Chicago CRE: Random Acts of Holiday Kindness

With its emphasis on family, generosity and community, this time of year is perfect for giving back. 

For the second year in a row, private REIT Pangea Properties surprised a family in need with a home for the holidays on the Steve Harvey Show. Pangea CMO Justin Cohen presented this gift to Jeanie Delascasas, a Navy vet and single mother of two who has been homeless for almost three years. The firm is providing the family a fully furnished two-bedroom townhouse in Park Forest with free rent and utilities for a year. (A total value of $25k.) Pangea has invested $250M-plus in renovations of more than 10,000 distressed units across Chicago, Indianapolis and Baltimore since its founding in ’09.

Amata Office Solutions employees competed in an office decorating contest judged by the Israel Idonije Foundation, a local nonprofit and Amata tenant that provides youth programming to kids in underserved communities. (The winning center’s employees, on the 28th floor of 150 N Michigan, won a free vacation day.) If that wasn’t enough, Amata also donated $2k to the foundation's “Shop with a Cop” event (where students participate in a day of bowling and shopping with CPD officers) and organized a toy drive for which employees and tenants across its six shared office centers donated toys to children supported by the Salvation Army. Snapped: Amata president Frank Chalupa delivering the 200-plus toys collected through the toy drive.