When leading Chicago developer James Letchinger wraps a deal, he likes to host a party — of one.
Letchinger has an ability to bring officials, funders and partners to the same table, but when he closed on the $84 million purchase of the floundering Lincoln Yards development site at the end of September, he celebrated alone in his office, staring at the plans for the site.
While the builder isn’t actually putting up 3,300 homes and 1 million-or-so square of retail, office and hospitality all by himself (Los Angeles-based Kayne Anderson is his partner), he may have single-handedly revved the engine for stalled developments whose languishing played into the idea that Chicago is a stifling place to do business.
How? Though his firm is small, the city’s deepest pockets tend to open for Letchinger, Chicago Bureau Chief and Senior Reporter Sam Lounsberry reports in this month’s cover story about the homegrown developer and his Foundry Park — the new name for the slice of Lincoln Yards he’s pushing forward.
“He takes projects others find difficult or uneconomic and he finds a way to make them work,” Larry Krueger, a prolific real estate fundraiser, told Lounsberry.
If the deal for the sprawling development along the waterfront near wealthy Lincoln Park works out, it won’t just be good for Chicago from a business perspective, though new tax revenue could help the city avert a crisis. Letchinger, with his trademark affability, could also show that Chicago isn’t a broken system, plagued by political squabbles and enthralled to union power, but a place can still be one of the world’s great financial centers.
The lone wolf isn’t a rare breed in the pages of this month’s magazine.
Mr. Real Estate, a Texas luxury real estate broker to sports and entertainment stars, long stayed away from industry powerhouses, like Compass and Sotheby’s, rarely publicizing deals or trying out online tools or social media. That changed over the summer when the broker, whose real name is Erwin Nicholas II, enlisted the most popular streamer on Twitch to broadcast his life for 30 days from a $19.5 million estate in Texas Hill Country. Though the antic hasn’t yet sold the property, it might have changed Nicholas’ mind about groupwork and led him to his next big listing. Reporter Isaiah Mitchell profiles him; read it here.
Another solo operator is Moshe Silber. He ran a multifamily real estate operation with a partner for more than a decade. But you serve your time alone, and he’s now in prison for 30 months, on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
A federal investigation into his role in a mortgage fraud spurred a collapse of Silber’s portfolio, and the ensuing bankruptcy proceedings illuminated his financial machinations. As Senior Reporter Keith Larsen details, Silber sold $200 million in bonds issued by one of his companies — not directly backed by his real estate. “No one is quite sure where all the money went,” Larsen writes.
Also in the issue are stories about the final rush for South Florida developers to attract funding through the EB-5 visa program, the would-be return of Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road retail and a tour through Nashville, where real estate players are getting whiplash trying to keep up with trends. Florida Rep. Vicki Lopez and luxury broker Dora Puig sound off about the possibility of removing property taxes for residents.
Reporter Kari Hamanaka checks in with real estate agents in the burned-out neighborhoods of Los Angeles, telling the story of how they’ve taken on new roles, like community advocate and political organizer, during the 10 months and counting of the rebuild. Senior Editor Lauren Elkies Schram picks the brain of Corinne Verdery, Caruso’s CEO, in The Closing.
Finally, Reporter Emma Whalen digs into the troubled history of the South Shore, Chicago building that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided, asking whether its fast deterioration should sound a warning for other multifamily buildings in distress.
Mayoral elections in New York City and Miami could shift the ground for the industry soon (see Katie Brenzel’s preview), but it’s the losers, including quite possibly much of the real estate industry in New York, who might end up staring at a wall, probably in a less victorious mindset than James Letchinger.
Enjoy the issue.