Chicago State of the Market

John is the Founder, President and CEO of Oxford Capital Group, LLC, a national real estate investment and development firm focusing on large scale hospitality, mixed-use, senior housing, multifamily, urban retail, parking, and other operationally intensive forms of real estate. Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC, its wholly owned management affiliate, specializes in developing, operating and branding distinctive, high design lifestyle hotels, rooftops and other food & beverage venues around the country. Oxford, its affiliates and principals have been involved in approximately $3 billion of transactions, including approximately 13,000 hotel rooms. Noted national projects include Godfrey Hotel-Hollywood, Godfrey Hotel-Boston, Metropolitan Hotel and Lexington Hotel – New York City, National Conference Center-Lansdowne, VA, Residence Inn and Spring Hill Suites in Charleston, SC, and Godfrey Hotel & Cabanas-Tampa Bay. Included in his 17 Chicago area projects (13 of which are hotels) are the recently topped off 56 story Essex on the Park luxury apartment building, and his soon to open Hotel Julian-Millennium Park. Other Chicago projects include Langham Chicago, LondonHouse Chicago, Godfrey Chicago, Hotel Essex, Hotel Felix, Hotel Cass, Hotel Versey, Claridge House, Hyatt Magnificent Mile, Renaissance North Shore, Doubletree North Shore, and Hyatt House Northwest. Additional rooftop and food and beverage venues include IO, LH, SX-Sky Bar, ALK, WTR and Spa Boutique. John and/or Oxford have been nominated for and/or won numerous awards including: Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Arthur Rubloff Humanitarian Award, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Crain’s “40 under 40” and Who’s Who, Developer of the Year, Development of the Year, Redevelopment of the Year, National Hotel Transaction of the Year, Historic Redevelopment of the Year and the Top Hotel in the Continental US. He earned a BA from The University of Michigan and an MBA from University of Chicago. He also studied at Northwestern University, Harvard Business School (YPO’s Presidents’ Program) and Oxford University (Christ Church).

Mr. Carlson joined Waterton in 2011 and serves as executive vice president of debt capital markets. In this role, he is responsible for sourcing, arranging and negotiating debt financing for the firm’s acquisitions as well as its existing portfolio of properties. He also leads the firm’s Freddie Mac K deal, mezzanine and preferred equity investment activities. Mr. Carlson has been involved in real estate debt capital markets and private equity since 1997. Prior to joining Waterton, Mr. Carlson was a senior vice president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in its Real Estate Corporate Banking Group, where he was responsible for structuring, underwriting and managing a $1 billion portfolio of bank loans to REIT, Homebuilder and Real Estate Opportunity Fund clients. Mr. Carlson also spent five years in Bank of America’s Debt Capital Markets business, where he executed over 35 private placement transactions raising over $7 billion in long-term debt for clients in diverse industries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America. Earlier in his career, Mr. Carlson was an associate director in MetLife’s Private Equity Investment Group and a senior consultant at Accenture. Mr. Carlson holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC).

Alex is the founding partner, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of CEDARst Companies. Over the past ten years, Mr. Samoylovich has sourced, invested in and managed in excess of hundreds of transactions and has been instrumental in the acquisition and disposition of real estate with a value in excess of $500mm. Utilizing a “fully integrated real estate developer” (IRED) approach, Mr. Samoylovich and his partners have seamlessly interwoven acquisition, construction, finance, management, and marketing under one company. In the past 5 years, CEDARst is considered one of the most active acquirers of distressed assets in the greater Chicago area. Under Mr. Samoylovich’s leadership, the company has carved out a niche strategy for the adaptive reuse of underperforming assets through bankruptcies, foreclosure, note purchases, and other distressed situations in the Chicago area; covering a span of product types from multifamily, office, mixed-use, and hospitality. Mr. Samoylovich has cemented a well-earned reputation as a tenacious deal maker capable of closing the most complex and demanding real estate transactions and returning superior risk adjusted returns to his investors. Prior to entering real estate, Mr. Samoylovich was an accomplished equity and options trader. During this time, Mr. Samoylovich developed a keen understanding of market psychology and timing which he forayed into a successful “short” strategy in residential real estate just prior to the recession. Mr. Samoylovich holds a BA in Business from DePaul University and is currently a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the Economic Club of Chicago (ECC). In 2016, Alex was nominated to Crain’s 40 Under 40.

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.

Leslie Zwirn, CPA, is a Senior Manager in the Firm’s Assurance Practice of CohnReznick LLP’s Chicago office. She has nine years of experience in public accounting providing client services in the areas of audit, review and compilation, compliance, and other assurance services. This experience includes working with investment company funds, hospitality, commercial real estate developers and investors, residential real estate companies, historic tax credit entities and historic tax credit funds. Her responsibilities include planning and executing field work both internally and externally, review of staff prepared test work and difficult testing areas, monitoring file completion to meet deadlines, working with staff and clients to satisfy test work requirements, analysis of client control environment, evaluating the design of internal controls, and performing testing procedures. Within the commercial real estate industry, Leslie has expansive knowledge of various operating structures, including, large portfolios, luxury resorts, boutique and select service real estates. Leslie helped develop audit testing methodologies used by the office’s clients and applying new and continuously evolving standards to meet regulatory expectations. Leslie organizes and executes day to day field work as the intermediary between the engagement team and clients. Her performance with existing practices has resulted in strong client relationships and in helping the office grow. She is often considered as one of the top candidates for any emerging opportunities for the firm. She was previously selected as being the Firm’s representative in a six-month secondment in Adelaide, Australia with Nexia Edwards Marshall, an affiliate of CohnReznick LLP, wherein she experienced a wide variety of industries under international financial reporting standards. Leslie is involved in recruiting, networking events, and training staff and is an active participant in industry practice group she is involved with. She is a representative for the for the Illinois CPA Society as the firm ambassador and is also an active participant in in the firm’s collaborative advocacy network for women and industry related groups.

Jim Letchinger founded JDL Development in 1993 and to date, has developed more than 1,200 residential units with another 1,500 currently preparing to be in construction. He launched his development career with a conversion of a 1940’s Benjamin Marshall building at 210 E. Walton St. in Chicago where he transformed 21 apartments into five unique residential condominiums. Mr. Letchinger quickly became known as one of Chicago’s most creative and respected residential developers, specializing in urban development where his expertise in entitlement and infill design provides a significant competitive advantage. Mr. Letchinger is intimately involved in all aspects of JDL’s projects, from inception to completion. His hands-on approach has helped JDL survive a number of real estate cycles. Mr. Letchinger is a graduate of the University of Michigan. A life long resident of the City of Chicago, Mr. Letchinger is married with two grown children.

Susan Tjarksen joined Cushman & Wakefield in October 2018 serving as Managing Director of the firm’s multifamily investment sales team in Chicago. Susan co-founded KIG CRE in 2015 which was acquired by Cushman & Wakefield in 2018. She brings more than 30 years of real estate experience working with both private and public investment institutions throughout the country. Prior to brokerage, Susan was a leader in apartment and mixed-use development, having planned, built, designed, financed and delivered projects totaling more than $3.5 billion in revenue. She has also successfully developed and sold 12,000 residential units, 2,500 hotel rooms and more than 2M square feet of retail and office space. Additionally, Susan is the co-founder and chair of Enodo, an AI-assisted multifamily underwriting and valuation platform. She is an active in the commercial real estate industry and her community. Susan is a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council, Roosevelt University’s MBIRE Advisory Board and the Lincoln Park Builders Club of Chicago.

Lee Golub leads the Golub & Company U.S. division, spearheading the company’s successful pursuit of high-profile development opportunities across the country, stimulating rapid growth in multiple property sectors and geographical markets. Lee provides leadership to the firm’s development group responsible for ensuring the quality of ground-up construction projects, as well as to the asset management and marketing executives responsible for enhancing the sustained value of every property. Lee is also a member of Golub’s Executive Committee which is responsible for company strategy, decision-making, and relationship-building. He serves on the boards of Chicago Gateway Green, Lookingglass Theatre, the Magnificent Mile Association and the Latin School of Chicago and has acted as co-chair of the City of Hope REACH (Real Estate Action Committee) social for many years. Lee is also a member of the Architecture and Design Committee at the Art Institute of Chicago. He joined the company in 1987 and serves as the designated managing broker for Golub & Company of Illinois LLC.

As founder and CEO, Steve has built 15 million sf of apartments and offices worth over $7 billion in 7 different markets. Particular focus continues in mid and high rise luxury apartments in Chicago, Los Angeles and Texas, where the company has delivered over 3,000 units in the last 5 years. Steve has been named Developer of the Year twice in Chicago, National Executive of the Year (with his wife Randy) by Multi Housing News and has received numerous project awards for design and innovation in Los Angeles and Chicago. He is a trained mathematician with an MBA from the University of Chicago, an active member in YPO GOLD (Chicago and Los Angeles), a Foundation Board member of both Chicago's Children's and Prentice Hospitals, and the father of 7 children.

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.

Justin has extensive experience representing clients in real estate transactions and litigation. He uses a hybrid approach to represent buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, lenders, and borrowers in real estate matters. Justin typically advises on the entire lifecycle of a deal—from closing to financing, refinancing, and enforcement actions, if necessary. Justin represents clients operating in diverse industry sectors and has extensive experience with family offices, multifamily, health care lending, distressed real estate, and loan purchases and sales.

A seasoned business executive, marketing and strategic thought leader with more than 30 years of experience, Michael joined Clayco, one of America’s largest fully integrated design and engineering centric builder and real estate development firm across the commercial, industrial and residential sector as its first ever Chief Growth Officer and President of Chicagoland in early 2024. Prior to this role between, Michael led as President and CEO World Business Chicago, the City’s economic development organization, with more than 100 C-Suite executives from all over Chicagoland on its business centric board between 2020 and early 2024. The organization’s core focus is on growing its industry sectors by supporting the expansion of existing Chicagoland based companies and by attracting new corporate relocations to the region, all with a focus on equitable economic prosperity across all 77 neighborhoods and the region. Additionally, Michael worked alongside the Mayor’s Office as the Chief Marketing Officer to ensure that all marketing, branding, and business development activities for the city were aligned with Mayor Lightfoot’s and then Mayor Johnson’s economic growth plan focused on inclusive growth across Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. Michael Fassnacht has been a recurring figure in Chicago’s civic community and has led critical pro-bono work for the rebranding of the Chicago Public Library and its foundation, the city’s Amazon HQ2 pitch, the City’s Census 2020 activities and “Boards of Change”, an award-winning initiative to encourage residents to register to vote. Most recently, Michael served as a Co-Chair on Mayor Johnson’s transition sub-committee for Economic Vitaly & Equity. Additionally, he has been involved as a board member with Choose Chicago, Chicago Public Library Foundation, The Civic Consulting Alliance, CURRENT, The Poetry Foundation, and World Business Chicago while providing counsel to P33, and The Chicago Prize by the Pritzker/Traubert Foundation. Michael also serves as a 2022 Daniel Burnham Fellow. Prior to his most recent role, Michael served for more than 10 years as CEO & President at one of the city’s oldest and most successful advertising agencies, Foote Cone & Belding (FCB). He led his agency to unprecedented international creative recognition and strong above-industry topline growth over his tenure. Over his long career, he has been recognized as a global expert in building and marketing brands. He started his corporate success trajectory at Lufthansa Airlines in Frankfurt, where he led the airline’s frequent flyer program, Miles & More, before departing to Silicon Valley where he was a successful start-up entrepreneur. Michael was born in Germany and made his way stateside in college where he met his wife, Dr. Rhonda Duffaut. They currently reside in Chicago and have two children, Maya and Ryan.

Mike joined Arch Amenities Group after acquisition of LifeStart to lead the firm's growth. Working with national and regional leadership and leading the new business development team, Mike focuses on maintaining, enhancing, and growing client relationships across the portfolio. Experience Mike has more than 30 years of experience in fitness and real estate operations.  Mike most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for LifeStart’s portfolio of 100 properties. He had direct oversight of the management divisions of their fitness and hospitality platforms. He lead operations, design, construction, sales and marketing, growing the management portfolio from 29 sites to 100. The main catalyst of growth was the added scope of full-building programming and amenity management. LifeStart helped Tishman Speyer launch their ZO program in the Chicago and Boston Markets and subsequently started providing Community Engagement and hospitality management solutions for groups like Zeller, MBRE, Shorenstein, Brookfield, Silverstein and CIM. Education and affiliations Mike received a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Rehabilitation from the Illinois State University, a Master of Science in Exercise Science from Illinois State University and a Master of Education from University of Illinois Chicago.

James Smiley has served in nearly every role and worked in nearly every sector throughout his 30-year construction career. Following in his father’s footsteps, he started as a general foreman at Barridge Construction in 1994 and has since ascended the ranks to his current role as project executive with Skyline Construction, a Chicago-based general contractor with additional locations in Seattle, San Diego, and the Bay Area. In this position, James manages a team of six project managers, assistant project managers and project engineers, serving as project lead throughout all phases of a project. Additionally, he oversees the project’s budget and schedule, manages resources and implementation, and contributes to the Chicago office’s strategic decisions. In total, James has constructed more than 60 projects in the Chicagoland area, totaling more than 2 million square feet. He was worked in some of Chicago’s most famous buildings such as the Willis Tower, Merchandise Mart and 350 North Orleans, completing projects for Fortune 500 and 1000 clients that include Morgan Stanley, Google, Korn Ferry and UBS.

Chuck Hurchalla is the president of Evolution Sustainability Group. He has over 30 years of experience in the deregulated energy markets, including natural gas, electricity and petroleum products. He is considered a subject matter expert on hedging strategies and the fundamental and technical drivers of movements in the energy markets, including renewable products. In addition, he has been instrumental in helping clients develop comprehensive energy management solutions that meet or exceed energy efficiency and sustainability goals.

Patrick Kearney is Managing Director at AmTrust RE, a vertically integrated owner, operator, and developer. Patrick is based in Chicago and oversees the firm’s Central US Region in addition to running development and acquisition projects nationally. Previously, he led the Central US Region for Tishman Speyer where he was responsible for a variety of successful large-scale ground-up and redevelopment efforts across the US. Over his 20+ year career, Patrick has acquired, developed, and sold more than 35 million square feet and $10.0 billion of commercial property.

Mr. Wold has over 30 years of real estate experience. Previously, Mr. Wold served as Senior Managing Director of Tishman Speyer and was a member of its Investment and Management committees from 2004 to 2014. In this role he was responsible for the Midwest, Atlanta, Boston and Washington DC regions the included over $5.0 billion of real estate acquisitions and developments. Prior to joining Tishman Speyer he served as President of TrizecHahn Office Properties, where he spearheaded the investment strategy and growth of its office portfolio which totaled $5.0 billion in assets (50 million square feet). The portfolio was concentrated in seven major markets including New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago. Mr. Wold served as Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Trizec Office Properties when the US subsidiary went public as a national REIT in 2002. Previously he was Executive Vice President and the head of the US Acquisition Group for Equity Office Properties. EOP eventually became the largest US office REIT in the country. Prior to EOP, Mr. Wold held executive positions with the Cambridge Companies, Wells Fargo Realty Advisors and First National Bank of Chicago. Mr. Wold has served on the boards of Trizec Office Properties and Captivate Networks, Inc. Mr. Wold received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Illinois and a M.S. in Real Estate from Southern Methodist University.

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.

Damian Eallonardo, Executive Vice President at W.E. O’Neil Construction, is a 36-year veteran of the commercial construction industry and has overseen more than $2 billion in construction over the course of his career. Through his involvement in the industry, he has developed a keen sense of Chicago’s ever-changing commercial real estate and development market conditions and has successfully devised and implemented construction solutions to assist clients in navigating these conditions. More specifically, he has extensive experiences in the evolving world of the skilled labor market and the greater economic forces driving design and construction costs. Damian is a LEED Accredited Professional and a board member of the Chicagoland Associated General Contractors.

Sam Luckino is a licensed architect currently practicing in Chicago, with more than two decades of experience with projects worldwide. He brings the highest caliber design and management practices to each new project, and dedication to collaborating with clients in achieving their goals. As a principal with the firm, Sam leads projects through the design and construction process with a focus on large scale mixed-use, residential, and hospitality developments. Prior to working with KTGY, Sam spent 13 years as a director and principal where he led design teams on a wide range of complex projects around the world. Sam earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture as well as a Master of Architecture from the Knowlton School, where he remains an active participant in the Knowlton Mentorship Program and serves as a member of the Knowlton Board of Advisors. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and of the AIA Chicago Practice Management Knowledge Committee, is NCARB certified, a LEED Accredited Professional, and is a member of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, where he previously served as City Representative for New York.

Scott Sattler is a partner in the firm’s Chicago, IL office. He serves as a trusted advisor to real estate developers and managers, professional services companies, manufacturers, construction contractors, and wealthy families. A key component of Scott's client relationships is the assistance he offers when they face significant decisions as well as daily business needs. Scott has extensive experience in accounting, taxation, and business consulting, with a specialized focus in the real estate sector. He also assists clients with due diligence and related advice regarding mergers, acquisitions, and the disposition of companies and their assets. He also advises clients, utilizing trust/estate and partnership tax laws, on structuring for both estate and income tax purposes for business and asset acquisitions and dispositions, including tax deferred exchanges. Scott has extensive knowledge when it comes to assisting closely held companies and individuals with all aspects of financial matters, with an emphasis on advising pass-through entities and their owners. Previously, Scott was a partner at Shepard Schwartz & Harris LLP, which joined Citrin Cooperman in 2022.