Chicago real estate suffered a major loss over the weekend with the news that Cedar St co-founder Jay Michael died after a year-long battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was 34.
Jay and childhood friend Alex Samoylovich started Cedar St over a decade ago. The company today has diversified interests, including property and asset management, construction and interior design, in both commercial and multifamily.
Jay was best known as the guiding force behind Flats Chicago, which transformed eight rundown buildings in Uptown into fashionable micro-apartments targeting young renters.
Jay's interest in Uptown didn't end with Flats. Cedar St bought two properties near the Lawrence Red Line station in July. The company is converting the Bush Temple of Music into micro-apartments, and bought the Salvation Army's former West Side campus for $20M in September.
Jay didn't initially choose real estate as a career. He was working towards becoming a television reporter when his father died of a heart attack when Jay was 21. At the time, Jay weighed 300 pounds; his father's death changed the course of his life. He entered real estate instead, adopted a healthy lifestyle and dropped over 100 pounds.
A memorial service for Jay will be held at noon tomorrow at Northbrook Community Synagogue, 2548 Jasper Ct. Charitable donations in his name should go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Cancer Society.
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