Albert Friedman Seeks Tenant for Chicago's Medinah Temple

Albert Friedman, the longtime River North landlord who struck a $20 million jackpot with Bally’s temporary casino in the Medinah Temple, is already setting odds on the historic property’s next chapter.

His Chicago-based firm Friedman Properties tapped a Savills broker team to market the landmark 132,600-square-foot Moorish Revival building at 600 North Wabash Avenue, Crain’s reported. The push comes as Bally’s builds out its permanent $1.7 billion River West casino, which recently reached its peak construction height and is slated for a spring 2027 completion.

While Friedman is open to Bally’s extending its stay at the Medinah Temple, he’s actively hunting for a “flagship opportunity for global brands” to anchor the property, according to marketing materials. The high-profile search will serve as a bellwether for downtown Chicago’s post-pandemic retail rebound.

Friedman is no stranger to navigating turbulence at one of the jewels of his vast retail property portfolio. When Macy’s shuttered the long-standing Bloomingdale’s Home Store at Medinah in 2019, Friedman — who already owned the underlying dirt — stepped in to buy the building back for roughly $25 million.

He ultimately inked a lucrative four-year lease with Bally’s in 2022. That masterstroke didn’t just secure roughly $17 million in rent and management fees, but also crucially shifted the building’s hefty property tax burden — which exceeds $1.1 million annually, a bill Friedman had previously fought to reduce — onto the gaming giant.

With Bally’s temporary run winding down, Friedman is steering away from traditional storefronts toward experiential retail. He pointed to his recent success housing David Byrne’s immersive “Theater of the Mind” at his nearby Reid Murdoch Building as proof of concept.

“People who are looking to make a statement — this is an ideal building to do that,” Friedman said in a press release, whose namesake firm controls some 5 million square feet across River North.

Savills’ Todd Siegel, who’s marketing the space alongside Philip Golding and Kimberly Wiskup, echoed the sentiment, telling the publication: “This is not for somebody that’s looking to just sell an article of clothing. It’s a brand that’s really looking to make their impression on the Chicago marketplace.”

— Sam Lounsberry