Colin Kihnke

Chief Executive Officer, CMK Companies

Kihnke started out rehabbing single-family homes in Ravenswood and founded CMK Companies when he was just 24. Over the past two decades, he has steadily transformed CMK from a condo-focused operator into one of the South Loop’s most prolific luxury apartment developers.

CMK has leaned hard into contemporary design and amenity-driven rentals, building a pipeline of high-rise projects clustered around South Michigan and Wabash avenues. In 2023, the firm launched its sixth South Loop apartment development, reinforcing Kihnke’s long bet on the neighborhood even as downtown construction slowed elsewhere. More recently, CMK tested market timing by listing its 30-story South Loop apartment tower for sale in early 2025, weighing an exit amid renewed investor interest in well-located multifamily.

That decision came as downtown Chicago rent growth began surging again, driven less by booming demand than by a lack of new construction. For Kihnke, the moment highlights both opportunity and risk. CMK’s concentration in the urban core positions it to benefit from tightening supply, but it also exposes the firm to capital market swings that can quickly change the math on luxury high-rise deals.

Still, at a time when new multifamily development in Chicago is at 15-year low, CMK has four apartment towers planned or underway in the South Loop.

— Emma Whalen