Chicago’s Fred Latsko Secures $22 Million Loan From Argentic

Chicago retail magnate Fred Latsko is bringing a new buzz to Fulton Market, while also hanging onto his last one.

He expanded his hold on the city’s market for cigar lounges with a store and private club called Chicago Cut that opened at 1003 West Fulton Street earlier this month, shortly after the landlord scored $22 million in fresh debt from New York-based Argentic Real Estate Finance, public records show.

The loan helps to refinance the 15,000-square-foot Guinness Open Gate Brewery site at 901 West Kinzie Street, which Latsko owns and considered selling for over $20 million last year.

He elected to hang onto the property rather than sell it, after listing it with JLL brokers in October 2023. Latsko also put up some of his expansive Gold Coast retail holdings, at 23 West Maple and 66 East Walton streets, as collateral for the Argentic loan. The former is leased to high-end convenience store chain Foxtrot after that brand’s revival from shuttering all of its stores last year. The Walton Street asset landed a 10-year deal with luxury consignment retailer TheRealReal a few months ago.

Chicago Cut joins Biggs Mansion, at 1150 North Dearborn Street in the Gold Coast, as another private cigar club within Latsko’s portfolio. While Latsko renovated Biggs’ interior 11 years ago, it’s a historic building — constructed in 1874 for Northern Trust co-founder John Dekoven — that retained its classical look. The Fulton Market spot is meant to appeal to a more youthful crowd in the trendy neighborhood.

Latsko paid $2.1 million to buy the Chicago Cut location in 2020. Its first level is a cigar shop open to the public, while the upper floors require memberships costing an initiation fee of $3,750 and then monthly dues of $375.

“Why did I open Chicago Cut? More for the younger, more contemporary clientele of West Loop as another option,” Latsko said. “Biggs Mansion being a Chicago landmark located in the Gold Coast has the reputation as the finest cigar shop/club in the world.”

The landlord’s moves allowed him to partially pay down his previous $34 million loan from fellow Chicago-based real estate player Jeff Aeder’s firm JDI that was levied against key properties in Latsko’s retail portfolio, public records show.

Additionally, proceeds from Latsko’s recent $17 million sale to the family behind Max Mara, as well as the refinancing of TheRealReal and Foxtrot properties, helped to pay down the JDI loan balance.

Latsko, a lifelong Chicagoan, is also marketing a second home in West Palm Beach, Florida, for a little more than $6.2 million, and eyeing a residential purchase in the Los Angeles area. The Florida home spans 6,500 square feet with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms at 1017 North Flagler Drive, just off the waterfront with a view of nearby Palm Beach island. The property last sold for $3.2 million in 2021, and originally asked $8.9 million when first hitting the market in 2023. Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group has the listing.