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Chicago

Berger Realty sells historic Flatiron Arts Building for $20M

Local venture seeking ground floor retail tenants

NARE's Savas Er with the Flatiron Arts Building
NARE's Savas Er with the Flatiron Arts Building (Time Out, Getty, Wooddale Bank)

Chicago’s Flatiron Arts building on the North Side has a new owner for the first time in almost 30 years.

A venture of North American Real Estate and David “Buzz” Ruttenberg bought the century-old building at the intersection of Damen, North and Milwaukee avenues from Berger Realty Group for $19.7 million, Block Club Chicago reported. The iconic wedge-shaped building has been an artists community for many years.

Berger owner Erica Berger’s father, who died last year, bought the Flat Iron Arts property nearly 30 years ago, and steered it toward becoming a workplace for established as well as up-and-coming artists, she said in a statement. “I’m glad that as we step away to focus on other projects, we were able to identify a Chicago-based firm with owners who are engaged in the city and in the arts,” Berger said.

North American Real Estate’s Savas Er said the second and third floors of the building will continue to be art studios, however the firm is trying to find retail tenants for more than 21,000 square feet on the ground floor.

Recently, Bank of America moved out of a 5,000-square-foot corner space it occupied in the building. That spot as well as the rest of the retail space is open for new tenants with multiple other leases expiring soon.

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Baum Realty Group’s Patrick Forkin represented Berger in the sale of the building. He emphasized picking a buyer that would complete a deal rather than seeking the highest price because of rising interest rates challenging the market.

Berger, which paid $346,000 for the Flatiron building in 1993, also owns the Fine Arts Building at 410 South Michigan Avenue that’s home to the Studebaker Theater.

The firm earned a preservation excellence award from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in 2020 for its restoration of the Flat Iron Arts building’s terracotta exterior. While it isn’t a landmark, it’s part of the historic Milwaukee Avenue District.

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— Victoria Pruitt

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