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600 West Chicago

600 West Chicago

Twenty years ago Chicago's historic Montgomery Ward catalog building was redeveloped into a tech destination known as 600 West Chicago. Now under Sterling Bay ownership, the building has again been transformed to a premier modern office destination to meet the unique needs of today’s workforce. 600W boasts an expanded retail experience to serve both tenants and surrounding neighbors, modernized tenant amenities, updated interiors and a renewed focus on accessing the outdoors. Featuring sweeping floor plates and an exceptional location, the building is perched on the edge of the Chicago River within acres of riverfront land poised for redevelopment in the coming months and years. 

Speakers and Panels

Anthony Scacco

Anthony Scacco

COO

Riverside Investment & Development

Anthony Scacco

COO

Riverside Investment & Development

With more than 20 years of development and project management experience, Tony has helped lead developments totaling more than 13 million square feet of office, multifamily, hospitality and mixed-use projects in multiple markets on two continents. As Chief Operating Officer for Riverside, Tony provides day-to-day oversight of business operations and development activities while also working with the executive team to develop and implement the company’s strategies, goals and growth plans.

Tony received his BS and MS in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.

City Defining Projects

The Mega-Projects Defining the Future of Chicago Real Estate

Keating Crown

Keating Crown

Managing Principal

Sterling Bay

Robert Sevim

Robert Sevim

President, Chicago Region

Savills

Jake Pepper

Jake Pepper

Executive Vice President

Pepper Construction

Randal Gruberman

Randal Gruberman

Principal and Chief Technology Officer

Level-1 Global Solutions

Kristen Boike
Moderator

Kristen Boike

Partner

Honigman

Keating Crown

Managing Principal

Sterling Bay

Keating focuses on new acquisitions and development, as well as strategic capital pursuits and relationships. He also oversees Sterling Bay’s retail merchandising portfolio. During his tenure at Sterling Bay, Keating has pursued and acquired Sterling Bay’s land portfolios in both Lincoln Yards and Fulton Market, successfully aggregating strategically located industrial land for mixed-use redevelopment at a competitive cost in two high-demand emerging markets. Keating’s career in commercial real estate began in 2002 at Tishman Speyer in New York City and San Francisco, where he was Director of Development involved in over six million feet of ground-up residential and office development projects. He earned a BA from Duke University and a JD-MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Pritzker School of Law. Keating currently serves on the boards of the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the 606/Bloomingdale Trail, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Northwestern Memorial Foundation and the Trinity College Board of Visitors for Duke University. In 2014, he was recognized on Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 Under 40 list.

Robert Sevim

President, Chicago Region

Savills

In his real estate career, Robert Sevim has executed over 20 million square feet of transactions valued at more than $10 billion. With an exceptional client roster including News Corporation, UnitedHealth Group, The Big Ten Conference, Aetna and Exelon, Robert has developed a reputation for solving the complex real estate challenges of organizations spanning many geographies and property types. He is a dedicated advisor to a broad spectrum of business types, where sophisticated business acumen is highly valued and critical to project success. Robert specializes in the development and implementation of strategic plans that align his clients’ real estate with their overall organizational objectives and financial goals.

Robert was named Executive Vice President and Co-Head of the Chicago office in 2014, taking over the management of the operations, recruitment, training & development, research and marketing initiatives, in addition to his professional broker responsibilities. He was promoted to Vice Chairman in 2017, and was named to the company’s North American Board of Directors in 2020.

Jake Pepper

Executive Vice President

Pepper Construction

Jake Pepper is a creative problem solver with a focus on Pepper's continued growth in the evolving construction industry. While taking the company into new markets and relationships, Jake remains responsible for Pepper Environmental Technologies, our Quality team and Integrated Construction Services (ICS). The ICS group is comprised of people who represent some of the most advanced thought leadership in our industry—investigating new technologies, evaluating new methodologies exploring high performance and solar advancements and creating innovative solutions in the field to help our clients realize their vision. In addition, Jake oversees Pepper's Field Supervision leaders and partners with them to drive continuous improvement by using technology in the field. His experience in project management benefits operations by providing integrated platforms designed to bring efficiencies at both the business and project levels.

Starting in 2002, Jake worked at Pepper in various summer internships. But after graduating from college, Jake decided to explore different opportunities in the fields of engineering and finance. By the Spring of 2013, he felt ready to bring his new perspectives on the business world back to Pepper and joined the company as a project manager. In 2015, he began working with the IT department to provide strategic direction on business-critical initiatives. Jake also provides support and insight to our virtual construction and high performance groups, and is leading initiatives related to our long-term facilities plans.

Jake completed his MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business. In addition to serving as a guest speaker for the Masters of Project Management program at Northwestern, he is an active member of CMUG, CMiC’s user community, as well as the Urban Land Institute. Outside of work, Jake volunteers as a math mentor for students involved with the POSSE Foundation and has a passion for environmental issues, including clean water and sustainable urban farming.

Kristen Boike

Moderator

Honigman

Kristen Boike is the Office Managing Partner of Honigman’s Chicago

office. Kristen focuses her practice on advising clients on a wide array of

transactional real estate matters, including joint ventures, development,

senior housing, commercial leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, mixed-

use developments, sale leaseback transactions, and corporate mergers

and acquisitions.

Kristen also has extensive experience representing both landlords and

tenants in office, retail, data center, warehouse and industrial leases. She

counsels both publicly held and private companies, as well as universities,

in connection with their institutional real estate matters. Additionally, she

has been a member of numerous multidisciplinary firm teams representing

key clients in a variety of transactions.

2022 Investment & Financial Recap

How Interest Rate and Financing Concerns Converge to Influence Development and Investment Pipelines

Rick Hurd

Rick Hurd

Managing Partner, Investment Management

Waterton

Eteri Zaslavsky

Eteri Zaslavsky

Managing Director

Next Realty

Douglas Lyons

Douglas Lyons

Managing Principal

Pearlmark

Sean Connelly

Sean Connelly

Principal

33 Realty

Molly Phelan

Molly Phelan

Partner

Siegel Jennings

Patrick Olerich
Moderator

Patrick Olerich

Director

CohnReznick

Rick Hurd

Managing Partner, Investment Management

Waterton

Rick Hurd Managing Partner, Investment Management Mr. Hurd joined Waterton in 2013 and serves as managing partner, investment management. Mr. Hurd collaborates with the firm’s executive management and works closely with the acquisition and capital market teams to oversee all real estate transactions. He helps to set strategy and further develop the firm’s market focus, investment execution and network of industry relationships. Mr. Hurd participates on the firm’s Management, Investment and Valuation Committees. Mr. Hurd has over 35 years of real estate investing experience with a strong focus on multifamily. Prior to joining Waterton, Mr. Hurd was the co-founder, president and chief investment officer of Strategic Capital Partners, a privately held real estate investment management company that invested over $1 billion in value add multifamily, hotel and commercial properties across the country. Prior to that, Mr. Hurd spent almost 20 years at GE Capital Real Estate (“GE”), where he was most recently a managing director responsible for GE’s institutional real estate equity program. While at GE, Mr. Hurd invested just under $2 billion in various equity joint ventures, preferred equity, mezzanine debt and convertible preferred equity strategies. Mr. Hurd holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MBA from Drexel University. He is a board member of The Catalyst Schools, a Chicago based chartered school organization. Mr. Hurd is a member of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Multifamily Silver Council. He is also on the board of Up for Growth Action.

Douglas Lyons

Managing Principal

Pearlmark

Douglas W. Lyons is a Managing Principal of Pearlmark, with responsibility for the firm’s capital

markets and debt investment activities. He is also a member of the firm’s Management and

Investment Committees. Prior to joining Pearlmark in 1996, Mr. Lyons was Vice President of

Equity Institutional Investors, Inc. where he was responsible for merchant banking activities and

strategic portfolio management projects for the Zell/Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity

funds, the Zell/Chilmark Fund, and other Sam Zell-related affiliates. In addition, Mr. Lyons

actively managed an institutional portfolio of REIT stocks. Previously, he worked in the New

York Real Estate Capital Markets groups for Bankers Trust Company (1989-1991) and Merrill

Lynch & Co. (1987-1989).

Mr. Lyons earned a BA degree in History from Amherst College where he was a two-time All-

American in soccer, and his MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business

Administration. He currently serves several nonprofits including the Harvard Alumni Real Estate

Board, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and the JDRF Illinois Chapter as Chairman of the Real Estate

Games. Mr. Lyons is also a member of the Pension Real Estate Association and the Urban Land

Institute, where he is a Trustee. Mr. Lyons currently serves as a Trustee of the Loomis Chaffee

School chairing its Buildings and Grounds Committee and previously served as a Trustee for

Lycée Français de Chicago and Chair of its Facilities Committee and as Treasurer of St. James

Cathedral in Chicago.

Sean Connelly

Principal

33 Realty

Sean was born outside of San Francisco but grew up in numerous locations due to his father being in the Air Force. These areas included Washington D.C., Kansas City and Boston. Sean went to undergrad at Boston College where he played lacrosse and Law School at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Sean grew up with a surgeon for a father and a lawyer for a mother. He also had an Uncle in real estate who always seemed to be having more fun and inspired him to pursue that career.

Sean has received the designation as Co Star Power Broker 3 times. Prior to joining 33, Sean learned investment brokerage at a boutique brokerage in Chicago. Sean brings his creative thinking and background in the law to derive solutions to complicated transactions. Sean is excited to see 33 continue to expand into other markets to serve clients interest in geographic diversification. When not at work Sean enjoys spending time with his family and travel.

Sean and his family started lacrosse in Kansas City after moving from the DC area. In law school he won a state Championship for his high-school coaching with his Dad and brother.

Molly Phelan

Partner

Siegel Jennings

Molly is a partner in the Chicago Office of Siegel Jennings, a national property tax law firm. As a litigator and trusted advisor, she collaborates with Owners, Asset Managers, Acquisition teams and Tax Departments to identify, create and execute property tax reduction strategies. She becomes a member of her clients’ management team. Her goal is to maximize and protect the full potential of real estate assets, minimize related tax liabilities, and resolve disputes with tax authorities and government entities.

Molly’s client experience ranges from family owned 1031 portfolios to national commercial investment funds, including special use properties such as hospital campuses to multi-million-dollar manufacturing facilities.

Her comprehensive understanding of the commercial real estate market was developed in part through her time as a real estate broker in the Chicago area prior to starting her legal career. Molly regularly represents clients in hearings before review boards, local assessors’ offices, the

Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, and the circuit courts.

Patrick Olerich

Moderator

CohnReznick

Patrick Olerich, CPA, is a Director in CohnReznick’s Chicago office with over ten years of experience. Patrick

has extensive experience in partnership and real estate taxation, hospitality (including both hotels and

restaurants), affordable housing, and historic tax credits. Patrick concentrates on the real estate industry and

provides services to developers, syndicators, and funds in the affordable housing, multifamily, and commercial

real estate industries.

Patrick’s responsibilities at CohnReznick include the supervision and review of the tax return preparation

process and also working closely with all members of the team to achieve clients’ goals and objectives.

Education

 Northern Michigan University: Bachelor of Science, Accounting

Professional Affiliations

 Illinois CPA Society

Construction & Development Forecast

With the Cost of Development on the Rise on the Financing Side, how are Supply Chain and Material Costs Pressures Influencing Current and Future Projects

Matt Havey

Matt Havey

Managing Director

Vermilion Development

Chad Broderick

Chad Broderick

Managing Partner

LCI Development Partners

Benjamin Skelton

Benjamin Skelton

CEO and Founder

Cyclone Energy Group

Liza Jessen

Liza Jessen

VP

Clune Construction

Richard Reizen
Moderator

Richard Reizen

Chair, Construction Practice

Gould & Ratner

Matt Havey

Managing Director

Vermilion Development

Matt Havey joined Vermilion Development in 2018 as a Managing Director. Matt focuses on capital markets, asset management, risk management, and acquisitions. In addition to other projects, Matt is leading the development of 605 Davis, an 18-story “Class A” office building located in downtown Evanston, IL.

Matt joined Vermilion from The John Buck Company, where he concentrated on asset management, capital markets, and acquisitions. Prior to The John Buck Company, Matt practiced law in the Corporate & Securities group of Faegre Drinker LLP, where he represented public and private clients in corporate finance, M&A, and securities matters.

Matt received a BS in Economics from Northwestern University, an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management, and a JD from the Northwestern University School of Law.

Chad Broderick

Managing Partner

LCI Development Partners

Chad serves as managing partner of LCI Development Partners, which focuses on joint ventures with trusted developer clients and institutional equity partners across the country. LCI provides expertise and equity capital for development projects, adding value through credit enhancement, project management and construction expertise.

Upon receiving his MBA in real estate and urban land studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chad spent nearly a decade working as a senior vice president at The John Buck Company, where he was also a member of investment committee. He has also worked for The JBG Companies, Sunrise Senior Living and Cambridge Associates.

Chad earned is bachelor of science in business from Wake Forest University and is active with the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate (MBIRE), and the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association (WREAA). He also previously held leadership positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago.

Benjamin Skelton

CEO and Founder

Cyclone Energy Group

Benjamin founded Cyclone Energy Group in 2012 with a vision of making the world more

efficient by bridging together design, construction and ongoing operation of high performance

buildings. With his background in building design, energy modeling, commissioning and retro-

commissioning, he has established and runs the 20 person Chicago-based consultancy which

has earned international recognition for both its projects and team members.

Over his career, he has helped create some of the most energy efficient and unique buildings in

the world. Projects include super-tall high-rise buildings, net-positive energy designs, LEED

Platinum and WELL Certified buildings. He has earned the prestigious ASHRAE International

Design Award for the Walgreens Net Zero Energy Store. In 2015 he was named 40 under 40 by

Consulting Specifying Engineer Magazine.

Liza Jessen

VP

Clune Construction

Liza Jessen knew she wanted to pursue a career in construction at a young age. A frequent traveler as a

child, she was always fascinated when flying over a city "grid." She was in awe of how methodical and

tedious it must have been for an engineer to make these ideas a reality.

After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Villanova University, she

immediately began working in the Special Projects Division of a large Chicago general contractor. It was

here that she started gaining her vast experience in tenant interiors.

Liza joined Clune Construction as a Senior Project Manager in 2019. She continued to oversee a variety

of buildouts in the tenant interior market. She has recently broken into Clune's Mission Critical division

and is now overseeing ground-up projects. Always emphasizing the importance of continuing to build

relationships, while also gaining knowledge, Liza has been instrumental in helping Clune obtain repeat

clients.

During her relatively limited tenure at Clune, Liza has quickly gained respect from upper management,

team members and peers. She has risen through the ranks quickly to become a Vice President. She was

recently promoted to a Team Lead.

Liza is very involved with Clune's continuous improvement along with her own professional

development. She is known for her honesty and accountability, and as a leader, she wants the same for

her team. Liza is dedicated to this effort and fosters an environment of open communication.

Liza is also actively involved with Camp Hope, an organization that provides summer camp experience

for mentally handicapped adults. In addition, she is active in her children's school and her alma mater,

the School of St. Mary in Lake Forest.

Richard Reizen

Moderator

Gould & Ratner

For more than 40 years, Rich Reizen has represented a wide array of clients in connection with numerous construction projects and complex commercial litigation matters.

Rich, who is chair of the firm's Construction Practice, has represented contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers and owners in connection with hundreds of construction projects in Chicago and throughout the country.

Rich is both an experienced litigator and construction lawyer, using his depth of skills to advise his clients in all phases of construction, including pre-construction documentation, construction issues arising during the project, and the mediation, arbitration or litigation of claims resulting from the projects.

Rich also has a wealth of experience in a broad range of commercial litigation matters. He has represented large institutions, entrepreneurs and closely-held businesses in numerous types of matters.

In addition, Rich has also served as lead counsel in numerous complex multidistrict class actions.

Rich was selected as a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America , which noted that: "Rich Reizen's excellent reputation in the construction law arena throughout the country is a positive result of top-quality service.’”

Rich is a frequent author and speaker on a variety of construction-related topics, as well as other topics including class actions, accounting and banking issues.

Perception Vs. Reality

Disconnect Between how Chicago is Viewed and the Tenant and Resident Momentum Driving the Market

Allen Rogoway

Allen Rogoway

Managing Principal

Cresa

Barbara Schenberg

Barbara Schenberg

Executive Vice-President of Leasing

Parkside Realty

Mike Abbatemarco

Mike Abbatemarco

Principal

Ryan

Walid Matarieh
Moderator

Walid Matarieh

Sr. Manager, Community Account Sales

Xfinity

Allen Rogoway

Managing Principal

Cresa

With 22 years of experience in commercial real estate, Allen Rogoway is an Initial Managing Principal of Cresa Chicago. He is an advocate for the real estate interests of occupiers throughout the Greater Chicago area. Allen began his career in commercial real estate at Equis Corporation, where he worked on both local and national accounts while pursuing a Master’s of Urban Planning and Policy degree at The University of Illinois, Chicago.

Barbara Schenberg

Executive Vice-President of Leasing

Parkside Realty

Barbara Schenberg joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2011 and recently was Executive Director with C&W responsible for over 2 million RSF of leasing downtown Chicago. An industry veteran with over 28 years experience, she was previously with Capital Properties where she served as Senior Vice President and Director of Midwest Region where she was responsible for the leasing and re-positioning of the historic Inland Steel Building. Previously, Ms. Schenberg was a Senior Vice President with The John Buck Company for 13 years. During her tenure with the firm, Ms. Schenberg was responsible for leasing a portfolio of over 5.2 million square feet in downtown Chicago.

Mike Abbatemarco

Principal

Ryan

Mike specializes in commercial real estate property tax consulting, ensuring that real estate assessments are fair and equitable for clients, and advising on the property tax implications of new acquisitions. In his role, he is responsible for overseeing the entire property tax appeal process for several Midwest states, which includes compiling market research, constructing valuation analyses and direct capitalization models, filing appeals, and negotiating settlements with local assessing officials. His extensive experience handling various property types includes office and medical office buildings, freestanding retail, shopping centers, hospitality, multifamily, assisted-living facilities, industrial buildings, and parking facilities.

Walid Matarieh

Moderator

Xfinity

Walid is a Sr. Manager of Commercial Development for Xfinity. Xfinity is the multifamily arm of Comcast, serving customers such as apartments, condos, dorms and senior facilities. Walid leads the Account Executive team, with a primary focus in the City of Chicago and surrounding suburbs, working with owners and associations to provide unique solutions to meet their needs. Walid joined Xfinity in 2013 bringing nearly 25 years of telecom experience with the last 12 years solely focused on Multi-family. Walid was born in Chicago and currently lives in the south suburbs with his wife and 3 kids.

Projects to be discussed

Why This Matters

What You'll Learn: 

1. How will the largest projects tangibly impact Chicago residents?

2. What is the status and potential roadblocks on the casino project that will dramatically change River West and Chicago as a whole?

3. With the confluence of high material costs, lack of labor availability and rising interest rates, how do projects pencil out and what does this hold in store for the development pipeline?

4. With a negative perception nationally, residential units continue to proliferate, what factors in to the disconnect as Chicago remains a national and global force?

5. How does Chicago fare in competition for the most major tenants and how is Chicago positioning itself to the nations leading companies?

How You'll Do More Business:

Enhance your business by understanding the major projects in Chicagoland and how they're positioned to fundamentally benefit the tenant and resident landspace. Gain an understanding of how the unpredictable economic markets are impacting the commercial real estate world, specifically the progress of developments and overall deal flow. Gain insight from the top developers, investors, brokers and tenants across multifamily, office,  and mixed-use developments about supply and demand dynamics and attracting tenants in a competitive national landscape.

Who Attends: The leading owners, developers, investors, general constractors, designers, architects, financial institutions, government officials and more!

What Does Your Ticket Get You: Bisnow events bring together the biggest power players in the industry to identify opportunities, build your network and expand your business. With the largest audience of commercial real estate professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than us.

Agenda

Time Activity
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
Pre-Event Networking
3:00 PM
3:45 PM
City Defining Projects

-The mega-projects defining the future of Chicago Real Estate

3:45 PM
4:30 PM
2022 Investment & Financial Recap

-How interest rate and financing concerns converge to influence development and investment pipelines

4:30 PM
5:15 PM
Construction & Development Forecast

-With the cost of development on the rise on the financing side, how are supply chain and material costs pressures influencing current and future projects

5:15 PM
6:00 PM
Perception Vs. Reality

-Disconnect between how Chicago is viewed and the tenant and resident momentum driving the market

6:00 PM
6:30 PM
Post-Event Networking