John Murphy

Founding Principal, Murphy Real Estate Services

Murphy’s eponymous Chicago firm has taken on some ambitious development projects. His résumé is anchored by high-profile hotels such as the Hyatt Centric in the Loop.

Yet Murphy’s most emblematic redevelopment remains the former Cook County Hospital, where he helped convert a long-vacant civic landmark into a $150 million mixed-use complex with Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels, medical office space, retail and a food hall.

More recently, Murphy has pushed into luxury residential, securing financing in 2025 for a high-end Winnetka apartment project that underscores his continued bet on affluent submarkets even as urban construction slows.

Not all bets have cashed in. In Oak Brook, Wintrust filed a $22 million foreclosure tied to a Murphy-controlled office property, highlighting the pressure facing suburban office owners as values reset. Murphy has also been linked to some of Chicago’s most idiosyncratic office situations, such as one at 311 South Wacker Drive, where he was part of a buyer group that eyed what would been the world’s tallest teardown in a bid to redevelop the property; Murphy’s group ultimately didn’t end up closing on the purchase, though.

Before development became his focus, Murphy held senior roles at MB Real Estate, prior to its acquisition by Transwestern.

— Emma Whalen