual change in utility delivery rates that’s at the center of ComEd’s admissions of bribery and influence peddling to win past triumphs in Springfield. Some observers were surprised at that, but it appeared to be a recognition of the reality that ComEd’s legendary past clout in the state capital is now an albatross. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has called for passage in the spring session of comprehensive energy legislation that would put the state’s power-generation industry on course

EXELON

A coalition of unions is backing a new measure to hike electric bills in order to preserve ailing nuclear plants and double the state’s budget for new wind and solar facilities

Exelon’s Byron nuclear plant to be carbon-free within the next 20 to 30 years. There are several competing proposals with many co-sponsors including the Clean Energy Jobs Act supported by environmental groups and the Citizens Utility Board, and the Path to 100 Act, backed by the renewable power industry. Exelon says it will close two nukes—the Byron and Dresden plants—in the fall without state financial assistance. There’s been little progress to date in melding the different approaches, and the Legislature will have roughly six weeks to complete the task once they return from their spring recess.

“It’s good to see labor engage on the broader question of how we reach our clean energy goals,” David Kolata, CUB executive director, says. He says he expects to see more consumer protections in whatever emerges. “The (labor) bill is heavy on the investment side of the equation,” he says. Parties on all sides agree that the framework for an eventual deal isn’t in place now. It will be a difficult challenge to come together on something comprehensive that also can be marketed as not another Exelon bailout. Pritzker, however, has said he wants to keep existing nukes open.

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 13

Image upgrade for newly legalized industry takes a hit “While the story is definitely a negative for Green Thumb Indamaging to a newly legalized industries, I don’t see this weighing dustry working to replace an old too heavily on the future of SAFE reputation of street-corner crim- Banking Act at this point,” says inality with a new image of shop- Aaron Stetter, a lobbyist for the Independent Community Bankping-mall respectability. “It’s certainly not a good look for ers of America. “That issue might the industry,” says Joseph Mello, relate more when it comes to lean associate professor at DePaul galization. . . .Members (of ConUniversity. “The cannabis industry gress) read the papers.” The more immediate impact is in its infancy. This is not helpful likely will be in Springfield, which to what they’re trying to do.” Marijuana companies moved already is reeling from a pay-tointo the financial mainstream play scandal involving Commonas state-level prohibitions on wealth Edison that effectively recreational weed sales fell, ended Michael Madigan’s 36-year raising hundreds of millions from reign over the Illinois House of investors and listing shares on Representatives. The Tribune reCanadian stock exchanges. But ported that when GTI was pursuthe industry still has important ing an Illinois license in 2014, it bridges to cross. It’s working to retained Michael McClain, a Madipersuade Congress to allow banks gan confidant who has since been to serve marijuana companies. indicted for his alleged role in the Longer term, the industry hopes ComEd bribery scheme. McClain pleaded not guilty. for nationwide legalization. “It makes everyone more susAllegations of impropriety in marijuana also could tarnish a picious,” says onetime Chicago Chicago success story. With 3 alderman Dick Simpson, a politof the 5 largest publicly traded ical science professor at the Unipot companies based here, the versity of Illinois at Chicago. Simpson says the cloud over city has emerged as the hub of a GTI could complicate efforts to fast-growing industry. With medical marijuana ex- resolve challenges facing the inpanded to include recreational dustry in Illinois, such as bringsales legalized in January 2020, ing more minority owners into Illinois cannabis revenue grew a business largely dominated by to $1 billion last year, generat- white men. Initially, Illinois won ing $175 million in state taxes. praise for social-equity proviEmployment nearly doubled to sions in its law. But the process nearly 17,000 jobs, according to ran into delays and litigation, and the state has yet to issue 75 new “THE STIGMA AROUND CANNABIS retail licenses that were supposed to STILL EXISTS. IT’S A FLEDGLING be granted last year. Legislators are trying INDUSTRY. ANYTHING LIKE THAT to come up with a (STORY) SETS US BACK.” way to include more social-equity appliJim Smith, partner, Boston lobbying firm cants, which likely Smith Costello & Crawford will require changes to the law. Companies such as GTI, which Leafly, an online marijuana inwon the original medical licenses formation site. GTI’s stock dropped 12 percent in 2015 but were grandfathered the day after the Tribune story into recreational sales, already ran, and Chicago-based cannabis are eyed warily in Springfield. As one of the biggest players in companies Cresco Labs and Verano Holdings fell 5 percent and 7 the Illinois marijuana business, percent, respectively. Pot stocks GTI has been a forceful presence rebounded March 31 when Gov. in the state Capitol. It helped kill Andrew Cuomo signed a law al- a bill last spring that would have lowing recreational marijuana allowed existing medical dispenuse in New York, but not before saries to move to larger locations, two law firms announced plans arguing it would hurt social-eqto investigate GTI for a potential uity applicants. The move ruffled plenty of feathers in the industry. shareholder lawsuit. Now GTI finds itself in an unGTI CEO Ben Kovler won fans on Wall Street by focusing on wanted spotlight. The industry the bottom line. He’s advocated already has endured several corfor the SAFE Banking Act, which ruption scandals in California, would give pot companies access Maryland and Massachusetts, to traditional banking services, re- where officials have been acducing hassles and risks of oper- cused of taking bribes. “The stigma around cannaating on a cash-only basis. He also pushed hard for U.S.-based mari- bis still exists,” says Jim Smith, a juana businesses, which had to go partner at lobbying firm Smith public in Canada, to be allowed Costello & Crawford in Boston. to trade on U.S. stock exchanges. “It’s a fledgling industry. AnyAnd as head of the second-largest thing like that (story) sets us publicly traded weed company in back, because for those who opthe U.S., he’s one of the most vis- pose cannabis and believe it’s ible and enthusiastic proponents dangerous, it gives them another arrow to shoot at us.” of federal legalization. WEED from Page 3

GETTY IMAGES

A Green Thumb Industries cultivation facility in Massachusetts

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section To place your listing, visit www.chicagobusiness.com/peoplemoves or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN

FINANCIAL SERVICES

LAW

Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Chicago

Millennium Trust Company, Oak Brook

Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd., Chicago

Lamar Johnson Collaborative (LJC) has promoted Scott Stolarz, AIA to Associate Principal. Scott has over 25 years of experience designing academic buildings, corporate headquarters, data centers, healthcare facilities and correctional institutions. He holds a B.Arch and BS in Environmental Studies from Ball State University. Scott holds licenses in IN, IL and IA. He plays a vital role in LJC’s technical department and is certified to commission building envelopes.

Millennium Trust Company, LLC, a leading provider of retirement and institutional services, announced the hiring of Sirisha Gorjala as Chief Product Officer. Gorjala’s deep financial and technical experience combined with her leadership abilities will further position Millennium Trust to deliver best-in-class product offerings, and continue to focus on creating simple, intuitive digital experiences.

Robbins, Salomon & Patt, Ltd., a full-service law firm in the Chicagoland area, is pleased to announce the promotion of attorney Teresa A. Minnich to Shareholder. Minnich handles extensive client work in the area of business and commercial litigation, including employment disputes and other disputes arising from breach of contract and/or promissory note, enforcement of non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, and breach of fiduciary duty.

SHARE YOUR C O M PA N Y ’ S JOURNEY

INSURANCE Horton Group, Chicago BANKING First Bank Chicago, Northbrook First Bank Chicago, a Division of First Bank of Highland Park, is proud to announce Marcela Melendez has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Lease Finance. As the bank continues to grow, Marcela and her team are responsible for underwriting, credit administration activities, and deepening client relationships within the Lease Finance portfolio. Marcela has 25+ years of banking expertise and came to First Bank in 2019 from LaSalle Solutions.

The Horton Group, one of the largest privatelyheld insurance brokers in the United States, recently welcomed Casey Warnecke as Chief Growth Officer. He will be responsible for maximizing efforts around new business growth and the retention of existing clients, recruiting top talent and implementing a strong sales infrastructure across multiple office locations. He will serve as a bridge between the sales and operations teams and will navigate the competitive landscape to help Horton pursue new markets. Warnecke brings more than 30 years of sales and client experience to Horton. Prior to this role, he worked at Lockton’s Chicago office as Chief Growth Officer from 2018-2021 and Chief Operating Officer from 2006-2018.

LAW Thompson Coburn LLP, Chicago / Washington D.C. Matt Rudolphi has joined Thompson Coburn’s Chicago and Washington D.C. offices. Matt is a highly experienced energy attorney who helps cooperative and municipal electric utilities and regulated pipeline clients navigate federal and state regulatory matters, market structure issues and appeals of regulatory decisions to the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Matt also advises non-profit organizations and trade associations, and represents telecommunications clients on a range of regulatory issues.

Feature your latest milestones, launches, partnerships, awards and more in Crain’s

REAL ESTATE Cresa, Chicago Kathryn “Ryndy” Ditmars has joined Cresa as General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer. A 20+ year industry veteran, Ditmars will lead talent and risk management strategies to support the firm’s growth. She will be based in the firm’s Chicago office.

DESIGN / BUILD Clayco, Chicago Brad Johnson has joined Clayco as Operations Executive. With over 30 years of domestic and international project management experience, Bradley brings to Clayco a diverse portfolio of multifamily, senior living, higher education, healthcare, industrial, commercial and convention center projects. In his new role, Bradley will help lead general operations across all market sectors. Bradley holds a Bachelor of Science in construction management from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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

REAL ESTATE LAW

Proper Title, LLC, Chicago

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP, Chicago

Proper Title, LLC, one of Illinois’ largest title insurance agencies, is targeting national expansion with the hiring of Judd D. Hoffman as chief executive officer. He recently led growth and tech innovation at two of the nation’s largest title companies and will now lead Proper Title in delivering its award-winning systems and service model to clients nationwide. Backed by Chicago-based @properties, Proper Title intends to grow via organic market-share capture and through acquisitions.

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila (RSHC) welcomes new partner Thomas Andreoli. Formerly a legal executive at Union Pacific Railroad, Tom focuses his work on commercial litigation and other high-stakes business matters. He has deep experience in complex disputes, government investigations, regulatory compliance, risk management, and business transactions. Serving clients in the transportation and energy sectors, Tom helps companies maximize business opportunities and minimize regulatory constraints.

For more information, contact Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com or submit directly to

CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM/COMPANYMOVES

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 15

2021

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERS Chicago-area real estate brokers had a white-knuckle ride through 2020. When the pandemic and shutdown orders hit in March, many expected a lost year. As the market started to revive in May, they scrambled to adopt technologies, including glossy marketing packages with 3D walkthroughs and drone footage, livestreamed open houses and Facebook or Zoom conferences. In-person showings were handled deftly with hand sanitizer and masks, but many buyers acquired their homes sight unseen.

MARY SHANLEY ALOISIO

For these 152 brokers, it was an entirely new landscape. Families working from home needed more space to stretch out, preferably with a yard. Properties that had been languishing on the market were repositioned and received multiple bids. Some brokers conveyed worrying anecdotes of furloughed clients and canceled contracts. In the end, the dust seemed to settle, and a number of brokers reported that they had recorded their best year.

Broker Dream Town

During 2020, Mary Shanley Aloisio spent more time educating buyers and sellers via phone calls and Zoom. These new practices resulted in more focused clients who spent less time going on multiple showings before buying. The year’s accomplishments included listing and marketing an Edison Park four-flat that generated 10 offers and sold for much more than any other four-flat in that area’s MLS. Aloisio owned and operated a marketing-services firm for 30 years before joining the field.

By Judith Crown and Lisa Bertagnoli

DENISE AMRAEN Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

To keep business brisk during the pandemic, Denise Amraen sent members of her network a small bottle of hand sanitizer with her logo, the slogan “Spread referrals, not germs” and a paragraph on her appreciation of referrals. In 2020, Evergreen Park-based Amraen went outside her comfort zone by listing a half-million-dollar property in an area outside her expertise. The property sold in just a few days.

METHODOLOGY: The Notable Real Estate Brokers did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only those for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after an editorial review. They must have generated $20 million in volume and/or 20 combined buy and sell transactions in 2020. The brokers must also have demonstrated an innovative approach to marketing homes and assumed a leadership position outside their organization, including professional associations and civic/community initiatives.

CONNIE ANTONIOU Vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Connie Antoniou survived the pandemic by pivoting to virtual open houses, first on Zoom, then on Microsoft Teams and then via Facebook Live videos. “Growth is mandatory,” she says. A highlight of the year was being the third listing agency for a prestige home in Barrington Hills. Within 36 hours of listing the property, Antoniou had three “unbelievable” offers. The property sold at list price. Throughout her career, she’s also helped many National Hockey League players rent, buy or sell homes.

RICH ARONSON Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

While others slowed or stopped advertising during the pandemic, Rich Aronson saw an opportunity to attract new clients by upping the investment. As a result, business grew by more than 45 percent in 2020, he says. He also built all-digital advertising and social media campaigns around the use of “indoor drone videos” that enable viewers to virtually walk through a home. Among 2020 highlights was helping preservationist-architect clients find an 1860 landmarked farmhouse in Evanston.

MARGARET BACZKOWSKI

GETTY IMAGES

Senior broker, founder of MB Luxury Group @properties

P015-P032_CCB_20210405.indd 15

Maggie Baczkowski says she kept busy in 2020 by expanding her team, starting a nonprofit, becoming licensed in Michigan (and working on it in Florida), logging the two most expensive sales in Chicago’s Cathedral District and launching a new website and podcast on market conditions. She also focuses on prospecting efforts that go beyond MLS, Zillow and Trulia by strategically targeting listings through various social media and other digital platforms.

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16 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

ALLEY BALLARD Broker, team leader at The Ballard Group @properties

Alley Ballard says that her Andersonville-based team focused on Zoom buyer meetings and FaceTime showings that leverage walk-through videos. Her team began wearing masks before it was mandatory and purchased gallons of hand sanitizer from Koval Distillery and repackaged them in small bottles for clients. For Ballard, formerly a movie set decorator, a memorable transaction involved relocating a divorced couple into houses on the same block—five doors apart—for the sake of their kids.

ELIZABETH BALLIS Broker Compass

Elizabeth Ballis installed a new contact-management system to facilitate outreach to current and past clients; several clients from 20 or 30 years ago reached out. When the shutdown made in-person showings impossible, she arranged to have her sellers—not agents—do their own “virtual walkthroughs,” explaining their home’s history and special features. These personalized videos proved to be so authentic and effective that this Lincoln Parkbased broker plans to continue them post-pandemic.

CATHY BIER

LUKE BLAHNIK

JANET BORDEN

CARA BUFFA

Broker Smothers Group with Compass

Broker @properties

Broker Compass

With multiple investor clients, Luke Blahnik devoted part of 2020 to helping maintain building values, navigate broken leases and find new tenants despite a rough rental market. Key projects included selling a unique greystone on a wide lot in Logan Square to buyers who had long searched for such a home and an Avondale four-flat. He also rehabbed and sold dozens of properties as a licensed general contractor, yet still found time to open Avondale Bowl on Milwaukee Avenue.

Janet Borden used 2020 to use her love of creative marketing. She set up tailgate-lunch open houses, hosted a concert on a deck for brokers, posted Halloween videos in full costume and gave away wine bottles with listings on labels to boost business. Highlights were the sale of a historic midcentury ranch by architectural legend Edward Dart as well as an “amazing” East Highland Park home with an indoor basketball court.

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Cathy Bier overcame 2020’s obstacles to in-person business by including virtual tours and floor-plan maps in every listing and creating FaceTime viewings in lieu of open houses. In one case, she sold an $800,000 home to outof-state buyers who first visited the house just prior to closing. She says that focusing these efforts on La Grange, La Grange Park and Western Springs helped make 2020 her best year in a 20-year career.

JULIE BUSBY

TOMMY CHOI

KIKI CLARK

Founder, broker Busby Group at Compass

Co-founder Weinberg Choi Residential at Keller Williams ONEChicago

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Julie Busby, based in Bucktown, implemented proprietary systems to provide concierge-level service to all clients: professional training and weekly workshops; high-resolution video for

virtual showing; and revamped marketing to deal with COVID-important issues (plus Peloton giveaways). She tailored business protocols to help front-line workers and doctors relocate to Chicago for one of the city’s hospital groups. She says she’s Chicago’s only SportStar Relocation broker and that business grew by 45 percent.

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Tommy Choi’s pandemic strategy included the retargeting of listing advertisements via social media platforms. A particular focus was on home offices and outdoor spaces, key features for buyers stuck working from home. His company also used virtual showings, with one 2020 buyer seeing her condo in person for the first time at closing. Choi also pivoted his firm’s charitable-giving program, 365 Days of Giving, to raise awareness of and revenue for small businesses in the community.

After working seven days a week for months and “on a roll” into 2020, Kiki Clark used the time during the shutdown to strategize how best to move forward. She hired a social media designer/ marketing coordinator to manage posts, boosts and online advertising. Among interesting challenges were two historic but unique Lake Forest homes that had been converted from barns to residences. The sellers required heavy coaching as the unique properties had a limited buyer pool, and both sellers had multiple offers.

DARLENE COADY Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Working through the Homes for Heroes program, Darlene Coady focused on veterans and frontline (fire, police and health care) workers, emphasizing remote transactions through touchless closings, online scheduling, FaceTime and Zoom. She was an early adopter of electronic signature, document and document-storage technology, eliminating all “wet” signature options this year. Coady says business expanded from Kane and Cook counties into DuPage County, and she closed 50 percent more transactions (in terms of sales volume) during the pandemic.

Seeing the pandemic hit her downtown and River North condo markets especially hard, Cara Buffa focused on the “emotional side” of business, taking care to keep clients calm and secure. Among essential tactics were the meticulous staging of homes and first-rate photography; attending every showing in person (“not a lockbox or assistant to be found”); and placing fresh flowers and bakery treats at all properties to reinforce a sense of normalcy.

HELAINE COHEN

JAMIE CONNOR

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Helaine Cohen, founder of ChicagoCondoFinder.com, put her tech background to use in 2020, sharpening skills in digital marketing, Facebook advertising, retargeting and the livestreaming of open houses. One memorable transaction, early in the lockdown, involved a client with only 30 days to purchase in a market without in-person showings, limited contractor access for estimates and complicated scheduling. Cohen employed a suite of tech tools to ensure the transaction could proceed via sanitizing protocols, FaceTime showings, video tours and a notouch closing.

Jamie Connor’s experience in client management for a large global advertising agency helped him meet the stress of the pandemic. His most noteworthy 2020 transaction wasn’t a large deal, but it meant taking extra time to help a family navigate the early stages of COVID-19 and the uncertainty of employment during the shutdown. Ready to walk away from a property they loved, they wound up purchasing it—“one of the best financial decisions they’ve ever made,” Connor says.

SHAUNNA BURHOP Broker Baird & Warner

Faced with shelter-inplace limits, Shaunna Burhop reports selling 39 homes as a single agent in 2020. She created self-narrated video listings, increased the frequency of her market updates and publicized everything via social media, emails and door hangers with QR codes. “Work/ school from home” spaces were added to home staging efforts. Promotions included a “pop by” Christkindl market event and a reinvented Arlington Heights Fourth of July parade as a “drivethrough” for hundreds of cars.

HOLLY CONNORS Managing partner/ senior broker– GetBurbed team @properties

Holly Connors focused her energy on the community and clients during the pandemic. She created GetBurbed Bites, a charity initiative that encouraged people to

order from Arlington Heights restaurants, with proceeds going to Arlington Cares, which helps community members in need. On the client front, she sold her stager’s home and sold another home after recommending some renovations to the seller. The home sold before it went to market, and for a sizable profit.

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18 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

SHEILA DANTZLER

KATRINA DE LOS REYES

MARIA DELBOCCIO

Broker Dream Town

Broker associate Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker, founding partner of DelBoccio/Marchetti Group @properties

When the real estate market became active last spring, Sheila Dantzler pivoted to find creative ways to service clients virtually. She showed her listings via Zoom and FaceTime and took advantage of online staging and 3D floor plans. The ability to use virtual staging to showcase a vacant property was a huge benefit. One noteworthy transaction: She helped a client sell a West Loop condo and find a home in Hyde Park—all within two weeks.

Katrina de los Reyes enjoyed her highest volume year, with 85 percent of transactions from referrals. The Evanston-based broker took advantage of marketing tools such as video previews. One of her most interesting deals materialized at the end of the year, when her client’s purchase was contingent on selling their home. And the prospective buyer’s offer on her client’s home was contingent on the sale of their home, as well. In the end, there were four closings on Dec. 21, leaving plenty of time to celebrate the holiday.

Brooke Daitchman, based in Lincoln Park, pivoted to address the “new market” while building a new home for herself in the middle of a pandemic. Her team went remote as needed, emphasizing safety and clean protocols to keep clients safe. On Halloween, her team held an open house at a home that was difficult to sell. They dressed up, handed out candy to the kids and invited parents in for a look. The home sold not long after.

Throughout the pandemic, Maria DelBoccio has adopted digital marketing tools to move her Arlington Heights business online. Her team also used digital advertising to market listings to individuals that had visited their websites. DelBoccio leveraged platforms such as Adwerx and Homesnap for retargeting ads on social media. These ads put her listings before prospective homebuyers searching the web and on social media. DelBoccio was a dual agent on a million-dollar, new construction property with longtime clients.

Congratulations to Kelly Parker for being named one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 2021 Notable Residential Real Estate Brokers

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AMY DIAMOND

JODY DICKSTEIN

JERRY DOETSCH

PAI

Broker, team lead, Deal with Diamond Group @properties

Broker @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Brok Com

As the pandemic wore on, Amy Diamond noted how buyers were looking differently at homes, requiring home offices and spaces for children to learn remotely. The Arlington Heights broker marketed online and through social media and print. When the market heated up, she was able to pivot a three-year-old listing with a distressed home that was initially offered for its land value. She switched the listing to a detached single-family home and received multiple offers from investors.

Glencoe broker Jody Dickstein typically raffles homemade jewelry and designer handbags at her open houses. With the pandemic, she invested in a new website and building a presence on social media. Before her real estate career, Dickstein worked as a department manager at luxury retailers Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, which prepared her to work with high-end clients. She has volunteered as a meal coordinator at The ARK, the nonprofit that supports the area’s Jewish community.

During the pandemic, Jerry Doetsch created virtual home walkthroughs that nearly replicate real time. Doetsch narrated unique features and improvements, providing a safe viewing experience. He used his iPhone as well as iMovie, Snowball and social media. Doetsch works with his parents as the Glenview-based Doetsch Team. His father has been a real estate broker for 63 years and his mother for 49 years. Adding Jerry Doetsch’s 27 years combines for the team’s 139 years in real estate.

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Shannon Kutchek Specializing in La Grange and the Western Suburbs for over 20 years.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 19

PAIGE DOOLEY Broker, team leader Compass

Paige Dooley works to preserve classic homes in Winnetka and the North Shore. Last year, Dooley worked with investors to renovate a George Maher Prairie-style home in Kenilworth. The team gutted the inside and redesigned the flow for an open kitchen and family space while retaining the original stairway, fireplace and millwork. The investors sold the property to a family from California. To facilitate sales, Dooley has arranged for prospective buyers to spend a day in the home and even prepare dinner.

CONNIE DORNAN

DANIELLE DOWELL

Broker @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

The pandemic opened opportunities for Connie Dornan, who is based in Glenview. In the middle of the quarantine, a home in Glencoe was languishing on the market with no 3D tour and a lawn sign with no direct contact information. The seller hired Dornan, who marketed the home with FaceTime showings, 3D media tours and PPE kits. The home went under contract in 27 days. In addition to using technology for virtual showings, Dornan offers “Google walks” of the neighborhood.

When the quarantine loosened up, Danielle Dowell and her team, The Dowell Group, had one of their best years. The team, which is based on the Near North Side, uses social media to get listings in front of agents and their buyer clients. Dowell had multiple buyers and sellers that went under contract and then decided not to close the deal. It was the first time she saw such uncertainty, but she believes they will come around this year.

ANNE DUBRAY Broker Coldwell Banker Realty

Glenview broker Anne DuBray learned to get the job done without in-person meetings. She conducted phone interviews with sellers and asked them to submit photos to help establish market value. Then she used Matterport videos and virtual showings. One rewarding transaction was the sale of a five-bedroom home in Glenview with an outdoor pool. The buyers have five children and were delighted to find the home at a time when the world was shutting down.

AMY DUONG KIM Senior broker and founding member Compass

Amy Duong Kim and her team work in the city and suburbs and during the pandemic assisted more than 100 families purchasing and renting homes and apartments. Last March, the team pivoted to initial meetings on FaceTime and Zoom, as well as virtual tours and videos. Team members cover six languages in addition to English: Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Japanese and Greek. Before becoming a real estate broker, Duong Kim was an actuarial consultant.

DINNY DWYER

MARIA ETLING

Broker Coldwell Banker

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

With the pandemic, it became apparent to Dinny Dwyer that prospective buyers were working remotely and had children learning on Zoom, therefore needing more space. The Winnetka broker pivoted, with sales handled via FaceTime and viewings on video or 3D Matterport tours. Dwyer’s listings featured drone photography. She sent out email blasts to let buyers know of new properties available or price changes. A co-listed property on Lake Michigan entertained multiple offers and closed in a couple of weeks.

Libertyville broker Maria Etling used videos of her listings accompanied by personal introductions. She expanded her social media presence through Facebook and Instagram and earned office recognition for the best use of social media. When the pandemic hit, Etling was able to revive a listing that had fallen through at closing in fall 2019. The 7,000-square-foot luxury home on 5 acres with a pool and pool house attracted multiple offers and a sale.

Experience, Integrity, Results Congratulations Joanne Nemerovski Crain’s 2021 Notable Real Estate Brokers + $1 Billion

Consistently

of Chicago’s Luxury Real Estate Sold

a Top 1 % Chicago Producer

Founding Member

98%

of Compass Chicagoland

Repeat and Referral Business

#1 Independent Brokerage Nationwide

Thinking of buying or selling? Call an expert. Joanne Nemerovski 312.720.4505 JoanneSellsChicago@gmail.com JoanneSellsChicago.com

Joanne Nemerovski is a real estate broker affiliated with Compass, a licensed real estate broker and abides by federal, state and local Equal Housing Opportunity laws.

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20 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

LINDSAY EVEREST

CRAIG FALLICO

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

After working for 12 years on a team, Lindsay Everest went out on her own and further established herself in the city’s single-family home market. She sold a Lincoln Park co-op, one of the few co-op sales in the last year. Everest notes that before COVID, writing backup offers wasn’t a common practice. But the pandemic created more movement in the market. Last year she had three sellers that accepted backup offers and ended up successfully closing.

Broker Dream Town

With the onset of the pandemic, Craig Fallico and his partner, son Nick, reached out to clients to chat, and even sent meals and gifts. The team delivered a custom map of Park Ridge to every resident in town. They produced a constant stream of social media posts. And they added lighting on their signs to make sure they were illuminated at night. Fallico previously was a Spanish teacher and speaks at high school career events.

LINDA FEINSTEIN Managing broker, Signature Homes Compass

In the past year, Hinsdale broker Linda Feinstein brought her team from ReMax to Compass and updated her database. One memorable deal was selling a Hinsdale home to a widow who had wanted to buy it in 1956 when it was new. Her husband had preferred another home. When the widow drove by with her daughter and saw that it was for sale, they decided to buy it, Feinstein says. The home went under contract on Christmas Eve.

NICOLE FLORES

EUDICE FOGEL

Broker Dream Town

Broker Compass

Chicago broker Nicole Flores navigated a series of what she calls “emotional transactions” last year. There were clients leaving their family home and downsizing after more

The onset of the pandemic marked Eudice Fogel’s 40th year in residential real estate. She knew that in uncertain times, clients would need expert guidance. The Chicago-based broker turned to interactive floor plans and videos, striving to make a virtual first showing as real-life as possible. Fogel represented a buyer of a $4 million Lincoln Park home with an extra-wide lot and attached garage. The buyers had been searching intermittently for more than 1½ years.

than 40 years, divorces leading to fresh starts and children selling homes they grew up in after losing their parents. Clients relocated in and out of Illinois. Flores is a fan of exposing a home on a private listing network to test the market. She aims to attract buyers with staging, photography and floor plans.

Congratulations

LAURA FREEMAN Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Evergreen Park-based broker Laura Freeman last year teamed with Berkshire Hathaway brokers Susan Romano and Erin Cotter. They quickly adopted online tools including 360 tours, which they found helpful to prospective buyers. They strive to target their listing so that the right property “appears magically in front of a potential buyer.” Before starting in real estate, Freeman was a legal assistant at a banking and real estate law firm. She is immediate past president of the Evergreen Park Chamber of Commerce.

EUGENE FU

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Broker, principal of Eugene Fu Group @properties

Brok Berks Hom

Chicago broker Eugene Fu shifted his strategy to focus on millennials and first-time buyers using online advertising, social media and direct marketing. He formed a team and has three sales associates with a fourth coming on board. One memorable deal involved two condo units at Olympia Centre connected by a staircase. By marketing the property as a single residence and also as two separate units, he attracted multiple offers and sold the space in its entirety, which he preferred.

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RESULTS MATTER

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS’ Notable Residential Real Estate Broker 2021

$28 MILLION SOLD 2019 NEIGHBORHOOD

847.275.6566 | steper@atproperties.com SOURCE: MRED, LLC BASED ON 2020 SALES VOLUME, ALL PROPERTY TYPES

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 21

KIMBER GALVIN

STEVE GENYK

NANCY GIBSON

MELANIE GIGLIO

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Senior broker specialist @properties

Broker @properties

Steve Genyk achieved a number of luxury sales at Superior House, a new-construction condo building in River North. A highlight of 2020 was being on both sides of the sale of a $3.5 million penthouse. For another listing, he placed 12 golden retriever puppies in the front yard to attract the foot traffic that was nearby because of a local market—and sold the home that day. Genyk made it possible to do 100 percent of each transaction virtually.

Nancy Gibson reports selling 30 percent of Northbrook’s top 10 luxury homes (including the town’s two highest sales in the last 12 months) as part of her 75 percent repeat and referral business. She still physically stages homes (she maintains her own storage locker filled with lamps, accessories, pictures, etc.) but now blends it with “virtual staging,” adding elements such as the digital painting of rooms and cabinetry into the mix.

Real estate broker, team lead MVP Team Compass

Kimber Galvin and her sister and business partner, Drew Westergreen, officially formed a new real estate team for Chicago, K+D Homes. Their most noteworthy sales were 24 new-construction condos in Wicker Park. They were involved all the way from construction to designing the marketing, developing the website, staging and hosting open houses, negotiating offers and managing punch lists. They increased their use of 3D Matterport home tours, FaceTime showings, drone videos and Zoom listing appointments in 2020.

Melanie Giglio works tirelessly to make sure her team has the tools it needs to succeed. One innovative approach she used to market a home in 2020 was an event that garnered social media coverage, word-ofmouth attention and more than 150 people in attendance. From that one event, an offer was submitted, and the home successfully closed. She serves on the board of Imerman Angels, an organization that pairs cancer fighters with survivors.

SUZANNE GIGNILLIAT

DOROTHY GILLIAN

Luxury real estate agent @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

During the pandemic, Suzanne Gignilliat ramped up her digital advertising as well as personal outreach via mail, phone calls and email to clients, some of whom she says are on their fifth or sixth transaction with her. She successfully coordinated a complicated sale and move—entirely virtually—for a client stuck in California. Another highlight of the year: submitting a property to be featured in the University of Chicago’s historic mansion virtual tour.

March of last year was “a very quiet month” reports Dorothy Gillian and her Oak Park team as they learned about COVID, but 2020 turned into one of her best sales years. She put safe showing procedures in place, stayed in touch with clients through COVID-friendly popbys and Zoom happy hours, and advertised their newest listings in creative ways, such as contests for decorating dollhouses during the Halloween and Christmas seasons.

LESLIE GLAZIER Broker @properties

In 2020, Chicagobased Leslie Glazier says she was the first Realtor to become an affiliate member of Collaborative Divorce Illinois. To establish herself as the area’s “divorce real estate adviser,” she began writing letters and talking to past clients more than ever. She also often works with first-time homeowners and relocation, move-up and downsizing clients. One effective technique is to ask sellers to write down the five things they love about their home and neighborhood, and then incorporate them into marketing efforts.

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22 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

BETH GOMEZ

ROSIE GONZALEZ

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker Coldwell Banker Realty

Beth Gomez says her business is 99 percent referral-based. In 2020, marketing evolved with the use of interactive floor plans, virtual walkthrough tours on WhatsApp, video inspections, and drone videos to showcase neighborhoods. An “interesting” transaction involved the purchase of a Ukrainian Village home where, after contracts were signed, the seller backed out and contracted with another for a higher offer. Her buyer won, eventually, after a bidding war unlike any other in her experience.

La Grange-based Rosie Gonzalez’s most interesting transaction in 2020 involved two seller clients—one looking to downsize, the other looking for a larger house—who swapped homes. Another notable event saw her hosting an open house at twilight with appetizers, wine and music to draw nearby train commuters, which also turned into a great networking event for all involved. The evening, at a completely renovated house on her block, also resulted in Gonzalez gaining two new clients.

NICOLE HAJDU Broker Dream Town

Nicole Hajdu says that 2020 was her most successful year yet. An early adopter of drone technology, she contracted with a friend to create an inner drone video of a luxury property and used it as part of a holiday lights party to create buzz for a property. Early on in the shutdown, she used the sale of her own home to testdrive safe procedures for meetings, staging, photos, showings, inspections and appraisals, ultimately buying her dream home in Park Ridge.

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KIMBERLY CHASE HARDING Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

In 2020, Kimberly Chase Harding celebrated a personal sales record; expanded her team from four to seven brokers (plus two leasing agents); and sold a client’s Hyde Park/Kenwood home to Chicago Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar. She also became the University of Chicago Law School’s broker of choice for incoming professors. As people are spending less time “looking at homes” and more time “vetting” and narrowing them on the internet, her digital platform of choice is Adwerx.

JOHN GRAFFT

MARY GRANT

MARIO GRECO

Realtor Compass

Senior broker @properties

John Grafft says that while competitors were firing staff, he hired a cameraman to record more than 70 videos during the pandemic to showcase Chicago real estate. As a result, he says his Instagram following grew from 900 to more than 5,000, and he had his best year in 2020. In 2021 he’ll meet with small-business owners to help promote them with video that brings their stories to the public.

Mary Grant reports that 2020 was her most successful year yet, and across a wide range of styles, from a $160,000 unit in Evanston all the way up to a $5.5 million home in Winnetka. She invested more in online advertising and social media, and for one high-end listing in Kenilworth, she dropped bottles of Veuve Clicquot and handwritten notes about the house to area agents who had sold or were out showing anything over $3 million.

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

JILL HARE

JULIE HARRON

Vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Senior vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

While she “sheltered in place” at home for five months, Jill Hare mastered the use of Matterport, videos and floor plans and discovered the value of always being available to talk rather than being out in the field—often unnecessarily. Constant contact was essential during the most difficult sale of her career, when a Chicago-area property went under contract four times, and she had to untangle multiple offers, home-sale contingencies, backup offers, escalation clauses and kick-out clauses.

Julie Harron had been using video and social-media marketing for years before the shutdowns—even digitally “staging” rooms during walk-throughs for her Chicago-area clients. Her pandemic pivot emphasized personalizing these skills. Instead of sending mass emails to clients, she picked up the phone to connect with each one. She says this relationship-building paid off in 2020 when she sold her first “virtual property” without the buyer seeing it in person before the purchase.

Mario Greco says he lost nearly a dozen deals days after the March shutdown, yet his group still ended the year successfully. He’s most proud of

his team’s pivot from partly electronic to fully virtual in just two weeks. Among many game-changers was sending a digital brochure to a buyer’s agent from the scheduling system immediately upon confirmation of a showing request. This ensured that things ran smoothly and that nothing fell through the cracks.

JOANNE HUDSON Broker Compass

Joanne Hudson took a cinematic approach to the pandemic, showcasing houses via FaceTime, video and Matterport three-dimensional floor plans. She even produced a drone video of nine cars pulling into the nine-car garage for a Winnetka client. Coronavirus protections are in place for all showings with masks, booties and gloves; temperatures taken at the door; 6-foot distancing honored; wiped-down doorknobs, counters and surfaces after showings; and all long conversations held outside.

JUSTIN GREENBERG

CONNIE GRUNWALDT

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker @properties

Glenview-based Justin Greenberg says he boosted business by 10 percent and the number of units sold by 20 percent in 2020. Since many clients fell into higher-risk categories, he used Matterport 3D tours for every listing and prerecorded video walk-throughs to screen serious buyers from shoppers to prevent unnecessary traffic. His most noteworthy transaction was an Arlington Heights home where, after he urged partnering with Curbio for pre-sale home renovations, the house had multiple offers within a month.

Connie Grunwaldt increased her salesto-list-price ratio to 98.4 percent from 97 percent (market average: 96 percent); her total gross sales grew by 10 percent. One notable 2020 transaction involved a rarity—a Chicago lot with riparian rights. Pricing it without much data was a challenge, and finding a high-end buyer meant combing local fishing/ sailing databases to reach folks personally and through online ads and direct mail. She got a full-price cash offer.

DIANA IVAS

MARK JAK

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker @properties

The pandemic prompted Hinsdale broker Diana Ivas to reach out to present and past clients. Her most noteworthy sale of this year was a Hinsdale home that sold for $2.05 million in August. Although the sellers were happy to sell and move to a different state, they were wistful that they would miss time in the park-like backyard with a koi fish pond. Ivas also was successful with a listing for an Indian Head Park fixer-upper.

Chicago broker Mark Jak and his colleagues formed a group to share best practices and collaborated with Manhattan and San Francisco counterparts on how best to help clients in densely populated city markets. He assisted overseas clients in COVID-stricken countries who used the U.S. Embassy to execute, sign and notarize documents. Jak targeted high-net-worth clients for a city listing that had parking for four cars in the garage. Before becoming a real estate broker, Jak worked in telecom.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 23

ALICE JENNETT

MISSY JERFITA

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker Compass

Chicago broker Alice Jennett specializes in REO business involving the sale of properties owned by a lender. Before her real estate career, Jennett was an information specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Lockheed Aircraft. Shortly after starting at the newly opened Rubloff South Loop office, Jennett was referred to a seller whose mother was in a nursing home—that seller would become her husband. Jennett serves on the professional standards committee of the Chicago Association of Realtors.

Last year, Glenview broker Missy Jerfita pivoted to a virtual process for showings, visits and even inspections. On several occasions, she negotiated contracts before the buyer actually visited the property. Before moving into real estate, Jerfita worked as an actress, with jobs in commercials, print ads and industrial videos. “Auditioning for jobs was very tough and humbling, which made me comfortable with the word ‘no’ ” Jerfita says. “Transitioning into real estate was a bit easy.”

MELINDA JORDAN Broker associate Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Chicago broker Melinda Jordan teamed with a colleague to assist an out-of-state client with an aggressive relocation timeline and specific home and neighborhood criteria. After viewing more than 40 homes in three house-hunting trips, making offers on five properties and being under contract on three homes, the client closed on a Winnetka home. Jordan previously worked in brand marketing at Coca-Cola, Energizer and Michelin Tires and is active in the Chicago chapter of the National Black MBA Association.

SUSIE KANTER Broker Dream Town

Last year, three of Susie Kanter’s past clients were visiting friends from Los Angeles who said they would like to look at homes “just for fun.” Kanter scrambled and found three homes including one in a private listing network. The Angelenos ended up buying a Spanish-inspired home in Oak Park the same day. Before selling real estate, Kanter worked for a privately owned bank in Lincoln Park where she specialized in rehab and construction loans.

LANCE KIRSHNER Broker and team leader Compass

For Lance Kirshner, 2020 showed that you have to roll with the punches. Kirshner and his team pivoted to virtual showings and rolled out 3D tours. The group also adopted video provided by drone to attract attention to their listings. Kirshner has represented a developer that was renovating units in a River North high-rise. His team has closed 43 of the 55 units since 2018, despite a dip in demand for the neighborhood last year.

SOPHIA KLOPAS

AMIE KLUJIAN

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker Dream Town

Sophia Klopas and her Chicago team guided buyers through the sales process with few in-person interactions. They embraced Zoom the first week of the lockdown and use it today for ease of day-to-day conversations. Klopas predicts that Zoom could permanently change the way real estate is bought and sold. She sold a home that the buyers didn’t see until the walk-through on closing day. She was relieved that the buyers liked the property more than they thought they would.

Last year, Amie Klujian and her partner Todd Szwajkowski embraced new platforms of communication with clients and substituted annual client events with more independent and distanced client interactions. The partners focus on the Edgewater and Andersonville neighborhoods. Klujian’s team packed and delivered pandemic relief items to past clients. Before becoming a licensed broker, Klujian managed marketing for the Chicago Tribune’s real estate advertising division, which paved the way for entering the transactional side of the business.

CONGRATULATES

Chris Pequet Vice President of Residential Sales

As a Crain’s 2021 Notable Residential Real Estate Broker 630.327.5175 chris@chrispequet.com www.ChrisPequet.com

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Each franchise is Independently Owned and Operated.

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24 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JAMES KRAMER Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Chicago broker James Kramer used 3D Matterport to take potential buyers into homes virtually. When buyers toured homes in person, he kept them safe with masks, gloves, sanitizer and distancing. Kramer sold a 12,000-square-foot home in Glen Ellyn with five bedrooms, six full baths and two half-baths, an elevator and a massive wine cellar. At the time of the closing, it was the highest-priced home that sold in Glen Ellyn in 2020.

SHANNON KUTCHEK

IVONA KUTERMANKIEWICZ

Broker associate Compass

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

During the pandemic, Shannon Kutchek encouraged sellers to prepare their home for the market post-pandemic. She created newsletters

and media to promote the importance of home. Kutchek sold a distinctive property in La Grange that needed repairs and updating and was a candidate for a teardown. She marketed the home as an Art Deco masterpiece and was able to find a buyer who loves the architecture and plans to restore it to its original glory.

The pandemic required Chicago broker Ivona Kutermankiewicz and her team to revise their business plan and use technology to increase productivity. They found that Zoom and FaceTime could expedite the marketing process. She’s a native of Poland and specializes in single-family homes, luxury condominiums and new construction projects. Kutermankiewicz has built and rehabbed homes and owned rental units. Last year, she biked 111 miles for the Jackson Chance Foundation where she serves on the board.

MATT LARICY Managing partner Americorp

Chicago broker Matt Laricy says he was early to embrace the virtual world. With the pandemic, Laricy’s team made a quick transition, launching a social media campaign and presenting drone videos and custom 3D tours. Laricy produced a 10-part podcast to let his community know what his team was seeing firsthand during the early part of the lockdown. The biggest challenge, Laricy says, was convincing people that it was OK to move ahead during such a dark time.

ANN LASALLE LYON Realtor @properties

In Lake Forest, Ann LaSalle Lyon made use of Zoom and FaceTime calls, Matterport virtual home tours, and interior and exterior drone videos of homes. She also included more detail into each property’s website and used social media to reach potential buyers. Her most noteworthy sale of the year was a $5 million transaction in which she represented the buyer and seller. It was the most expensive home sale in Lake Forest last year.

BARI LEVINE Broker @properties

After preparing their Gold Coast home to go on the market, Bari Levine’s clients were ready to list right when the pandemic shut down the city. The clients were sheltering in place and allowed showings only during a short window when they were out. Levine used digital showings and targeted her outreach, ultimately selling the home at full price. She makes use of virtual staging and can be found carrying a coffee table up three flights of stairs.

JENNY LIM-SPIGGOS

DIA MA

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Brok partn Marc @pro

After setting up her office at home, Northbrook broker Jenny Lim-Spiggos relied on digital marketing and showings. One unpredictable deal dated to December 2019 when clients made an offer on a luxury home in Glenview and subsequently signed a contract without a contingency. Nervous about the husband’s job security in the hospitality field, the couple canceled the contract. Fortunately, the couple was able to sell their Glenview home and resubmitted the offer. Both transactions closed in mid-May.

BRAD LIPPITZ

VITTORIA LOGLI

SALLY MABADI

JACKIE MACK

J MAGGIO

MICHAEL MAIER

ERIN MANDEL

President, Brad Lippitz Group Compass

Real estate agent @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Broker @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker associate @properties

Evanston-based Sally Mabadi says she always devoted a lot of resources to staging and photography, so her team was prepared to use technology in new ways to maximize the exposure of client homes: FaceTime, Zoom, Facebook. Reels, TikTok and Instagram Live. This embrace of technology ensured that all listings and sales stayed on schedule even during the early days of the pandemic, she says, and sales volume increased over 2019.

Jackie Mack used the stay-at-home order to revamp procedures with her Evanston-based team. She re-marketed every listing virtually; incorporated Zoom for buyer consultations, listing appointments and 30-day reviews; and deployed Marco Polo virtual tours and 3D tours as well as interactive floor plans. She also supported local businesses by creating a COVID-19 list of open businesses and those that delivered or offered pickup. She says her group increased sales in 2020 by more than 13 percent.

Chicago broker Brad Lippitz drew upon his experiences selling real estate in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Great Recession. He offered buyers two options: a virtual showing with FaceTime or monitored in-person showings requiring masks, distancing and sanitizing. Lippitz says his most noteworthy 2020 transaction was the sale of a $4.7 million new construction Lincoln Park house. It was his buyers’ culmination of a 10-year search for a perfect home that would meet their needs and desires.

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For Vittoria Logli, the last 18 months have been a series of ups and downs. She went from a robust 2019 to a halt in sales for the first two months of the pandemic to the busiest time of her real estate career. She sustained her Glenview-based business with virtual showings and 3D tours for her listings. At the height of the pandemic, she sold a few houses sight unseen, with only virtual walkthroughs.

Hinsdale-based J Maggio says investing triple that of his previous highest marketing spend in 2020 paid off in personal sales records. All listings, regardless of price, carried key digital

assets including 3D tours, floor plans and custom video. A notable 2020 listing involved a home that, for medical reasons, had equipment that couldn’t be moved for sales photography; a clever photo editor digitally removed all items and showed the property as vacant, selling off-market above expectations.

Michael Maier says he persevered in a downtown Chicago market where showings, open houses and even access to common areas to fully sell a building were off limits for months at a time. Using dynamic photography including drones, videos, floor plans and enhanced digital marketing kept him front of mind throughout 2020. He even managed to secure a property for a travel-restricted California client, managing the transaction entirely, from contract to closing, through videos and Zoom.

Erin Mandel reports that despite market conditions, she sold 95 percent of her listings in 2020. She started an Instagram account to deliver mass listing exposure and updates to the Chicago market; she increased 3D tours and her video-marketing efforts; and she offered PPE at every listing. She made sure that properties were well staged, Instagram-worthy and generally move-in ready as a counter to buyers’ pandemic fatigue. On high-end properties she conducted caravan tours with other agents.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 25

DIANE MARCHETTI Broker, founding partner, DelBoccio/ Marchetti Group @properties

Arlington Heightsbased Diane Marchetti reports that 2020 was her team’s best year in terms of sales volume. She transitioned to a digital-based listing and buying process using various platforms, emails and video blasts. A special emphasis was placed on retargeting through social media. One noteworthy transaction was a Barrington estate sold to a Chicago family looking for a resort-like summer home to use as an escape from the shutdown restrictions in the city.

LEIGH MARCUS

JOE MARELLA

DEBBIE MAUE

Broker @properties

Managing broker Keller Williams Realty Partners

Vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Park Ridge-based Joe Marella says in 28 years he’s seen many shifts in the business landscape. The key to his exceeding goals even in a pandemic was to stay calm, spend time developing safety protocols for buyers and sellers, embrace technologies like 3D home viewing and work with like-minded business partners and advisers. He keeps contacts close by hosting online trivia nights, Facebook live seminars on property issues and open houses for neighbors.

Having worked remotely sporadically for 11 years, Debbie Maue says that splitting time between the action in Chicago and launching a development in Montana (“Landmark Whitefish” in Whitefish, Mont.) was a natural transition. She says that she’d already been doing FaceTime and recorded video tours for almost two years prior to the shutdowns, and as a result, sees virtually “walking through” a property as natural as an in-person tour. She is president of Real Estate to the Rescue and chair of Chicago Association of Realtors International Committee.

Chicago-based Leigh Marcus added eight people to his team in 2020 and also boosted business by 30 percent. He uses virtual walk-throughs, FaceTime and interactive floor plans to accentuate a home’s features and layout. A notable 2020 transaction was a multimillion-dollar penthouse sale that, despite an oversupply of condo inventory downtown, moved during the pandemic in fewer than three months. His team also sold two other million-dollar homes—both sight unseen by the buyers until the closings— during COVID.

Congratulations

MORGAN SAGE

2021

CRAIN’S NOTABLE

BRENDA MAULDIN

LAURA MCGREAL

DAWN MCKENNA

Broker Baird & Warner, Gold Coast

Broker Dream Town

President, Dawn McKenna Group Coldwell Banker

During COVID, Chicago-based Brenda Mauldin embraced sales strategies that were more high-tech than high-touch, focusing on virtual open houses, panoramic 3D virtual tours and well-organized digital marketing campaigns. Recognizing that it was a time of uncertainty but by no means a housing crisis, she picked up the phone more often and served as a voice of reason, knowledge and experience for her clients.

Chicago-based Laura McGreal reports that her team, which specializes in city-to-suburban transitions, had one of its best years in 2020. The team, which grew to eight women, saw an influx of buyers coming from the city to the suburbs and soon, inventory became low. McGreal had success monitoring local real estate brokers daily to find off-market homes— homes normally not shared with city clients—that she sent to everyone in hopes of capturing the right buyer.

Hinsdale-based Dawn McKenna is a founding member of “Luxury Alliance,” an invite-only group of Coldwell Banker’s top agents worldwide, and reports that she is the only Illinois member of “Luxury Presence,” which includes the top agents from any agency in the world’s most important markets. She reports that in 2020, her group (at locations in Illinois and Naples, Fla.) grew to 27 from 18 agents, her Hinsdale sales volume increased by 40 percent and her Chicago team closed transactions in every downtown Chicago neighborhood.

Congratulations Rich Aronson!

2021

CRAIN’S NOTABLE

Residential Real Estate Brokers

he am

Rich and his team helped over 235 wonderful clients buy and sell their properties in 2020!

ure e he s rshe ry sure re

gendy yers’ On es raer

RICH ARONSON Team Leader | The AVE Group 773.294.8888 | RichAronson.com

CONTACT RICH TODAY TO GET MOVING IN 2021!

773.551.4267

MORGANSAGE.BHHSCHICAGO.COM

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26 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

AMANDA MCMILLAN

CHRISTINA MCNAMEE

Chief real estate adviser, Chicago Home Partner @properties

Senior broker @properties

Chicago-based Amanda McMillan shifted her business to a “physical-to-virtual” model, employing predictive data (based on past tax records) for her listings to build a “move-up path” of locations, price points and more to better target potential buyers. Once a moveup audience was identified, she’d focus on particular client types in marketing campaigns and drive that traffic to physical-to-virtual landing pages featuring custom Zoom tours that she’d narrate.

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Christina McNamee navigated the pandemic by taking her business digital and learning how to make DIY video walk-throughs using editing software and YouTube, as well as adding 3D tours and video to all listings. Notable 2020 transactions included helping her buyers purchase an off-market, midcentury modern home in Lake Forest and successfully renting out an entire 20-unit, new-construction apartment building in just three months. She also reported the largest-volume buy-side sale of her career.

LAURA MEIER Broker @properties

Laura Meier grew her team and business in 2020 by mixing old-school relationship-building with new technologies. Pre-pandemic, her team was well known for hosting client events to keep in touch, and she wouldn’t let a shutdown break that tradition. She enlisted local businesses such as Chicago’s Kit Kat Lounge to deliver treats and a Zoom “Happy Birthday” to clients, as well as with Salerno’s Pizza to deliver at-home pizza-making kits for Zoom parties.

LAURA MICHICICH

JENNIFER MILLS

PHIL MISTRATA

PETER MOORE

JAN

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Senior vice president of sales/team lead, The Home Discovery Team Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Broker Dream Town

Broker Baird & Warner - Gold Coast

Brok @pro

Laura Michicich saw 2020 as a lesson in lifelong learning. With safety at the forefront, her Hinsdale team implemented the technologies necessary to foster connections via FaceTime, Flipbooks, Zoom, DocuSign, virtual open houses and an increased presence on social media. Offline relationships are still important too, and when weather permitted, she hosted socially distanced outdoor movie screenings for friends and clients. Her team worked together to deliver dinners, homemade cookies, pies and gigantic cinnamon rolls.

When selling a penthouse in Chicago’s River North neighborhood during the winter, Jennifer Mills used renderings to show the property’s outdoor spaces in summer. She also had a variety of “virtual renovations” completed to show buyers its potential, which ultimately led to a successful sale. One particularly notable 2020 transaction involved the sale of a four-unit building in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood that had previously been listed with another broker for a whopping 705 days.

Over the past 18 months, Chicagobased Phil Mistrata reports that he closed more than 90 transactions. Step one was a deep dive through his database to reconnect with people and assist past clients where needed. Step two involved new technological methods, such as the ability to send links to materials in a concise electronic format that’s easy to share, which proved especially effective on investment properties such as rental buildings, retail spaces and commercial buildings.

Peter Moore’s most interesting 2020 transaction saw him negotiating a $3 million condo buy with a seller who was canoeing down the Amazon River and didn’t have a voice phone plan—everything was communicated in 20-word texts. Instead of doing one open house a month in Chicago, he tries for six to eight, as well as using 3D tours and Zoom showings. He also adapted his marketing to coincide with buyers’ increasing reliance on third-party sites like Zillow and Redfin.

4/1/21 2:25 PM

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 27

JAN MOREL Broker @properties

Jan Morel reports that in 2020, he grew his market share in Clarendon Hills to the largest margin of his career. His most noteworthy transaction was a sin-

gle-family home that garnered Clarendon Hills’ highest sales price in a decade. But finding a buyer for the most expensive home in town takes skill: Twilight open houses and a Fall Fest neighborhood event that included a Bears game viewing, customized swag and info on the home and neighborhood helped do the trick.

JOHN MORRISON

DANIELLE MOY Broker @properties

Broker, team lead, Morrison Home Team @properties

John Morrison focused on marketing through social media and supporting the Barrington community. He helped clients understand PPP loans and forbearance on mortgages. He patronized restaurants for carryout meals and sent out daily lunches to front-line workers at the local hospital. Morrison had luck taking over a listing that was on the market for nearly a year. He ended up selling it to his own buyer within a week of it going live. He represented both sides of the deal.

Early in the pandemic, Orland Park broker Danielle Moy told sellers that it was a great time to list their homes because of the market’s low inventory. Moy helped clients who had purchased a home in Orland Park but never moved in as they hadn’t been able to sell their Lemont townhouse. Moy listed the Orland Park home, which immediately went under contract, and the clients finally received a contract on their townhouse. They ended up buying a top-floor condo closer to family in Palos Heights.

SARAH O’SHEA MUNOZ Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Oak Park broker Sarah O’Shea Munoz early on learned to navigate Zoom for consultations, enabling clients to meet from home and save travel time. In-person showings were handled with social distancing, masks and sanitizer. Munoz’s most noteworthy transaction involved selling a rehabbed home to a buyer relocating to Chicago. The buyer signed a contract without seeing the property, and the loan process was delayed because the deed for the rehabbed property hadn’t been recorded. But the deal closed on Dec. 30.

PATTIE MURRAY

JOANNE NEMEROVSKI

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

SUSAN NICE

Luxury real estate adviser Compass

Realtor Dream Town

Chicago broker Susan Nice represented White Sox Hall of During the pandemic, Famer Frank ThomJoanne Nemerovski as in the sale of his pivoted to virtual showLibertyville home. The ings and tours, online 7,000-square-foot, walk-throughs and open houses, and targeted dig- six-bedroom house closed in October for ital marketing. She also $1.36 million. Last year, Nice pivoted to phone calls, Zoom presentations and virtual open houses. She expanded her expanded her networks. bandwidth by taking Realizing that doormen and passing the public are first responders, she adjuster exam to be crafted care packages to cheer them during a scary able to settle insurance claims. She time but also solidify her tutors low-income as a top-of-mind broker students through in key Chicago buildCabrini Connections ings. While Nemerovski and Tutoring Chicago. normally focuses on the city, she saw opportunity in the suburbs and took on a majestic 10-acre Barrington estate.

Pattie Murray and her Glen Ellyn team learned every way to bring listing photos to the consumer. Photographers created packages with still images, 3D walk-throughs, drone/ aerial tours and floor plans, the next best thing to a live, in-person showing. Open houses were livestreamed. At broker open houses, Murray substituted individual cheese and fruit boxes with a split of Champagne for the typical spreads. She ended up increasing her sales volume for the year by 38 percent.

Congratulations

to Connie Dornan on being Crain’s 2021 Notable Residential Real Estate Broker TheotokosPanagia

Notable Residential Real Estate Broker 2021

TheotokosPanagia

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

8 47. 2 0 8 .1 3 9 7 CO N N I E @ CO N N I E D O R N A N .CO M CO N N I E D O R N A N .CO M

TOP 1% INDIVIDUAL BROKER IN THE *

NORTH SHORE & IN COOK COUNTY 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014* TOP 1% IN STATE OF ILLINOIS

Represented Buyer

U R B A N TO S U B U R B A N . C I T Y TO T H E W E ST E R N S U B U R B S .

BY REAL TRENDS 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015** NAMED ONE OF CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS’ NOTABLE RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERS 2021, 2020, 2019 & 2018***

*Top 1% ranking based on closed sales volume in the North Shore and Chicago area, all companies. Based on information from MRED LLC for the period 01/1/201411/01/2020. **Top 1% in State of Illinois by Real Trends 2015-2020. This data is informational and cannot be guaranteed accurate. Data maintained by MRED LLC may not reflect all real estate activity in the market ***Awarded by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of their 2018-2021 Notable Residential.

Call me if you’re thinking about YOUR MOVE. 312.450.0012

| JMAGGIO@ATPROPERTIES.COM

30 S. LINCOLN STREET, HINSDALE

300+

TRANSACTIONS *

$150M + T O TA L S A L E S *

SOURCE:

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| JMAGGIO.COM

11 Years

SE LLING RE AL E STATE

MREDLLC, 01/01/2010- 01/31/2021.

4/1/21 2:25 PM

28 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Senior vice president of sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

JASON O’BEIRNE

BARBARA O’CONNOR

MAUREEN O’GRADY-TUOHY

STEPHANY OLIVEROS

Broker Dream Town

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Realtor Compass

Last year Chicago broker Jason O’Beirne pivoted by using digital and video mediums, hoping to capture potential homebuyers who weren’t comfortable touring properties during the pandemic. He incorporated drone footage, connecting the features and location of the home to its neighborhood. Early in the year, he closed on the sale of a classic stone mansion that had been chopped up into multiple apartments. The deal felt like it would fall apart more than once, O’Beirne says.

Shortly after the shutdown last March, Chicago broker Barbara O’Connor landed a listing that the owners needed to sell as quickly as possible. When the first showing request came in, O’Connor led a virtual walk-through, taking the buyers through every room, sometimes twice. They closed in just over 30 days, having never seen the house in person. O’Connor used an auction to sell a six-flat rental in Lincoln Park, which enabled her to win top dollar for her client.

During the shutdown, Maureen O’GradyTuohy advanced her education, with classes and webinars in décor, technology and other subjects. The Lake Forest broker helps sellers stage their homes and offers virtually staged options to buyers to help them envision a room in a particular color or decorated a particular way. Social media and internet advertising showcases her listings to larger audiences. She has volunteered for the nonprofit Dreams for Kids, which provided programs for underprivileged children.

Chicago broker Stephany Oliveros handled the sale of a home in Logan Square, next to Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Taking an aerial photo of the home required approval from the mayor’s head of

security. Pulling up for every showing required permission from the mayor’s security detail. The strict protection in the area made the sale more exciting, Oliveros says, and the deal was the most expensive single-family home sold west of Kimball Avenue in Logan Square in 2020.

Congratulations

to Jan Morel on being Crain’s 2021 Notable Residential Real Estate Broker

ANDRA O’NEILL

ELAINE PAGELS

KELLY PARKER

CHR

Broker @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker, founder of Chicago Home Collective Compass

Last year Elaine Pagels navigated unchartered territory, managing worried buyers, sellers and agents. Early on, the Hinsdale broker created a flyer for her group’s listings, outlining new protocols to tour a home or for an open house. The time invested to educate agents, buyers and sellers made everyone more comfortable. Pagels started a company with her sister that consults on staging, hand-painted murals and specialty finishes for residential and commercial projects.

Kelly Parker’s Chicago team shifted from generating new business to wellness checks on any client helped in the last decade. Parker sold out a new construction development in seven days and increased sales by 24 percent from 2019. Parker serves as her team’s mentor. Early in the pandemic, she spoke on two panels on how to weather the market’s uncertainty. She is a sponsor and volunteer for the nonprofit Honeycomb Project that supports children and families.

Vice resid Jame Inter

A highlight of last year was representing the sellers of a 30,000-square-foot home on the shore in Lake Bluff that realized $4.2 million. The mansion was designed by society architect David Adler and built for Lester Armour of the meatpacking family. It was most recently owned by 1980s pop star Richard Marx and his ex-wife. During the pandemic, O’Neill says she served as a sounding board for people who were nervous about what was coming down the road.

Congratulations THE KCH TEAM

2021

CRAIN’S NOTABLE

Residential Real Estate Brokers

630.624.6100 JA N @ M O R E L H O M E S .CO M M O R E L H O M E S .CO M

Getting You to Where You Want to Be

#1 AGENT BY VOLUME SOLD IN CLARENDON HILLS

773.957.3599 KCHTEAM.COM

2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016* TOP 20 AGENT BY VOLUME SOLD IN DUPAGE COUNTY 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016**

*#1 ranking based on closed sales volume in Clarendon Hills, all companies. Based on information from MRED LLC 01/1/201612/31/2020. **Top 20 agent based on closed sales volume in DuPage County from MRED LLC 01/1/2016-12/31/2020.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 29

CHRIS PEQUET

SAM POWELL

ELIZABETH PYLE

JESSICA RIVERA

Chiive

Vice president of residential sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Broker Dream Town

Realtor/broker Compass

Even before the pandemic, Chicago broker Sam Powell had abandoned paper in favor of digital platforms. During the year, she spoke with clients via videoconferencing, conducted 3D virtual reality tours and used drone videos to show home interiors and outdoor views. When clients leave items behind in their property such as guitars and blenders, Powell and her partner collect them and annually fill a 24-foot truck of donations. She is active in the Women’s Council of Realtors.

Early in the pandemic, Chicago broker Elizabeth Pyle and her partner, Santiago Valdez, purchased video equipment and produced videos of their listings. They also hosted virtual open houses and tours.

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

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Chris Pequet has 30 years of experience in real estate and has lived in the western suburbs for 40 years. Pequet and her team turned to technology, conducting virtual open houses and video tours of her listings and FaceTime showings for buyers. She listed the largest new subdivision in Oak Brook and sold one of the most important historical homes in Hinsdale. She serves as adviser to the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

The pair represented the sellers of 3501 N. Halsted St. in the $6.2 million purchase by Howard Brown Health for a redevelopment that will include medical and dental clinics, a pharmacy and offices.

In the past 18 months, Oak Park broker Jessica Rivera helped 24 families buy or sell properties. She worked to provide a safe and secure experience to allow her clients to feel comfortable enough to pursue their goals. She promoted positive opportunities such as historically low interest rates for buyers and low inventory for sellers. Rivera also has worked as a HUD-approved housing counselor for the nonprofit Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County.

C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S

MICHAEL ROSENBLUM Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Last year, River Northbased broker Michael Rosenblum worked with two out-of-state buyers in their purchase of million-dollar homes. They gained confidence with detailed videos that showed every corner of the rooms. Rosenblum is the author of the 2018 book “Happily Ever Always: A Guide to Personal Transformation, Security, Confidence, and Healthy Self.” His second book, geared to children, “The Caterpillar and the Butterfly: A Story About the Power of Believing in Yourself,” was published in February.

ANNE ROSSLEY

LORI ROWE

Broker associate Baird & Warner

Broker Coldwell Banker

With high inventory in the Loop, broker Anne Rossley took on a condo at 6 North Michigan Avenue that previously had been listed for more than a year. Rossley used the opportunity to bring in a staging crew and create an “Ask Anne” video that showed what the property looked like before, during and after staging. The sale closed in August. This year, Rossley was selected by Baird & Warner to help build market share in the luxury segment.

Long Grove broker Lori Rowe brought her sellers weekly goodies so they knew she was working hard for them. The first week she gave them a giftwrapped roll of toilet paper with a card that said, “If I can find this, I can find you a buyer!” One week, she gave kids sidewalk chalk and puzzle books. She received 17 offers on a Chase foreclosure and sold it for 42 percent higher than the list price.

Congratulates CAROLINE STARR N OTA B L E R E S I D E N T I A L R E A L E S TAT E B R O K E R

· 2021 · CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

#1 @PROPERTIES BROKER IN ANDERSONVILLE * ALLEY BALLARD

847.890.8892 caroline@cstarrteam.com

312.848.7787 alleyballard@atproperties.com

cstarrteam.com OVER 200 MILLION IN SALES 2013-2020* *MRED, LLC, BASED ON CLOSED SALES DATA, @PROPERTIES ANDERSONVILLE OFFICE, 2020.

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*MRED, LLC, based on closed sales data for C Starr Team, 1/1/2013-12/31/2020.

4/1/21 2:26 PM

30 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

MARLENE RUBENSTEIN Team leader Baird & Warner

Highland Park broker Marlene Rubenstein and her partner, daughter Dena Fox, use technology but also embrace the personal touch. Last year, the pair and their team offered to run errands for the elderly. Team members delivered cookies to current and past clients. Online tools including social media, video, FaceTime and 3D perspectives were critical. Rubenstein favors testing listings on private listings before they hit the public market. More than ever, properties need to be move-in ready, she says.

JACKSON SANDERSON Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

While 2020 was challenging, it was one of Jackson Sanderson’s best years in terms of production. He used Facebook Live for virtual open houses, showed properties using Zoom and took advantage of digital-signature and curbside-closing technologies. An interesting 2020 transaction was a home sold in the Interlaken subdivision of Libertyville: A past client was returning from a two-year assignment in Singapore and, via technology, was able to spend hours fully inspecting every potential property virtually in advance.

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KELLY RYNES Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

With the onset of the pandemic, buyer priorities shifted dramatically, says Glenview broker Kelly Rynes. Buyers sought more space, control over safety, privacy and wellness. And they asked for amenities including multiple offices, gyms and pools. Rynes represented the seller of a home on Sheridan Road in Winnetka that sold for $9.5 million, a half-million over the original list price. She sold three homes via FaceTime and used technology for client meetings, sending contracts and hosting virtual open houses.

TIM SCHILLER Broker, managing partner of the Schiller Team @properties

After the real estate market paused when the pandemic hit last spring, Tim Schiller went back to his roots utilizing “old-school” marketing tactics such as calling, texting, connecting and more throughout the Elmhurst area. Along with other community activities, he is a sponsor of Elmhurst Movies in the Park, Touch a Truck and five other park district events. Before becoming a real estate professional, he was a loan officer for three years.

EMILY SACHS WONG Owner/broker, ESW Luxury @properties

Emily Sachs Wong started a charity organization named YIMBY to help students at Lincoln Park High School who are homeless. On the business side, Wong and her team got deals done with clients who preferred to move forward virtually. Hard-copy magazines engaged people who wanted to do something other than look at screens. One notable transaction was 441 Belden Ave., which sold for $4.55 million. It was the third time in Sachs Wong’s career that she completed a transaction with this home.

MORGAN SAGE Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

It was a busy year for Morgan Sage, closing transactions for 23 buyers and 30 sellers, with 50 percent of her listings selling in fewer than 40

days. One memorable transaction was the sale of a condo owned by a young woman who had died unexpectedly. The sale was an emotional experience for the young woman’s parents. Sage’s knowledge of condo financing, specifically debt-to-income calculation, saved the deal and also shielded the bereaved parents from undue worry.

MEREDITH SCHREIBER

KAREN SCHWARTZ

Broker @properties

Broker Dream Town

In 2020, Meredith Schreiber began sourcing 90plus percent of business from past clients and referrals, increasing her market share in Evanston and sales volume by 50

Karen Schwartz successfully closed out several condo developments in the city, including a 79-unit West Loop location and 40-unit and 32-unit properties in River North. She was then hired to sell another 31-unit condo development in River North. Meanwhile, her focus on city-to-suburban transitions amplified as clients longed for breathing percent. She teases photos on social media about space during the pandemic; her group now certain market listings serves all of the metro before they’re live in the area. She worked MLS, and once they’re for PulteGroup from listed, she’s able to post “sneak peeks.” Prior to her 2005-2014, selling new real estate career, she was construction across the Chicago area. with Levy Restaurants, handling food and beverage operations at Ravinia Festival and Arlington International Racecourse, among many others.

MICHAEL SALADINO Managing broker Keller Williams OneChicago

A few months into the pandemic, Michael Saladino suffered a massive heart attack, yet was still able to sell 50 properties in 2020 working mostly from home. He moved to an almost completely virtual operation including team meetings, listing appointments and buyer consultations. He uses paid marketing on social media as well as virtual tours and, sometimes, property- and outdoor-drone videos. Previously a Chicago police sergeant, he’s affiliated with Homes for Heroes and contributes 25 percent of his commission.

CRIS SALLMEN

LISA SANDERS

TIM

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker @properties

Brok Com

Lisa Sanders reports selling nearly 100 homes in 2020; within the last 18 months, she sold two million-dollar-plus homes in transactions where she represented both the sellers’ and the buyers’ sides. In her marketing, she mixes in night shots that show listings in a different light, and places feature cards throughout properties that call out renovations and benefits (for instance “new furnace, 2020”). She piloted a new charity called Care for Cops Inc. that supports police families.

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Cris Sallmen says her marketing mixes old-school techniques and new technologies, among them drone videos, livestream open houses, Facebook tours and more. It’s a multigenerational market, too. She’s getting calls from past clients who are retiring and moving to senior living places, and some of her newest clients are children she babysat back when their parents were her clients. Sallmen, a broker in the Schaumburg office, was a phys-ed and health teacher for 15 years before starting her real estate career.

DARRELL SCOTT

LINA SHAH

AARON SHARE

Broker Compass

Agent Coldwell Banker Realty

Darrell Scott says business grew 57.6 percent from 2019 due to improved marketing, photography, video, 3D walk-throughs, social media and consistent client engagement. He stresses making properties “move-in ready” by helping sellers spruce up their interiors and emphasizing staging, high-end photography and professional drone video. One specialty is working with Chicago athletes including various Bulls, Cubs and Blackhawks players over the years. Before his career in real estate, he was an intern architect in Florida and Indiana.

Oak Brook-based Lina Shah says she came close to doubling 2019 sales volume during the COVID pandemic, working with an extremely diverse client base. During lockdown and on crutches from a broken ankle, she adapted with high-resolution virtual openhouse tours, 3D animated walk-throughs and in-person tours, as well as through online ad promotion and the use of TV ads (important when people are stuck in their homes). Shah’s diverse work background and life experience enables her to connect with various people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds and truly understand their residential needs from all facets.

Vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Aaron Share’s hallmark is building strong relationships with his clients that last long after the transaction; he facilitates all listing preparation needs with an enthusiastic attention to detail. During the pandemic, that meant virtual showings, drone videos of all listings and video tours as first showings. Second showings were done in person. Share reports that properties that had just sat prior to the shutdown sold quickly, and that his team encouraged buyers to take advantage before the market heated up again.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 31

TIM SHEAHAN Broker/team lead Compass

Over the past five years, Tim Sheahan has focused on the 28 ultra-luxury residences of Hayden West Loop, achieving a total sellout (prior to the completion of construction) of $75 million in 2020. A 20-year real estate veteran, he’s already begun sales for Sulo Development’s next project—Embry, a 58unit building adjacent to Hayden. Over the past year Sheahan also added five new team members to the Sheahan Group, bringing the total to 10.

MICHAEL SHENFELD Senior vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Formerly a successful commercial photographer, Michael Shenfeld marked 2020 by strategically positioning himself as a global real estate adviser. By introducing his clients to referral partners, he says he can help them with real estate needs anywhere in the world. He also began speaking on national real estate panels to educate agents on the changing environment and the use of virtual showings, drones, virtual brochures and real-time video walk-throughs.

MELISSA SIEGAL

PHIL SKOWRON

GAIL SPREEN

CAROLINE STARR

CRAIG STEIN

Broker and founder of the Melissa Siegal Group @properties

Broker @properties

Senior vice president, sales Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty

Broker, team lead for C Starr Team @properties

Broker Dream Town

Melissa Siegal says her major 2020 accomplishment was leading her team to a 66 percent increase in sales. All of her listings include a custom marketing video, using various techniques including twilight and drone shots. She also began a weekly video series to update her clients and social media followers on the changing market. Another highlight was selling a $4.2 million penthouse that had been on the market for a year with another broker.

Phil Skowron reports that his most noteworthy real estate transaction for the year was completed in December 2020: the sale of an $11.9 million house, considered the most expensive home sold in Chicago since 2018. He says he implemented every tool to help virtually showcase properties from social media to digital ads as well as interactive floor plans, virtual tours and real estate photography. Earlier in his career, Skowron worked in hospitality and commercial real estate leasing.

Almost without interruption, Gail Spreen transitioned to virtual tours by narrating walk-through videos for nearly all 75 of her listings. She also streamed tours on Facebook and Instagram. Spreen continued open houses every weekend through livestreaming and also in person with masks, gloves and sanitizer. She serves on the board of the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents where she was fivetime president and now is chair of the real estate committee. Spree also serves on the Magnificent Mile Association board.

Arlington Heights broker Caroline Starr adopted personally narrated, detailed video walk-throughs for new listings, which provided prospective buyers with a feel of living in the home. She report-

ed weekly on market conditions via social media and arranged video check-ins with clients. Her biggest transaction was the sale of a 12,000-square-foot luxury foreclosure home in downtown Glen Ellyn.

Although he prefers live contact, Chicago broker Craig Stein embraced Zoom and came to appreciate the benefits of virtual platforms. He found it useful to virtually stage vacant homes during a year where many buyers were shopping online before seeing homes in person. Stein had a buyer who was furloughed, just days before closing. The seller allowed the buyer to move into the property for a short-term rental. Fortunately, she subsequently returned to work and the deal closed.

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RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERS

32 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

ROBERT SULLIVAN

MARY SUMMERVILLE

TODD SZWAJKOWSKI

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Broker Dream Town

Last year, Evanston broker Mary Summerville launched a new team and rebranded her business as Summerville Partners. Summerville worked with a developer and created a new residential block on a site that was a landscape nursery for more than 75 years. The eight townhouses, including four duplexes, were sold. Summerville also sold 2659 Sheridan Road for $2.6 million—a new home constructed on a double lot that was once owned by the family that founded Finkl Steel.

Broker Todd Szwajkowski and partner Amie Klujian enjoyed a record year in Edgewater and Andersonville home sales. Szwajkowski focused on staying in touch with people in his database, dropping off pandemic care packages to past clients. Last year, he listed and sold the city’s first pre-certified renovation under the Passive House Institute of the United States criteria. The 1890s Ravenswood farmhouse exceeded criteria for energy efficiency and healthy environmental air quality, with smart systems regulating air flow and temperature.

CHRIS VEECH

KEITH WILKEY

Broker @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

LAUREN MITRICK WOOD

Chicago broker Robert Sullivan says his approach to marketing real estate didn’t fundamentally change. He adopted videos but found the personal touch counted more. Sullivan used the phone more than emails and texts to maintain close contact with his clients and discuss details and strategies. Clients required reassurance and patience, he says, and every deal took more time and effort. He sold a $1 million home in Hyde Park sight unseen to buyers sheltering in South America.

When COVID-19 hit, Winnetka broker Chris Veech filled a basket with masks, gloves, Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer and committed to keeping her business moving forward safely. Home price appreciation on the North Shore had been modest over the last several years, so Chris was excited when a client made a 30 percent return on their Wilmette home that had been built in 2012 for just under $1 million and sold for more than $1.3 million.

P015-P032_CCB_20210405.indd 32

Chicago broker Keith Wilkey saw his listing and buyer transactions grow by more than 30 percent each, and his dollar sales increase 12 percent. In March 2020, Wilkey had multiple listings set to launch in March and April, and the lockdown necessitated a change in timetables. He adapted his brochures to an e-format and used walk-through videos to make sure properties were a good fit before an in-person showing. Aerial drone footage and social media posts worked well.

Broker, team lead Compass

Third-generation broker Lauren Mitrick Wood last year focused on branding and client outreach. She strengthened her team’s website and added a blog that includes design tips and recipes. In 2019, Wood launched a team brand, Olive Well, with a magazine and newsletters. The team includes Wood’s parents, husband, cousin and other agents. Wood represented the buyer of a 3-acre estate in Winnetka with seven bedrooms, a swimming pool and tennis court. The $2.7 million deal closed in December.

SUSAN TEPER

CRYSTAL TRAN

Broker @properties

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Under the stressful and uncertain conditions of the pandemic, Northbrook broker Susan Teper navigated her highest-volume year. She adapted to new protocols and put a priority on making clients feel comfortable and safe throughout the buying and selling process. Her most noteworthy transaction was a large Craftsman style home built in 1907. The home was vacant and had been on the market for a few years. Teper staged and sold the home without the owners being in town.

With the pandemic, Chicago broker Crystal Tran and her team doubled up on their social media content and their online lead flow increased with less face-to-face interaction. They launched advertising on Google, Facebook and Instagram. Tran added every contact to the team’s data feed in order to show listings to potential clients that matched their criteria and keep them on the team’s website. Tran offered video and prerecorded tours; the team nearly eliminated paper transactions and focused on providing PDFs.

SANTIAGO VALDEZ

ANNIKA VALDISERRI

Realtor/broker Compass

Broker @properties

Early in the pandemic, Chicago broker Santiago Valdez and his partner, Elizabeth Pyle, purchased video equipment and produced videos of their listings.

Shooting a personal video to send to new clients was an adjustment that required Winnetka broker Annika Valdiserri to “get out of her comfort zone.” An interesting transaction was with a young couple buying their first home together. After seeing properties, negotiating the deal, going through the inspection and closing, Valdiserri realized she had never seen the couple without their masks. It wasn’t until they invited Valdiserri to become Facebook friends afterwards that she saw their full faces.

They also hosted virtual open houses and tours. By creating good-quality online images, the partners found buyers were more comfortable moving forward with offers. The pair represented the sellers of 3501 N. Halsted St. in the $6.2 million purchase by Howard Brown Health for a redevelopment that will include medical and dental clinics, a pharmacy and offices.

TRACY WURSTER

JULIANA YEAGER

JAMES ZILTZ

Real estate agent Compass

Broker @properties

Lake Forest agent Tracy Wurster made use of technology including videos, floor plans, drone photography, upgraded professional photos and virtual open houses. She also introduced FaceTime showings, Zoom interviews and online flipbook brochures. Wurster helped facilitate creative financing with one of her largest sales. A deal was struck whereby the transaction would close and the seller participated in the cost of the buyer carrying his own home until closing. The deal came together successfully.

When real estate was deemed an essential business, Chicago broker Juliana Yeager embraced masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and other safety measures as aspects of her new normal. She quickly implemented Zoom meetings to reach clients face to face, a technology she will continue to use long after the pandemic is over. She has since increased her marketing efforts and found that using teaser previews on social media helps get buyers through the door early, even before a property hits the market.

Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

During the pandemic, broker James Ziltz grew his business while working on building, renovation and interior design projects. He represents investors and developers, as well as traditional buyers and sellers, specializing in Lincoln Park and the Clybourn Corridor. He expanded his use of digital platforms and limited in-person interactions. In one dramatic moment, a last-minute plumbing problem emerged at a final walk-through that required a 7 a.m. fix, but the closing went off as scheduled.

DAVID ZWARYCZ Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

Even with last year’s chaotic market, Chicago broker David Zwarycz says he grew his business by 50 percent. He implemented prerecorded narrated tours and FaceTime showings and livestreamed open houses. Nine months later, Zwarycz says his listings are selling with 20 to 30 percent fewer showings. Early on, Zwarycz took close-up photos at a listing, even showing the weave of a carpet, to give buyers the comfort they needed to make an offer without physically visiting the home.

4/1/21 2:26 PM

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 33

THERE’S A BIGGER WAVE COMING

CLASSIFIEDS

In March, more Chicago-area homes went under contract to buyers than in any month, according to records dating back to January 2008. These contracts portend a wave of home sales bigger than what the hot housing market has already delivered.

CHICAGO-AREA HOME CONTRACTS

To place your listing, contact Claudia Hippel at 312-659-0076 or email claudia.hippel@crain.com www.chicagobusiness.com/classifieds

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percent above the strongest month in normal years and 32 percent above the strongest month in the heightened pandemic year. A wave of contracts, most of which eventually turn into closed sales, can lift the local economy, as people who buy homes subsequently spend money on movers and new furniture and drapes, plus other costs of settling into a new address. But this wave may also bring in bad news for the next buyers to enter the market: higher prices. Not all homes that go under contract turn into closed sales, but the great majority do within a couple of months. April and May reports on closed sales may be doorbusters. What’s not growing as fast as contracts is new inventory on the market. Thus inventory, which for

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This house on Scott Street on the Near North Side is one of the 18,000-plus homes that went under contract in March. Its asking price was $1 million.

current home on the market. The client put her house on the market in March at $640,000 and accepted a contract from a buyer within a few days, FEAR OF MISSING OUT ON ALL-TIME LeuThsays. e buyers on the othHIGHS IN HOUSING AFFORDABILITY er end of that deal got not only a more expensive MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE house than they might have found a few months SURGE IN MARCH CONTRACTS. ago but likely a higher interest rate, too. The months has been so tight that it cost of borrowing, which slid ever has sparked bidding wars, rising lower in 2020, ticked upward in prices and buyer frustration, may March. The cost of a 30-year mortgage is still only slightly above 3 get even tighter. That, in turn, could push prices percent, but the fear of missing out higher and buyers’ nerves closer on all-time highs in housing affordability may have contributed to the edge. “Obviously there’s a bottleneck,” to buyers putting so many houses says Anne Rossley, a Baird & War- under contract in March. ner agent who focuses on North Side neighborhoods. “March is reMANNING THE LINES ally the beginning of the real estate The incoming flood of home season, and we’re seeing no signs sales shouldn’t jam the pipeline, of inventory loosening up.” say representatives of Chicago Sellers who waited as the mar- mortgage and title firms. They’ve ket swelled in the summer and fall been staffing up, in response to reaped the reward, Leu says. She both a surge in home mortgage rehad a client who was getting ready financing to take advantage of low to list a home at about $540,000 interest rates and recent months’ late last summer. The client, big increases in the number of whose location Leu won’t spec- home sales. ify, couldn’t find a suitable next Chicago-based mortgage comhome, so she delayed putting her pany Guaranteed Rate has dou-

bled its headcount, to 10,000, since the beginning of 2020, the firm’s chief marketing officer, Steve Moffat, tells Crain’s in an email. “We staffed up significantly to handle the volume surge,” Moffat says, and “will continue to grow our workforce as our business continues to expand.” Guaranteed Rate declines to specify what portion of its staff increases were attributable to the rising number of mortgage applications and what portion was through acquisitions such as its January deal to buy a Texas mortgage company. “I have definitely been recruiting heavily all year,” says Kathy Kwak, executive vice president at Proper Title, a Chicago-based title insurance firm. She says the firm has grown by about half, to 98 people, in the pandemic year, and “I’m continuing to hire. How many I hire will really depend on how long this continues.” That means not only that homebuyers caught in the surge of home sales shouldn’t find their closing delayed or fouled up because of an overworked title office but that they can rest assured that in some small way, they’re contributing to the jobs recovery that will fuel the return to normality.

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34 APRIL 5, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

Restaurant reservations are becoming tougher to come by night out, with many theaters and concert venues still closed. But indoor dining restrictions remain in effect in Chicago. Demand for dining spots is outpacing supply, making reservations harder to lock down. At the same time, restaurants are filtering more customers through their reservation systems. The share of walk-in diners in Chicago dropped from 46 percent in March 2019 to 29 percent last month, according to OpenTable. CEO Debby Soo says more restaurants are opting to use a tool that notifies customers when requested reservation slots open up. For diners, planning ahead is key. Saturday dinner reservations are booking out a couple of weeks in advance at Boka in Lincoln Park, on par with a pre-COVID pace, says Kevin Boehm, co-owner of Boka Restaurant Group. Other spots that once thrived on walk-in traffic are now taking reservations, such as River North sports bar Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap. Restaurants use reservation systems to gather diner information for contact tracing. They also help

vations. Now it’s more than 85 percent. “You want to control your environment more, and with reservations you can,” says Steve Tindle, director of hospitality at Roka Akor. “You know what you’re getting and what time you’re getting it.”

SURVIVAL

The pandemic has also created an environment that leaves less room for error in the restaurant world. After being closed to indoor dining for almost three months over the winter, many are still struggling to pay the bills. The Illinois Restaurant Association predicts that 20 percent of the state’s more than 25,000 eating and drinking establishments will close permanently as a result of the pandemic, and some still question their survival. Some have only just reopened or are waiting for higher capacity limits in Chicago or warmer patio weather before opening to in-person dining. Though the state requires only social distancing and a cap on table size at 10 people, Chicago restaurants are restricted to the lesser of 50 percent capacity or 50 people per room. Unfilled tables hurt more, and operators can’t stand for no-shows. Coco Pazzo started requiring credit cards to book res“YOU WANT TO CONTROL YOUR ervations for five people or down from six people ENVIRONMENT MORE, AND WITH more, pre-pandemic. If customers don’t cancel, they could be RESERVATIONS YOU CAN.” charged $40 per person. Steve Tindle, director of hospitality, Roka Akor “It’s a very strong deterrent against no-shows,” says with crowd management, a vital tool Jack Weiss, president of Coco Pazzo when 6 feet of social distance must Restaurants. The River North Italian spot has be maintained and waiting at the been operating at a negative cash bar for a table is out of the question. Before COVID, about 70 percent flow for a year and is only just startof tables at Roka Akor’s Chicago-ar- ing to approach a break-even point, ea locations were set aside for reser- Weiss says. It hibernated over the

JOHN R. BOEHM

RESERVATIONS from Page 1

Jack Weiss, president of Coco Pazzo Restaurants, says requiring credit cards to book larger parties is “a very strong deterrent” against costly no-shows. winter and reopened in February. It’s open for dine-in dinner only four days a week. A new badge of honor might be an Alinea reservation. Tock, the reservation system Alinea uses, does not show any open seats for the rest of the month, and May dates are not yet available for booking. The restaurant is seating only about 40 people per night, says co-founder Nick Kokonas, down from 128 people per night pre-pandemic. Not every restaurant is seeing a spurt of reservation requests quite yet. Ocean Prime Chicago, at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Upper Wacker Drive, is still hurting for guests, says general manager Maureen DeLuca. It is just starting to reach its allotted 50 percent capacity on the weekends, and on weeknights, it’s lucky to hit 25 percent. The restaurant opened less than a year before the pandemic hit, which didn’t give it enough time to estab-

lish regulars itching to get back. Plus, many business clients haven’t returned to downtown for work yet. “It’s been a tough start,” DeLuca says. “Not having people in their offices has been, I think, our biggest challenge.” Restaurant Week, which started March 19, helped, and spring break brought some tourists back to the city. But other restaurant operators also say their business clientele have yet to return in full force. That makes it easier to get reservations earlier in the week, and diners have adapted. Customers are also willing to eat dinner earlier in the day. Working from home has made Sunday night a contender for dinner out, too, since no commute lets people sleep in a bit the next morning, says Phillip Walters, co-owner of B. Hospitality, which owns the Bristol in Bucktown, Italian restaurant Formento’s and pizza and sandwich spot Nonna’s. “They feel like they

can dine at 8 o’clock.” Walters says reservations are booking three or four weeks out at some of his restaurants, signaling diners are confident about making plans and hopeful restrictions won’t be rolled back. As the vaccine rollout progresses, people are becoming less concerned about eating out. A March survey from OpenTable and the James Beard Foundation found 34 percent of diners feel eating indoors is low risk, up from 19 percent in July. The reopening of indoor dining and other events has been on hiatus in Chicago, as several COVID metrics have increased. Restaurant operators expect some diners will continue to be cautious and wait for their vaccines to kick in or broader vaccine distribution before venturing out again. Others are clearly ready now, Walters says. “People really have more confidence,” he says.

Nonbank consumer lenders reduce offerings in response to new Illinois law LENDERS from Page 3 below 600—a category where loans are priced well above 36 percent. Avant’s customer base has higher credit scores, albeit not quite at prime, and its interest rates don’t top 36 percent. “We offer a wide range of products across our diversified portfolio, and Illinois lending was a very small portion of our overall business, but we are disappointed that this bill will significantly limit credit options for hardworking people in Illinois,” an Enova spokeswoman says in an email. “We will continue to be here for our customers, including a portion of our NetCredit loans below the Illinois bill’s prescribed rate.” “Due to the recent legislation we cannot lend to consumers in Illinois,” an OppFi spokeswoman says in an email. “We are disappointed in this legislation but we will continue to have open conversations and educate state lawmakers on the need to create more credit access with common sense guardrails to ensure all consumers have fair access to

credit in a safe and simple way.” The two companies combined employ nearly 1,500 in the Chicago area, mostly in the city itself. Enova is publicly traded and late last year made a transformative purchase of online small-business lender OnDeck. OppFi’s parent is going public via an $800 million transaction with a blank-check firm reached this year. Illinois’ new law isn’t unique because of its rate cap. Many other states impose similar or even lower caps on various types of loans. What makes Illinois’ statute different is that it offers the industry virtually no special lending categories above 36 percent, which most other states do. The rate cap applies across the board without exception. (Banks and credit unions, which are regulated separately, are exempted.) “There’s no other way to describe it than draconian, I don’t think,” Alan Kaplinsky, senior counsel at Ballard & Spahr in Philadelphia, said on a Feb. 10 podcast. “It’s going to create havoc within the state.”

The law also includes toughly worded “anti-evasion” provisions aimed at giving the state the option to prosecute online companies that source the customers and handle collections but arrange to have the actual loans made by partner banks in states like Utah that aren’t subject to rate caps. Banks are under the supervision of their states and the federal government, so they’re beyond the legal reach of other states. But the legal area can be murky when states enforce their own laws and are challenged on grounds they inappropriately “pre-empted” the feds. OppFi makes the vast majority of its loans through partner banks. In an interview in February, CEO Jared Kaplan told Crain’s he didn’t believe the Illinois bill, which at that point was sitting on Pritzker’s desk, would apply to OppFi because of its bank arrangements. Now? “Under the new legislation, we have ceased lending in Illinois and at this time, the banks that we service are also not offering products in the state through the OppFi

platform,” the company spokeswoman says. Advocates for the law, which industry reps said blindsided them during the January lame-duck season, dismiss the complaints. “A lot of what the lenders say needs to be taken with a grain of salt,” says Brent Adams, senior vice president of policy and communication at Chicago-based Woodstock Institute, a nonprofit consumer advocate. “We have learned the hard way in Illinois that if you create a little loophole, the industry will gravitate to that area.” Few if any contend the law won’t reduce the availability of consumer credit in the state; the argument is over how much. There is at least one nonprofit alternative to the high-cost lenders emerging. Capital Good Fund, a Providence, R.I.-based nonprofit consumer lender, entered the Illinois market last year before the pandemic and quickly pivoted to offer 5 percent crisis-relief loans. The group has $1.4 million to make 1,500 more such loans in Illinois. Over the longer haul, it’s launching

a product aimed at competing directly with the Enovas and OppFis of the world. Loans between $1,500 and $3,500, repaid in monthly installments over three years, will be priced at 15 percent, well below the interest rates for-profit rivals charge. Founder and CEO Andy Posner criticizes much of the industry’s strategy. “If you charge 200 percent with a 30 percent default rate, you’re still making a lot of money,” he says. Capital Good’s funding sources are diverse and willing to take lower returns to do something good, he says. Asked, though, whether his group alone can fill the supply of credit leaving Illinois following the law’s passage, he allows, “We cannot.” So the industry is mounting a spring lobbying charge in Springfield to make changes to the law that will provide room for lenders like OppFi and Enova. The message will be that the demand isn’t going away soon. Lawmakers and Pritzker then will have to decide if their new law is an overreach.

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • APRIL 5, 2021 35

THOMPSON from Page 1 developers on what to do with the glassy, outmoded 36-year-old structure in the fog of a COVID-19 crisis that has clouded the future of the city’s central business district. The pandemic not only made it a tricky time to make any big new bet on downtown commercial real estate, it also injected potentially competing interests in the 17-story white elephant’s next chapter: While the state is focused on getting the costly, rundown building off its books to the highest bidder to address its fiscal woes, the city of Chicago—which must approve any redevelopment of the building—now faces the daunting task of reviving its urban core, and must carefully consider the Thompson Center as a strategic tool in that effort. That backdrop complicates the task of finding a buyer that can meet both goals. And while the city is moving to rezone the property to allow a new building that could be nearly twice the size of the existing one to entice developers, some of the area’s most prominent real estate veterans say nothing is likely to happen there in the near future. But the search itself could serve as a referendum on what developers and political leaders envision for the Loop’s post-COVID future. “It’s a puzzle,” says veteran developer John Buck, who reshaped Wacker Drive with trophy office towers over the past four decades. “It’s a real puzzle of what one would do with it, and what it would cost.” Even before the pandemic began, any redevelopment of the 1.2 million-square-foot building faced practical hurdles. The state estimates the deteriorating structure

has at least $325 million in deferred maintenance and a massive atrium that is prohibitively expensive to heat and cool, if a buyer wanted to repurpose it. Any effort to tear it down would have to deal with an intertwining CTA station where service can’t be interrupted, a master lease for the lower-floor retail space that doesn’t expire until 2034 that must be resolved, and a crowd of preservationists fighting to save the Helmut Jahn-designed structure.

COMPLICATED

But COVID-19 has made things far more complicated. Office developers might have jumped at the opportunity when demand for urban workspace was surging, but they’re now staring down the highest downtown office vacancy rate on record, companies trying to shed space and a Central Loop facing an identity crisis as big banks and other major tenants leave LaSalle Street for new office towers on Wacker Drive and in the West Loop. The outlook for a hotel development—the site’s main use for decades before the Thompson Center was built—is no better, with corporate travel expected to be reduced for years, if not for good. Adding bricks-and-mortar retail space is almost inconceivable as more people shop online. And the location is unproven for a residential project, with developers noting apartments and condos in a location without airy views could be a hard sell. Even for a centrally located site with prime access to public transportation, those headwinds will give the state headaches trying to get a decent price for the property building without committing to “clear all the roadblocks” for a new

project, says Hines Senior Managing Director Greg Van Schaack, whose firm is now developing its third skyscraper at Wolf Point. “And those roadblocks, I think, will take years to clear,” he says. Some developers suggest razing the building and using the property as an open market or even developing a park while the city recovers from the pandemic. Others warn against the state taking such drastic steps to save on the $17 million taxpayers spend annually to maintain the structure if it can’t sell by next April, when it aims to have moved out all of its roughly 2,200 employees. After the city moved to tear down a property at nearby Block 37 in 1989, repeated misfires in its redevelopment left downtown with a fallow eyesore for almost two decades, showing the perils of government trying to force a site’s new use, says Michael Klein of Chicago-based developer GlenStar. “If you’re the city, you’ve got to be careful about dictating something that later turns out to be not economically viable. That’s why you want the market to come to you, and I think you need to be patient,” he says.

DIFFICULTY

Eleanor Gorski, who spent more than two decades in the city’s planning and development department before leaving last fall for a role leading design and planning for the University of Illinois at Chicago, says any redevelopment of the Thompson Center will be very difficult to finance while the pandemic raises questions about future real estate demand. But the priority for city planning officials wondering how the Loop can regain its vibran-

JOHN R. BOEHM

Chicago’s Thompson Center will be a tough sell to office developers post-COVID

Even before the pandemic began, any redevelopment of the building faced practical hurdles. cy should be something that brings people downtown, such as affordable housing. Such a use would be a departure from the Central Loop’s history as a business center, but could be done within the existing building and open up lots of incentive programs—particularly if the city landmarks the building—that might make a revamp financially feasible while also addressing a dire need for the city and a key priority for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gorski says. “I would urge our state and city leaders to seize this for the opportunity it is,” she says. “They have the ability to cooperate to create incentives to make this a developable site that is very attractive. . . .If you do that correctly, that’s how you jumpstart the Loop.” State officials, meanwhile, aren’t concerned about the response they’ll get from a request for pro-

posals that will be due some time in late summer or early fall, says Ayse Kalaycioglu, chief operating officer of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, which manages the state’s real estate portfolio. She cites a “very positive” response to interviews her department conducted with more than a dozen developers last June about the appetite to buy and redevelop the property amid the pandemic. The more important point, she says, is that the state needs to dispose as soon as possible of an asset that is “fiscally irresponsible” for taxpayers to own, given its carrying cost. And she’s confident a buyer will emerge to take on what she dubs a “once in a lifetime” chance to reshape a downtown focal point. “It’s such a great opportunity for the city and aldermen to think about what the future of the Loop should look like,” she says.

What $2 billion in federal rescue funds means for Chicago and Mayor Lightfoot WINDFALL from Page 1 Yeah, that’s a good thing,” says John Dunn, a City Hall lobbyist who served as director of intergovernmental affairs under former Mayor Richard M. Daley when Chicago got $515 million in federal money under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, of 2009. Chicago’s impending bonanza under the American Rescue Plan dwarfs that figure, and it far exceeds the $1.2 billion received last year under the federal CARES Act. Yet Lightfoot’s plans for the money will need buy-in from the City Council, where aldermen will try to steer cash to their own pet projects. She’ll also face an array of interest groups with ideas about how the money should be spent. “In some ways, it’ll be more difficult” for Lightfoot to negotiate with aldermen than it was for Daley when ARRA money came through, Dunn says. “We were hamstrung” by ARRA’s strict requirements, which left little room for mayoral horse-trading with aldermen and others. The ARP funding is more flexible,

and there’s a lot more of it. Any infighting over how to divide the funds is “a nice problem to have,” Dunn says. At a news conference March 29, Lightfoot said Daley spent his federal relief money on “short-term fixes” and later “had to go to the parking meter deal, which we all know was a disaster.” Lightfoot said now that it’s her turn, discretionary spending will address the city’s structural issues and help those “hurting all over the city.” Detailed Treasury guidance is still forthcoming, but according to a summary from U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., ARP spending must be tied to the public health emergency from COVID-19 or its “negative economic impacts.” That could cover premium pay for essential workers, revenue losses tied to COVID-19 and “necessary investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.” The city must spend its share by Dec. 31, 2024. Funds will arrive in two equal tranches, one this spring and the rest 12 months later. Chicago can’t use the money to directly offset tax cuts or cover re-

HOW TO CONTACT CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS EDITORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312-649-5200 CUSTOMER SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877-812-1590 ADVERTISING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312-649-5492

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quired contributions to city pension plans, which will jump by $432 million next year, to $2.2 billion. Still, budget experts say the ARP funds will give Lightfoot budgetary breathing room during the remainder of her term.

MORE MONEY

While federal auditors will make sure Chicago doesn’t cut taxes or dump ARP dollars directly into pension funds, the city will have “more money than it would have in the absence of ARP. It relieves a lot of fiscal pressure on other parts of the budget,” says Michael Pagano, director of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Government Finance Research Center. “In a way, it’s possible for there to be an indirect effect on those other issues, the pension issues in particular.” Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says he expects the city to use at least a portion to offset the oft-criticized “diet scoop and toss” borrowing passed during the latest budget. The 2021 budget called for $1.7 billion in city borrowing to refinance existing city debt, saving a

projected $501 million this year but saddling future city taxpayers with debt payments for eight more years. “Any restructuring should have economic savings, instead of just taking upfront savings” for day-today operations, Msall says. The City Council’s budget chair, Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, says it’s too early to talk about how the ARP money might improve the city’s overall fiscal standing, but she agrees “everyone wants to avoid a property tax (increase). I’m sure that’s the goal of the administration as well. I know the aldermen probably feel the same way.” Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, is one of those aldermen. He plans to push for the elimination of the automatic, inflation-indexed annual property tax hike aldermen cleared as part of the budget last year. Others are more focused on spending the money. Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, says he wants to spend ARP funds on a guaranteed-income pilot program and support for undocumented immigrant workers excluded from the recent federal stimulus payments. Chicago’s most progressive alder-

men, incensed at Lightfoot’s move to spend $281 million of CARES Act funding on the Chicago Police Department, are pressing for a “participatory” budget developed with input from community surveys and town hall meetings. That “Right to Recovery” coalition is backed by SEIU Healthcare, the Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Separately, socialist Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, wants to hire more than 2,000 public health personnel to launch more city-run vaccination sites. He’s also sponsored an ordinance to use $40 million in relief funds to reimburse bars and restaurants for lost revenue. Hopkins, too, says he’d like to see money dedicated to help closed storefronts and restaurants reopen. “There’s going to be a wide divergence of opinion among aldermen about how to best spend this money, but just because we’re not all on the same page should not disqualify us from an equal seat at the table as priority decisions are made,” Hopkins says.

Vol. 44, No. 14 – Crain’s Chicago Business (ISSN 0149-6956) is published weekly, except for the last week in December, at 150 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601-3806. $3.50 a copy, $169 a year. Outside the United States, add $50 a year for surface mail. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Ill. Postmaster: Send address changes to Crain’s Chicago Business, PO Box 433282, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9688. Four weeks’ notice required for change of address. © Entire contents copyright 2021 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

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