Grand Rapids Investor Seizes Pittsfield Building in Chicago

An old East Loop office tower in the midst of a lawsuit, financial uncertainty and overall disrepair has been mostly taken over by an investor.

A venture led by Tom Liravongsa, a Grand Rapids native who’s mostly unknown amongst Chicago’s real estate scene, bought 30 of the 40 floors in the Pittsfield Building at 55 East Washington Street, Crain’s reported. Liravongsa is a managing partner of L’Cre Partners, a boutique firm that specializes in real estate and other alternative investments.

A substantial amount of time, money and creativity is needed to revitalize the Pittsfield. Built in 1927, the high-rise literally began falling apart in 2020, as scaffolding was installed to protect pedestrians on the sidewalk from falling terra cotta. The former office tower has been mostly gutted and is poised to be redeveloped for residential use. Chicago’s multifamily sector has performed far better than office, but Liravongsa’s plans for the site are unclear.

Marc Realty owns the 13th through 21st floors of the building, which have been converted into apartments. Marc Realty executives recently spoke to Liravongsa’s team and said the investor plans to “fix up the building,” the outlet reported.

The former owner of the 30 floors is a venture led by Chinese-Canadian business mogul Xiao Hua “Edward” Gong. The venture paid $20.8 million for the site in 2017 through a bankruptcy auction and had plans to revitalize it. Yet, Canadian prosecutors charged Gong with criminal securities fraud shortly after acquiring the building, freezing his assets while obtaining a restraining order on the Pittsfield.

In 2020, local real estate executive Courtney Jones temporarily seized the property through a court-ordered arrangement. Gong reached a settlement with the Canadian prosecutors in 2021 and got back into the picture, but Jones was never paid for repairs they conducted at the site. In February 2022, Jones filed a foreclosure suit against Gong’s portion of the building, demanding a roughly $5 million payment, the outlet said.

In January, a judge approved a foreclosure sale of Gong’s space, which led to Jones selling to Liravongsa. Gong filed a lawsuit in April, requesting a judge to block the sale. He claimed that Jones wrongfully sold the space unbeknownst to him and accused Jones of “insider trading” and “fraud.”

The case is ongoing and could potentially affect Liravongsa’s redevelopment plans.

—Quinn Donoghue