Shai Wolkowicki and Chikoo Patel Hit by Another Foreclosure

Chikoo Patel and Shai Wolkowicki have once again drawn the wrath of Old National Bank, as the investors face at least the second foreclosure from the lender as their own infighting rages on in multiple court battles.

Old National Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit this week targeting a mixed-use multifamily and retail property suited for ground-floor medical or dental office space at 316-324 Lake Street in Oak Park, according to public records.

The bank alleges that the duo, operating through Halsted South Partners, LLC, defaulted on a debt totaling approximately $2.32 million. According to the complaint, the borrowers failed to make monthly installments starting in November 2025, prompting the lender to accelerate the debt and seek a receiver to take over the property’s management while the court case plays out.

The Oak Park filing is just the latest headache for Patel and Wolkowicki, whose partnership has dissolved into a thicket of litigation and allegations of financial misconduct. Old National is already pursuing a $16 million foreclosure against the pair for a larger multifamily property downstate in Springfield, a case that remains pending in court.

The broader collapse began with the implosion of Patel’s firm, CKO Real Estate, which fashioned itself as an experienced property manager prepared to operate South and West Side multifamily buildings in challenging Chicago neighborhoods. It raised money from people who said they depended on CKO to handle repairs, rent collection and working with tenants in affordable housing programs funded by state and federal sources.

But multiple investors — including Wolkowicki and his wife Lauren Lampert, who have Chicago roots but now live in Boca Raton, Florida — have sued Patel, alleging he misappropriated or “stole” roughly millions of dollars from various businesses. Wolkwowicki and Lampert specifically claim Patel wasted over $10 million in investment capital by mismanaging properties and siphoning funds away from business operations into his own personal accounts.

The unraveling has also caught the attention of corporate creditors; American Express recently sued Patel for unpaid credit card debt of more than $63,000 as his firm’s portfolio faced a wave of building code violations and habitability complaints from tenants.

Wolkowicki didn’t return requests for comment and Patel and an attorney for Patel didn’t return requests for comment. Patel’s lawyer has previously said his client denies Wolkowicki’s allegations.

While the two were once frequent collaborators, Wolkowicki has another once-productive relationship that has soured into a legal civil war. Last year, Wolkowicki filed a separate lawsuit pitting him against Mitch Goltz, the former partner in their old firm GW Properties, which has been selling off real estate throughout Chicagoland to wind down.

Goltz, who now heads the firm GTZ Development, declined to comment on the dispute with Wolkowicki, which centers around how Goltz handled the distribution of proceeds from last year’s $31 million sale of the Church Street Plaza property in Evanston. Goltz reiterated a separate foreclosure suit he and Wolkowicki are facing on a LaGrange property that remains in the GW portfolio, filed by a venture of Chicago real estate firm Wolcott Group, and is still in the process of being resolved through new financing.

While Wolkowicki deals with the fallout of his distressed multifamily holdings, Goltz is pivoting toward big redevelopment further west into the suburbs. GTZ is in talks to bring an Amazon large-store retail format and an Ashley Furniture store to an office campus in Oak Brook that his firm acquired at a deep discount out of distress. The seven office buildings on the property may be torn down to make way for the retailers.

However, legal and financial pressures mark a downturn for Wolkowicki, who previously made headlines for reasons outside of real estate. In 2014, he was a victim in a boating accident on Lake Michigan that killed three of his friends, leaving him stranded on the water only to be discovered the next day. He was the sole survivor who was aboard the watercraft, whose fractional ownership company, insurers and repair company agreed in 2018 to a $27.9 million settlement with Wolkowicki and the estates of the other victims.

The next court date in the lawsuit Wolkowicki brought against Patel is scheduled for a March 9 hearing.