Craig Golden

Chief Executive Officer, Blue Star Properties

Golden’s Chicago-based real estate firm launched in 2007 after he co-founded Sterling Bay with Scott Goodman, a partnership that helped usher in a wave of adaptive reuse and creative office development across the city.

Golden’s expertise has remained in bringing real estate to new stages. Blue Star is a co-developer of The Salt Shed, the former Morton Salt warehouse turned concert venue, and in 2025 the firm signaled plans for a follow-up outdoor music venue, doubling down on live entertainment as a real estate anchor.

Around the same time, Blue Star emerged as the buyer of Sam Zell’s historic Chicago newspaper building at 2 North Riverside Plaza, adding another adaptive reuse play to a portfolio rooted in character-driven assets.

The past cycle has required defensive moves as well. As interest rates rose and values reset, Blue Star bought its own West Loop office debt at a deep discount in late 2025, a reminder that even experiential-heavy portfolios weren’t immune from capital market stress. The maneuver allowed Golden to regain control of the asset’s future, while underscoring the pressure facing owners straddling office and retail.

— Sam Lounsberry