Maury R. Tognarelli

Even as his firm has navigated distress locally in the Chicagoland office market, Tognarelli has framed his approach to the commercial real estate slowdown as disciplined rather than a retreat. 

Heitman has remained active, selectively buying and selling across asset classes in 2025 — from a $47 million self-storage purchase in Brooklyn to the sale of South Florida retail anchored by grocery tenants.

Locally, though, Heitman has also been navigating distress in legacy Chicago-area office positions, which it has taken on both the equity and debt sides. The issues have included West Loop and suburban assets where loans went into default and ownership got distorted.

Tognarelli has spent his entire career at Heitman, the Chicago-based firm which has roughly $45 billion in assets under management across private equity, public real estate securities and debt strategies. He rose to CEO in 2002.