Crain_CCB_20250113 by pensions-and-investments

What will shape Chicago real estate in 2025

Here are some key events that unfolded in 2024 and what to look for in the months ahead

By Danny Ecker and Rachel Herzog

Survive until '25. Commercial property investors hung on to the echo of an old Sam Zell mantra over the past year as the public health crisis faded further in the rearview mirror and hope grew for a so-called soft landing for the U.S. economy.

tion reform, and the agenda of a Republican-controlled federal government have hefty implications for developers, construction rms, the labor pool and the state of Illinois at large.

Gov. JB Pritzker was quick to raise a shield, declaring his focus on shoring up protections for Illinoisans. "You come for my people, you come through me," he said during a news conference in November.

Bracing for the demise of DEI

But after a year of political change and post-pandemic adjustment, what will 2025 actually bring to stakeholders in Chicago real estate? Here are some key things that happened in 2024 and what to look for in the months ahead:

The Trump effect

◗ What happened: Donald Trump's election to the presidency reframed the commercial real estate conversation in Chicago and nationwide. reats of tari s, talk of ring federal employees who don't work from the o ce, the potential extension or creation of tax incentive programs, immigra-

◗ What to look for in 2025: Chicago was Trump's social media punching bag during his rst term. Will that be the case again, particularly with Pritzker's rising national pro le in the Democratic Party? Institutional real estate investors and lenders are already leery about directing capital into Chicago, and more attention on the city's challenges won't help. Will federal funding be provided for major infrastructure projects tied to thousands of construction jobs like the modernization of

Is Hershey the white whale for Oreo-maker Mondelez?

The Chicago-based snack maker is reportedly exploring an acquisition of the iconic chocolate company. It’s not the rst time.

By Ally Marotti

Oreo-maker Mondelez International has been trying to break into the U.S. chocolate market for years. e main owner of Hershey, the king of American chocolate, has once again dashed its dreams.

Bloomberg reported last month that Mondelez was exploring an acquisition of the Pennsylvania-

based Reese’s-maker, citing people familiar with the matter. Hershey, with its namesake Kisses, dominates the American chocolate world. Acquiring it would have vaulted Mondelez to the top of a category in which it barely plays.

However, Hershey’s main owner rejected a preliminary takeover bid from Mondelez, Bloomberg reported Dec. 11.

e news was not surprising. e Hershey Trust, which holds roughly 80% of the company’s voting power, has impeded past takeover attempts, including one from Mondelez in 2016. e trust is motivated by factors beyond normal market conditions. As such, acquiring Hershey has become a white whale.

MONDELEZ on Page 15

HEALTH CARE

If private equity buys Walgreens, these assets could face the chopping block.

A CHICAGOAN TO KNOW Delphine Pontvieux, the founder of Nyet Jewelry, is an actor and artist, as well as an author. PAGE 5

BLOOMBERG

MICHELLE KAFFKO/ORGANIC HEADSHOTS

Why Abbott Labs, Dexcom ended glucose monitor patent ght

After years of back-and-forth litigation, both sides agreed to a 10-year truce. What changed?

By Jon Asplund

Abbott Laboratories and Dexcom will concentrate on competing in the huge market of potential continuous glucose monitor technology and put any patent disputes behind them for 10 years.

North Chicago-based Abbott announced in December it reached a settlement agreement with Dexcom over all outstanding patent disputes relating to their glucose monitoring products, which estimate blood sugar levels.

e technology is widely used by Type 1 diabetics who rely on taking insulin to regulate blood sugar. But in recent years, both companies have seen dramatic growth in the much larger consumer populations of Type 2 diabetics who use insulin, noninsulin-dependent diabetics and others, such as dieters and athletes.

e settlement agreement puts to bed all pending cases in courts and patent o ces worldwide, Abbott said in a statement, and provides that the parties will not litigate patent, trade dress and design rights disputes with each other for the next 10 years.

Abbott said there were nonancial payments associated with the settlement from either company, but said further details of the settlement were con dential.

" is isn't surprising," said Vijay Kumar, Abbott analyst at Evercore ISI. "In med tech, once these products are established" companies want to sell them, keep their customers happy and not cause controversy about the products.

Litigation between the rival diabetes management operations has been going on since June 2021 with Dexcom and Abbott's diabetes division serving patent infringement complaints against each other around the world. In March 2024, an Abbott patent claim went to trial in U.S. District Court in Delaware. Before it reached trial, the court had already thrown out a number of Abbott's claims returned a mixed verdict, according to a Dexcom third-quarter of 2024 nancial ling.

On March 22, the jury found that Dexcom infringed one patent, but did not infringe on a second and third patent, Dexcom said. e jury found infringement was not willful and no determination of damages was made or

awarded, according to the ling.

Now that all litigation has been dropped, Abbott said "it allows the company to fully focus on supporting people with diabetes with its technologies and services."

"It makes sense," Kumar said. " e market has moved, the Medicare populations is looking at it, and among (Type 2) diabetics, some 85% are non-insulin-using."

e job for Abbott, and competitors like Dexcom and Medtronic, is now to build awareness and make a business case for payers to cover these products, he said.

Globally, that means CGM makers will need beef up their government relationships, with most countries outside the United States being single payers to convince of the need, and utility of continuous glucose monitoring, Kumar said.

In announcing an expansion to its CGM manufacturing facility in Ireland in November, Abbott said that, right now, more than 6 million people in over 60 countries rely on Abbott’s technology, with global demand growing.

CEO Robert Ford said in an earnings call in October that the potential for Abbott's FreeStyle Libre CGMs is a “mass market opportunity.” ere are about about 10 million CGM users worldwide, but more than 500 million people with diabetes around the world, Ford said. He said he expected the company would exceed its our target of 15% compound annual growth in 2024.

e CGM business is among the top growth drivers in Abbott’s medical devices business, with Diabetes Care posting 19% organic sales growth for the rst nine months of 2024, Abbott said in a press release. With diabetes care revenue for the rst nine months of 2024 at $4.9 billion, Abbott said in the release it is on track to achieve a target of $10 billion in annual sales of FreeStyle Libre CGM systems by 2028.

One of Chicago’s buzziest new bagel shops is expanding to Fulton Market

By Jack Grieve

e husband-and-wife owners of a self-described "Chicago-style" bagel shop are planning to open a second city location 18 months after making their initial splash in the South Loop.

Hannah Tillett-Banaszak and Mike Banaszak hope to open the second rendition of Tilly Bagel Shop at Fulton Market's 204 N. Aberdeen St. in April. e original Tilly on Balbo Drive has drawn lines out the door every weekend since opening in 2023. eir motivation for expanding is simple: e sta needs more baking space to meet the high demand.

"We can't physically make any more bagels on-site right now. at's how crazy it's been," Banaszak said. e new location will be about 2,000 square feet, roughly double the rst.

Tilly's popularity is partially attributable to its baking being unapologetically not New York. e bagels are sourdough, not too

dense, with a u y interior and crispy exterior. ey are at times topped with unusual avors, such as dill pickles, giardiniera seasoning or rosemary. One of Banaszak's favorite recipes calls for Flamin' Hot Cheetos on a plain bagel with cream cheese.

"Chicago has all this amazing food, like Chicago-style pizza, hot dogs, Italian beef, so why isn't there a Chicago-style bagel?"

Tillett-Banaszak said. " at's what we're trying to do here."

Like many bakeries buzzing in the city right now, Tilly was born out of the pandemic, though the bagels have been bopping around much longer. Tillett-Banaszak spent years working in Chicago kitchens, including a few stints with Boka Restaurant Group, and on the side she baked bagels, often for sta meals and to share with friends. When she was furloughed in 2020, baking bagels became a business. She sold them via Instagram and delivered them by bike, only later to earn a spot at

Dexcom, in a November 2024 third-quarter nancial presentation, said it is capitalizing no the momentum of sales into the Type 2 basal and non-insulin populations.

Dexcom noted that more than 25 million people in the U.S. with Type 2 diabetes have not yet progressed to insulin therapy, and the company sees "an opportunity to address this health crisis earlier to slow, or even reverse, the progression of diabetes."

a farmers market and in a shared kitchen space. Opening a brickand-mortar shop quickly became the clear next step. e husband-wife duo are the sole investors. ey currently have about 20 employees and intend to double that when they open this spring. Tillett-Banaszak runs the baking operations, while Banaszak helps behind the scenes with the business side. Banaszak is also a licensed architect and drew the plans for both Tilly locations. ey said they picked Fulton Market in part because it was the rst Chicago neighborhood that Tillett-Banaszak's called home but also because the dining hotspot lacks breakfast options. Also, as Tillett-Banaszak put it, "I really do think it's the best place to be for food right now."

As for possible future Tilly locations, the owners far from ruled it out. eir current plan is growth and they plan to evaluate their next move some six months after opening the second store.

The self-described “Chicago-style” bagel shop has no interest in trying to be like New York. | SAMMY FAZE

Virtue Cider’s founder has bought back the company

Now that the cider maker is independent again, founder Greg Hall plans to take it back to its roots and renovate its 48-acre farm in southwest Michigan, about a 2.5-hour drive northeast of Chicago I

Virtue Cider’s founder has bought back his cider-making company from beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, and he is planning some changes at the southwest Michigan farm.

Greg Hall opened Virtue in Fennville, Mich., in 2012 with the goal of bringing more European-style farmhouse cider to the U.S. (It was the year after his father, John Hall, sold Goose Island Beer to AB InBev.) ree years later, Greg Hall sold 51% of Virtue to AB InBev as the company looked to build out its craft beverage portfolio. By 2017, the Budweiser maker owned the whole company.

By Ally Marotti

“I love the idea of cider and kind of bringing that European farmhouse character to southwest Michigan.”

Greg Hall, Virtue Cider founder

How Gov. Pritzker’s delta-8 crackdown could impact sales

Enforcement of bans on synthetic weed varies widely, but states such as Michigan and Oregon have already seen an impact

By John Pletz

Gov. JB Pritzker wants Illinois to regulate synthetic marijuana products, such as gummies and vapes, which have shown up on the shelves of smoke shops, convenience stores and gas stations, resulting in at least two incidents in which school-age children have ended up in Chicago-area hospitals.

More than a dozen states have passed laws to regulate or ban delta-8 products made from hemp, a cousin of cannabis that ordinarily contains low levels of THC, the chemical associated with marijuana’s high. In delta-8 products, the levels are concentrated to have increased potency.

Such legislation stalled in Spring eld after passing the Illinois Senate in the spring, but Pritzker now is urging the House to approve it during a lame-duck session early next month.

Passing the law may prove to be the easy part. How the state would translate it into action is less clear.

“ ere’s no data on how well enforcement is going,” says Michelle Minton, a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank that recently issued a report on hemp regulations. “In reality, the only way to enforce it is the honor system, combined with surveillance from state agencies or relying on people to snitch.”

Pritzker acknowledged during a press conference earlier this month that “enforcement is an important component, but no one is breaking down any doors.”

cannabis products, Michigan and Oregon, have seen an impact.

Jesse Bontecou, executive director of the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon, a trade group, says there have been occasional sting operations by authorities to help enforce the state’s ban on synthetic cannabis products, which was launched three years ago.

More than a dozen states have passed laws to regulate or ban delta-8 products made from hemp, a cousin of cannabis that ordinarily contains low levels of THC.

“It’s not perfect, but it has had an e ect,” he says of reducing the amount of delta-8 products in the market. “ e situation is much better than it was.” Michigan also passed a law in 2021, requiring delta-8 products to be tested and sold through licensed dispensaries, which is what Illinois is considering. Michigan regulators say they don't have data on enforcement. But Ben Sobczak, an attorney at Dickinson Wright in Detroit, says: “Once the government put out a notice, it mostly disappeared o the shelves. As soon as it stopped making sense,

See CIDER on Page 17 See DELTA-8 on Page 17

Two states that have implemented laws against synthetic

If Walgreens goes private, these assets may be cut

The struggling pharmacy chain has already provided some clues to which parts of the business a new owner may want off the books

By Katherine Davis and Jon Asplund

If a New York private-equity rm acquires Walgreens Boots Alliance, it would likely sell o parts of the struggling pharmacy chain to eliminate money-losing or precarious assets as it seeks healthy returns.

Sycamore Partners, which primarily invests in consumer and retail companies, is reportedly in talks with Deer eld-based Walgreens to take it private. e two parties declined to comment

about the potential deal to Crain’s, but e Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 10 that if the deal materializes, Sycamore may look at selling o pieces of the massive business, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.

Restructuring Walgreens would present various challenges for Sycamore or any other privateequity rm, particularly because of the complexity and size of the business, which ranges from its traditional U.S. pharmacy retail stores — the largest portion of the

company — to its Boots pharmacy chain in Europe and an underperforming health care vertical.

Nearly 80% of Walgreens’ more than $147 billion in scal 2024 revenue came from its U.S. retail pharmacy segment, which grew 5% that year. ere's no question that the market for prescription drug sales remains strong, even if reimbursement and pro tability pose challenges.

e long-term outlook for prescription drug utilization is

Greg Hall at Virtue Cider | VIRTUE CIDER

Former Esquire HQ in the Loop approved for new apartments

From the 1930s through the 1970s, the Wacker Place building was the home of several

publishing and lm empires

By Dennis Rodkin

A Loop building whose history has ties to a constellation of 20th-century cultural gures, from Ernest Hemingway to the late restaurateur Arnie Morton, received the zoning approval needed for a long-planned switch from o ces to apartments.

On Dec. 11, the City Council’s Zoning Committee voted in favor of residential zoning for the 24-story brick and limestone tower at 65 E. Wacker Place. Joint-venture partners Mavrek Development of Chicago and Acres Commercial Realty of New York plan about 250 residential units. e $51 million project, designed by architecture rm Pappageorge Haymes, will create a mix of studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, including 51 a ordable units under the city’s A ordable Requirements Ordinance.

e partners rekindled a former developer’s 2022 conversion e ort after that developer turned over the deed to Acres in a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

Nicely detailed with carved stone arches and an empty space to its east that means three sides have exposure to natural light, the building may

be most familiar today for the Morton’s steakhouse on its ground oor.

e revitalization comes just a few years ahead of the building’s centennial. Designed by architecture rm Rissman & Hirsch eld, the handsomely detailed tower opened in 1928 as a center of the city’s millinery industry, occupied by rms like Midwest Hat and Suzy et Paulette Chapeaux de Paris. It’s on a short street that at the time was called E. South Water, a remnant of the old wholesale markets that were moved out of the downtown area to make way for construction of Wacker Drive. It was the hat business that led to the building becoming an epicenter of writing, publishing and lmmaking in the 1930s.

In 1931, brothers David and Alfred Smart, the heads of Publishing Enterprises; ad executive William Weintraub; and editor Arnold Gingrich launched Apparel Arts, a trade magazine, on the building’s 19th oor. Two years later they launched Esquire magazine, aimed at men interested in literature and culture, out of the same space. In its rst issue, Esquire published work by Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Dashiell Hammett and others who would become

prominent in 20th-century literature, as well as movie star Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and cartoonist Harry Hirsh eld.

Among the other writers published by Esquire in its Chicago years were F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.D. Salinger and nature writer Donald Culross Peattie. Many of them may have passed through the building, in an era when a lot of business was conducted in person.

e publishers eventually changed the name of Apparel Arts to Gentlemen’s Quarterly. ey also published magazines called Coronet and Ken, the latter publishing more than a dozen of Hemingway’s dispatches from the Spanish Civil War. Both Gentlemen’s Quarterly and Esquire moved to New York City in the early 1950s, but one employee who stayed behind, Hugh Hefner, created another Chicago-based publishing empire, Playboy.

e Smarts also founded Coronet Instructional Films, which David Smart later said was inspired by a trip to Germany where he witnessed the Hitler regime’s skill with propaganda lms. Beginning in 1941, Coronet, also headquartered in the Wacker Place building, produced lms with titles such as “Are You Popular,” “ e Fun of Being oughtful” and “Lunchroom Manners.”

By 1964, Coronet had produced 1,200 lms, according to a historical Chicago Tribune article. In the 1940s and early

1950s, young actor Dick York appeared in several Coronet movies, including “Dating Dos and Don’ts,” “Ways to Better Conversation” and “Rest and Health.” He would later star as Darrin Stephens, the husband of Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha Stephens, on the rst ve seasons of “Bewitched,” from 1964 to 1969.

Another noted alumnus of Coronet, Mike Wallace, who was uncredited as narrator of a few Coronet lms, went on to a distinguished career in journalism, including at the CBS magazine show “60 Minutes.” Ken Nordine, the late longtime voiceover and "word jazz" performer in Chicago, also worked in Coronet lms.

Early Coronet production was at David Smart’s Glenview estate, which recently went o the

market unsold, and at other locations, but Coronet’s o ces were in the Wacker Place building until at least 1972. David and Alfred Smart, who both died in the early 1950s, are the namesakes of the University of Chicago's art museum.

Converting the old o ce building to residential certainly follows the trend of revitalizing underused downtown commercial spaces, such as those on LaSalle Street, with residential units.

But it’s also the latest in a long series of buildings from Chicago’s 20th-century heyday in publishing to go residential, after the Tribune Tower, the Ebony/Jet building on South Michigan Avenue, the Playboy and Palmolive building on North Michigan Avenue, and the loft buildings on Printers Row.

Greater Chicago Food Depository adds commercial kitchen

By Brandon Dupré

e Greater Chicago Food Depository has completed construction on a $43 million commercial kitchen facility, dubbed Chicago’s Community Kitchens, which will enable the nonpro t to signi cantly ramp up production of its prepared meals services.

e new 38,000-square-foot center is immediately west of its existing facility at 4100 W. Ann Lurie Place on Chicago’s Southwest Side. It's part of the nonprofit’s $75 million capital campaign, which included an expansion of its cold storage spaces and upgrades to its warehouse and docks, as well as new o ce spaces.

e kitchen will go from producing about 300 to 500 prepared meals a day before the expansion to about 3,000, according to Jill Rahman, the nonpro t’s chief operations o cer. At full capacity, she said they will be able to produce up to 10,000 meals a day. “ is expansion is about an appropriate and comprehensive solution for our neighbors in

need,” Rahman said.

e COO explained that the prepared meals can better serve older adults who have di culty preparing food from scratch or for parents working multiple jobs. ey can also assist clients who may not have kitchens for preparing food and for others who may have disabilities or chronic illnesses that make food preparation di cult.

To help produce the meals, which are all made from scratch, the nonpro t said it has hired around 15 new employees to work in the commercial kitchen, including two additional chefs. Rahman added that the nonprofit eschewed automation in favor of hiring workers.

“We wanted to have some entry-level jobs, and we wanted to have jobs where people can come in with a skill set or without a kitchen skill set and be able to work at the Greater Chicago Food Depository and hopefully build skills,” she said.

e completion of the kitchen comes at a time when 1 in 4

households with children in the Chicago metro area are facing food insecurity and pantries are serving 25% more guests than last year, according to the food nonpro t. In ation, too, has been a ecting families at the checkout lane.

Nonpro ts have also stepped up in feeding migrants that have arrived in Chicago, adding additional strain on already swamped local food pantries.

In scal year 2024, the Food De-

pository distributed more than 119 million pounds of food across Cook County — the equivalent of 92 million meals — through its network of partner pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.

65 E. Wacker Place | DENNIS RODKIN

The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s new commercial kitchen | GREATER CHICAGO

Delphine Pontvieux of Nyet Jewelry

A native of France, Delphine Pontvieux is the founder of and designer at Chicago’s Nyet Jewelry, as well as an actor, artist and author. Recently she won the Creative Innovation Award from Fashion Group International of Chicago for her handmade statement jewelry. Pontvieux and her husband live in Ukrainian Village, where they tend two Nigerian dwarf goats, 14 chickens and a rooftop, hydroponic tower vegetable garden. I By Laura Bianchi

Are you a Renaissance woman?

People call me that! I love to search out beauty and creativity, but nothing grabs my attention long enough to make me an expert. I just aim to be good. One day I have an acting audition, the next week I’m preparing paintings for an art exhibit. At night I make jewelry. I’m a big dreamer.

A pivotal moment?

At 9, my parents sent me to Morocco to visit family, and it opened my eyes. Experiencing the people and customs in a di erent country made me realize that not everyone lives like me. I decided to be an explorer and imagined being a travel writer.

Your rst job?

After university, I interned for Epitaph Records in the Netherlands, and within six months I was

marketing manager for Europe. Talk about a dream job, touring with punk rock bands I loved, releasing their records and visiting distributors throughout Europe. Sometimes bands like the O spring or Pennywise would invite all of us hanging around the stage to sing backup vocals at the end of their performances. It was amazing to look out over a sea of 50,000 people at summer festivals and imagine being a rock star.

Free-time pursuits?

Extreme sports such as cave diving, mono skiing, ice and rock climbing, and tech diving.

Any terrifying moments?

Many! Once during a deep dive in Mexico, a group of seven bull sharks stalked my team as we ascended from 200 feet. We needed two hours of decompression to surface safely, so we couldn’t rush.

What happened?

We reached the top unharmed, but our boat and crew were gone and the sun was going down. We spent a tense half hour monitor ing the sharks’ movements until another boat arrived. I was carrying six mixed-gas tanks, but I went up that ladder like I didn’t have any.

Do you dive year-round?

I have volunteered at the Shedd Aquarium since 2001, doing habitat maintenance and interacting with the animals.

A life-changing experience?

Battling breast cancer this year. I met so many courageous, optimistic people with more advanced disease and more di cult treatment. I realized that I am not allowed to be in a crappy mood because I’m out of sugar for my co ee.

On what do you splurge?

I always bring the fun with fashion. You might see me in a neon yellow teddy bear coat, bright purple shoes or vinyl leggings. Two of my favorite Chicago designers are Shernett Swaby of Swaby and Tania Mackey of Niczka.

EDITORIAL

Spring eld unked the hemp test

In a gas station near you — just beyond the Corn Nuts and the jugs of wiper uid and the pine tree-shaped air fresheners — you'll likely nd a colorful display of gummies, pre-rolled joints, powdery capsules and vape cartridges promising a high just like you'd get from products at your local weed dispensary, but without the highsecurity hassle and minus the heavy taxes.

Gas stations aren't the only ones hawking these products, many of which are packaged to look like candy. You can nd them at convenience stores and smoke shops, too. ey're derived from hemp like their more regulated cousins at the dispensary, but they exist in the marketplace, relatively free from oversight, because their makers and the stores that sell them have found a loophole in the law that made recreational marijuana legal in this state.

Gov. JB Pritzker would like to close that loophole. Retailers are allowed to sell intoxicating hemp-derived products — commonly referred to as delta-8, which contains synthetically concentrated THC, the highinducing compound in marijuana — without regard to the ingredients within and without regard to the age of the purchaser. People are consuming these products without necessarily understanding what's in them. Kids are getting their hands on them, too — and some have been hospitalized. Pritzker and his allies would like to see that change.

Tightening up regulation on delta-8 and other forms of synthetic THC should be a relative no-brainer, the type of thing that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Springeld say they want to accomplish, and quickly. And big consumer products companies want this state and others to clamp

PERSONAL VIEW

Chicago’s

Adown on delta-8 peddlers, too — look no further than Mars Wrigley's lawsuit against the company hawking delta-8 candies marketed as "Zkittlez" for evidence.

And yet, lawmakers in the Illinois House failed last spring and failed again in this year's veto session to pass just such a set of rules despite winning passage in the Senate — and despite the governor's backing. In fact, House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch didn't even call the bill, which meant the legislation was declared more or less dead on arrival on Jan. 6.

e measure would have required intoxicating hemp products to be sold by statelicensed cannabis dispensaries in an e ort

to keep them out of the hands of children after a couple of high-pro le incidents in which students from Chicago schools were treated at hospitals after ingesting unregulated products. e bill also would have required testing and labeling hemp products, as well as restrictions on marketing and packaging.

More than a dozen states have enacted bans or regulations along these lines. But in Illinois, raw politics keep getting in the way. A surprisingly erce lobbying battle broke out late last year, with cannabis companies big and small squaring o against hemp growers and purveyors of everything from CBD gummies to intoxicating drinks. Even

local governments, most notably led by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who had their own regulation and revenue ideas in mind, got involved.

Indeed, Johnson was whipping up opposition to the House bill even as the governor was pushing in the opposite direction. But the real stumbling block appeared to be the speaker, who ultimately declined to bring the bill to the oor — allowing these unregulated products to remain on store shelves for the foreseeable future.

e dust-up that followed, with ngerpointing galore culminating in the governor calling out members of the House Democratic Caucus for their handling of the entire issue, doesn't portend well for the future. If the Democrats who run every major level of government in Spring eld, Chicago's City Hall and Cook County can't get their act together on something as common sense as controlling the sale of intoxicating products to kids, then what con dence can we have that they're capable of tackling the much greater challenges coming our way?

As Crain's John Pletz pointed out in an analysis of the hemp debacle, there’s never a good time for a politician as ambitious as Pritzker to lose. But this defeat comes at a particularly inopportune moment as Pritzker and legislators are forced to put together a budget for the rst time in years without help from federal pandemic-relief money. at will require making hard choices on spending, even as education, health care, worker pensions and public transit all threaten to consume more resources.

In other words, if our elected o cials can't get the relatively easy choices right, how are they going to handle the tough ones?

budget could have taken a di erent path

s the mayor’s scal year 2025 budget was introduced in October, the common assumption was that either a property tax increase was needed to pay for services or deep cuts to services were unavoidable.

What if that was not true?

What if, even in this tight budget year, we members of Chicago's City Council could have collaborated to increase local investments in public health and safety using money baked into the budget?

We could have, and we proved that the common assumption was wrong. In fact, we found the money, and, unfortunately, not enough Chicago alderpersons were willing to disrupt the status quo.

In the end, we voted for this budget, which includes at least some good-faith investments in Chicago communities while holding the line on property taxes. e budget passed is far from perfect, but it is signi cantly better than what the “Eciency Caucus” proposed Dec. 15, calling for about $820 million more in draconian cuts.

In other words, the budget could have been much worse.

But it’s also true that this budget could — and should — have been much better. We missed a historic opportunity to improve life-giving services in our city.

e Public Health and Safety Budget Amendment ordinance, co-sponsored by both of us, alongside other City Council colleagues, cut through the noise with a rational and humane solution. e proposal recommends scaling back approximately $170 million currently allocated to vacant positions within the Chicago Police Department to $20 million. is adjust-

ment would have redirected $150 million to close the budget gap and invest in critical public health and safety programs. ese are positions that, according to reporting by WBEZ-FM, will remain vacant in 2025, as they have for years, due to retention and retirement rates.

All of the data supporting the redirection of the allocations were included in the ordinance. And, despite progressive, centrist and conservative council members expressing openness to eliminate police department vacancies, this logical solution was sidelined. We believe CPD’s perennial vacancies and the associated dollars should have been scrutinized long ago and committed to investments in the people of Chicago. We must do better next year.

Chicagoans deserve everything in our ordinance. is included a $26 million funding increase for the Chicago Department of Public Health, which is severely understa ed and losing tens of millions in pandemic-relief grants this year alone. A high-capacity health department is essential to addressing the 11-year life expectancy gap between Black Chicagoans and other residents and to prepare for the next

public health crisis. e ordinance also would have allocated an additional $22 million toward the youth-led Peace Book Ordinance and toward continuing the My Chi My Future initiatives, both some of the most e ective and evidence-backed ways to reduce community violence.

Additionally, $31.5 million would have funded the guaranteed income program, which has made progress in addressing racial and economic inequities by increasing nancial stability for some of our most vulnerable residents.

Our budget recommendations achieved all of this with no service cuts, no layo s and a balanced budget. We proposed no property tax increase, a priority voiced by many alderpersons and constituents alike. ere was something for everyone to support.

We know the next budget season will be just as — if not more — challenging, so we invite our colleagues to take our recommendations and consider what your constituents need in order to end health and safety inequities. We found the money, and the sound ideas in our budget amendment aren’t going away. Chicago deserves better.

Ald. Jessie Fuentes represents Chicago’s 26th Ward.

Ald. Rossana RodríguezSánchez represents Chicago’s 33rd Ward.

At a gas station near you. | ANN DWYER

Advocate Health o ers South Side a beacon of hope

Aphrase I use often — one I truly believe in — is: "If you want to predict the future, create it!"

I feel like our community, in concert with Advocate Health Care, has now done just that with the extraordinary announcement of a $1 billion investment from Advocate in building health equity on the South Side.

When I was elected nearly 10 years ago as the 7th Ward alderman, representing my family, friends and neighbors and the place I've called home for more than ve decades, I committed with every ber of my being to building a better 7th Ward.

It's no secret that our ward, and in fact the whole South Side, is under-resourced. We have faced long-standing and systemic issues around underfunded schools, lack of economic opportunity, environmental issues and the erosion of homeownership, among others.

I believe with the new Quantum Park and this far-reaching investment in health in our neighborhoods, we are turning the page on decades of decline and working toward the stabilization of our ward.

Many neighborhoods lack retail, any sort of thriving commerce or amenities, even grocery stores where you can get produce and nutritious food. We su er with industrial pollution and environmental hazards; unfortunately, there's no lack of waste facilities and polluting industry in our community.

And then, last month, a profound beacon of hope was announced.

Advocate Health Care shared that it will make a $1 billion investment in the health and well-being of Chicago's South Side. It's a holistic approach, with the community driving these plans, and is designed to bring better access to prevention and care and build health equity in our ward and throughout the South Side.

e U.S. Steel South Works site, empty for 30 years, has been a blight and feels like a broken promise. Every time I go past it, it pains me. It has stood as a symbol

of disinvestment and missed opportunities that have deeply impacted the entire Southeast Side. e new state-of-the-art hospital that Advocate announced as part of its overall investment represents far more than a building. It's a signi cant investment in the 7th Ward and a powerful catalyst for revitalization. Getting it sited at the South Works location just doubles the win for our community.

In fact, the totality of Advocate's commitment — the multiple neighborhood care sites, expan-

sion of outpatient services, more doctors and more appointments, and signi cant services that prevent or help manage illness — will not only bring much-needed access to health care, but will create jobs and stimulate economic growth, laying the foundation for further investments.

It's just what I hoped and dreamed when I rst took o ce 10 years ago, when I planned to predict the future with hard work and vision, hope and partnership. is announcement is good news for the South Side and a ma-

jor step forward. Often, we're reading news about health care options dwindling on the South Side. While others are leaving or not paying attention to our community, Advocate is both staying and doubling down. And just as important, these e orts are not just Advocate Health doing something to our community, but instead, are the result of listening to our community. Rather than continuing to bemoan the statistics around chronic disease and morbidity rates, Advocate is choosing to do something bold and mean-

ingful about it. at's what makes this announcement even more powerful. is is a transformative moment for the 7th Ward. I believe with the new Quantum Park and this far-reaching investment in health in our neighborhoods, we are turning the page on decades of decline and working toward the stabilization of our ward, paving the way for a future of opportunity, equity, prosperity and growth throughout the South Side of Chicago.

Happy New Year indeed!

The Modern Law Firm.

Taft has expanded to the Mountain West region with the addition of Sherman & Howard, a prominent 130-year-old law ﬁrm. Now

Ald. Greg Mitchell represents Chicago’s 7th Ward.

With Michael Jordan’s house nally sold, is there hope for these longtime listings?

Here’s a look at some homes that have been on the market for a decade or more I

The sale last week of Michael Jordan’s Highland Park estate a few months shy of its 13th anniversary of going up for sale is the latest evidence that in real estate, patience is sometimes a virtue. e billionaire Bulls great likely had the means to wait for the right buyer to come along, even if that buyer’s price, $9.5 million, was less than one-third of what Jordan initially wanted for the estate when he put it up for sale in February 2012.

Here’s a look at some other high-end homes in the Chicago area whose owners have had to be patient — regardless of whether they wanted to be — as buyers passed them by year after year. Most weren’t on the market continuously but took breaks now and then, with the total elapsed time running to a decade or more.

Woodbridge Lane, Highland Park

On the lakefront 3 miles east of Jordan’s property, a fanciful 1920s Tudor with a private strip of beach has been on and off the market since May 2012.

Zorine Morton, the widow of 20thcentury restaurant impresario Arnie Morton, initially had the six-bedroom house priced at $9.8 million. It’s now down to $4.55 million.

Crain’s could not reach Morton, and her listing agent, Sally Mabadi of Compass, did not respond to a request for comment. Morton and her husband bought the house sometime before 1985, for an amount that Crain’s couldn’t determine.

In 2015, Morton told Crain’s that when she bought a condo in the city five years earlier, she expected to have the Highland Park house sold soon. “But here it is five years,” she said, “and I don’t think the house is going to sell.”

e condo, for which she paid $2 million in 2010, has also been on and o the market since 2015. Morton’s asking price started out at $3.4 million and has come down to about $1.46 million, or roughly 73% of what she paid for it.

Sussex Lane, Lake Forest

In western Lake Forest, 4.5 miles north of Jordan’s estate, a palatial home has been for sale since 2010, its price roller-coastering up and down over the years, not progressively declining.

It’s been priced as high as $11 million and as low as $4.9 million. The present asking price is $5.4 million.

Seller Barbara Pagowska-Cooper told Crain’s in 2016 that the home’s classical European style and grounds were the result not only of its construction in 1915 but of years of renovation and decoration after she and her husband bought the property in 1992.

Roman Cooper, her husband, died in 2006.

Crain’s could not reach PagowskaCooper, and her present listing agent, Carrie McCormick of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, declined to comment.

Hubbard Street, River North

Peter Francis Geraci, the wellknown bankruptcy attorney, and his

wife, Holly, have been trying to offload their River North penthouse since 2006.

Eighteen years ago, the Geracis were asking $6 million. The price has come down by three-quarters, to about $1.43 million.

The Geracis, who moved to a North Michigan Avenue penthouse, have owned the River North condo since 1999. The interior finishes, including shiny black granite floors, a red lacquer kitchen island, sinks in zany shapes and numerous pendant light fixtures, give it an early-2000s vibe.

“But a buyer should be able to look past that and see all this space and one of the most amazing rooftop decks,” said Melanie Giglio, the Compass agent who took over the listing this year. The 5,000-square-foot rooftop has a putting green, an outdoor kitchen and multiple seating areas, shaded and sunny.

Giglio said the interior can easily “be updated without doing a gut renovation” by switching out the cabinet doors and making other cosmetic changes.

An interested buyer has recently been circling the property, Giglio said.

And here are a few homes where, as it did for Jordan, patience did eventually pay off.

In Barrington Hills, a six-bedroom house on nearly 21 acres was on the market for 18 years before selling in November 2023 for a little more than $2.38 million. The original 2005 asking price was $6.6 million.

In Lake Forest, a mammoth mansion on the lakefront sold in August 2020 after 13 years on the market.

e seller was the distressed-property wing of a lender that in 2009 took over the property from the former, longtime owner. She had started out in 2007 asking $18 million. ey sold it for $5 million, which was less than the former owners had paid for it in 1987.

In Glencoe, a grand old Tudor mansion next to a golf course sold in October, 18 years after going up for sale.

The property first went on the market in 2006, with a $10.9 million asking price. This fall a homebuilder paid $3.95 million for the 14,000-squarefoot mansion on 2 acres, with three houses planned on the property after demolition of the mansion.

By Dennis Rodkin

Restaurateur Arnie Morton’s widow has had this Highland Park Tudor for sale for a dozen years. | COMPASS

Woodbridge Lane, Highland Park COMPASS

Sussex Lane, Lake Forest VHT STUDIOS

Hubbard Street, River North POSITIVE IMAGE

Bracing for the demise of DEI

Programs intended to close race-related economic gaps face elimination by an onslaught of court cases I

With diversity initiatives under sweeping attack nationwide, minority and women contractors in Illinois are bracing for changes, or even the elimination of the government set-aside programs that for years have ensured a steady stream of work.

Conservative groups have been winning court decisions by tagging programs that give special consideration to women and minorities as discriminatory — and the

incoming Trump administration is expected to start dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies at schools and government agencies. Government and corporate organizations need to start converting their programs to be race neutral, experts say.

Contractors already are seeing changes. e Illinois Department of Transportation recently republished a solicitation for roadwork without a diversity goal as a re-

sult of a directive from the U.S. Department of Transportation stemming from litigation in Kentucky. In that case, two white contractors challenged the Transportation Department’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, leading to an injunction covering any state in which the white contractors might bid for federally funded work. e December IDOT bid solicitation was the rst in recent memory without a diversity goal.

Fear of lawsuits and reputational risks putting rms in challenging positions

By Judith Crown

When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, large public companies are going underground.

Under pressure from conservative activists, they’re rolling back their most public initiatives. But in so doing, they risk antagonizing employees and investors who see spineless corporate bureaucracies.

“ e companies are nding themselves between a rock and a hard place,” says attorney Lauren Hartz, co-chair of Chicago-based Jenner & Block’s DEI Protection Task Force. “On one side they recognize the value and importance of diversity to their success, to their constituencies and to their bottom line and have made very public commitments that they would like to honor. On the other hand, we have an increasingly risky legal and political environment surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion with the threat supercharged by the outcome of

COMMENTARY

the 2024 election.”

Under re from conservative activists, rms that embraced DEI policies such as employee training and bias-free recruiting and hiring are backpedaling. Tennessee activist Robby Starbuck, in particular, has taken credit for announcements from Walmart, Toyota and Harley-Davidson that they are “refocusing” their DEI commitments.

Starbuck also is taking credit for McDonald’s announcement on Jan. 6 that it would end some of its diversity practices, such as retiring speci c goals for achieving diversity among senior leadership. e fast-food giant also plans to end a program that encourages suppliers to develop diversity training.

Unlike conservative activist Edward Blum, who les lawsuits, Starbuck typically uses social media campaigns to pressure companies.

Moline farm equipment giant Deere was one of Starbuck’s targets.

In a video last year that went viral, Starbuck said Deere had “gone woke,” and criticized the company’s sponsorship of Pride Month events and other DEI initiatives. He even shared the names of employees who had publicized Deere’s DEI policies on social media.

In July, Deere responded by announcing it would no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals or events. Its business resource groups, the company said, will exclusively focus on professional development, networking, mentoring and supporting talent recruitment e orts. But the company said it still “fundamentally believes that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers’ needs, and because of that we will continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization.”

Not all companies are buckling. e board of warehouse giant Costco unanimously recommend-

ed that its shareholders vote down an anti-DEI proposal brought by a conservative think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research. e company said in its proxy statement to investors that its DEI policies help it attract and retain employees who help the business succeed.

“Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise o erings, promoting the ‘treasure hunt’ that our customers value,” Costco said in the proxy statement.

e current brouhaha is largely about language, optics and perception, says Anthony Tursich, senior vice president and co-portfolio manager at Chicago-based Calamos Investments. Companies like Deere are still committed to an equal and fair workplace, but they are going to be careful about the causes and events they support, he says.

Diversity sort of goes under-

ground, or in-house, Tursich says.

And the pullback is not totally a bad thing, he adds. “People felt the pendulum had swung too far,” he says. “ ey’re saying, ‘Focus on your business. All this ancillary stu is not making your company better.’

”

Companies will tread cautiously when it comes to their language and public statements so as not to risk lawsuits or become the subject of a social media campaign, experts say. And they’ll have to navigate a fractured landscape where the incoming presidential administration discourages companies from tracking the racial composition of their workforce, potentially in con ict with the priorities of local jurisdictions. “ ere are certainly interests on both sides,” says Hartz, who is based in Jenner & Block’s Washington, D.C., o ce. “In this current climate, the much louder voices and the much bigger threats are the ones opposing DEI.

Pressure for pro ts complicates diversity practices

DEI has been attacked by the political right, who claim it leads to hiring unquali ed people over those who are more quali ed. In reality, DEI practices — removing bias from the hiring process, mentoring programs, pay equity and employee resource groups, and simply reaching out to di erent communities to let them know about opportunities — simply attempt to level the playing eld. is is particularly important in elds where women and minorities remain underrepresented.

their companies’ DEI initiatives. Remarkably, executives are committed to recognizing and valuing diversity, despite the fact that 69% expect the challenges of the political climate to persist or increase in 2025. e reason is simple:

Valuing diversity is not only the right thing to do, it is also extremely good for the bottom line.

Given the recent headlines, it might seem like most American companies are abandoning their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Walmart, Toyota, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowe’s and more all have ended or scaled back their efforts to promote workplace diversity in a post-George Floyd America.

In reality, the vast majority of businesses are continuing DEI practices. October survey data of U.S. public executives by e Conference Board found that just 9% of executives plan to scale back

For years, the data has shown that a diverse workforce is positively — and strongly — correlated with better nancial performance. In fact, the correlation is only growing. In 2024, McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for gender and ethnic diversity on executive teams were 39% more likely to outperform nancially compared to those in the bottom quartile for diversity. Compared to McKinsey’s ndings of 2015, that’s an increase of 27 points for women and 4 points for ethnic minorities. While there are many factors at play, one is, no doubt, the demands of the talent pool. Gen Z is the most diverse group to enter the workforce in history, and 83% of Gen Z candidates surveyed by Monster said that a company’s commitment to diversity and in-

clusion is important when choosing an employer. A Boston Consulting Group survey found that nearly half of women and Black respondents wouldn’t work for a company that doesn’t take DEI seriously. In addition, in cases where employees say DEI programming is a leadership priority at their workplace, the number of all employees who are happy increases by 31 percentage points. is year will bring many more

attacks on DEI from its detractors who ignore the clear nancial benets. At this moment, Costco is facing calls for a boycott by Trump supporters after rea rming its commitment to diversity in the workplace. e issue will only become more contentious when the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case next month that alleges “reverse discrimination,” with many anticipating the conservative court to clear a path for similar claims in the future.

It’s a complicated time for leaders who value equity and understand its positive impact on the bottom line. Still, a majority appears intent on doing what’s right by their employees and their shareholders by maintaining a workplace in which diversity is valued. ose leaders who are instead waging a war against DEI should re-examine their priorities and realize they are betting against their own success.

Jay Rowell is executive director of Hire360, which connects underrepresented minority businesses and communities to career paths and jobs in the construction trades.

Costco is facing calls for a boycott by Trump supporters after reaf rming its commitment to diversity in the workplace. | BLOOMBERG

Don’t let shortsighted opposition derail progress

As ideologically driven organizations continue to pressure companies to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion programs, I stand with my fellow like-minded attorneys general to remind corporate leaders of their previous commitments to prioritize diversity in the workplace and the value these policies add to companies’ cultures and nancial bottom lines.

e assault on diversity, equity and inclusion policies have even leached into our law enforcement agencies. Following the horri c New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, instead of uniting our country, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) issued a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray attempting — without merit — to tie the act of terrorism to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

e U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard has been exploited by opponents to racial justice as they seek to expand the ruling far beyond its scope. ese groups push their agenda by attempting to strong-arm businesses around the country through unfounded lawsuits and threats of litigation and boycotts.

Although I do not agree with the

court’s rationale, it is important to understand what the ruling does and does not mandate: While educational institutions and government entities may need to re-examine certain racebased programs, diversity, equity and inclusion e orts are still bene cial and legal. As we review and adjust programs where necessary, it is critical to acknowledge that the impetus for such e orts has not disappeared: e e ects of centuries of discrimination, disparate conditions and inequitable levels of opportunity, both previous and current, are undeniable. Our a rmative and sustained commitment to seeking equity in light of these attacks must be equally undeniable.

Moreover, we should not renounce the nomenclature. We cannot accept the argument that the words “diversity,” “equity” and “inclusion” are somehow negative labels to shy away from. To the contrary, they are our nation’s founding ideals, despite Justice Clarence omas’ insistence that he somehow “does not have a clue what diversity means.” ese ideals are good for business. Consumer research indicates that the majority of Ameri-

cans support businesses that take active steps to ensure that corporate culture and structure re ect the diversity of the American population. Financially, companies with diverse leadership teams are associated with higher returns and overperform compared to more homogenous companies. Workplace trainings on topics like nondiscrimination and disability accommodations help sta understand their legal requirements and expected behaviors toward colleagues. It is supportive — not violative — of anti-discrimination laws and legal doctrine to consistently and a rmatively review outcomes and examine any disparities in educational, employment and business opportunities.

Most recently, I led a multistate coalition of attorneys general in sending a letter to Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon expressing our concern over Walmart’s decision to phase out its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion e orts, and urging Walmart to reverse course. I applaud companies like Costco, that recognize the bene ts of diversity and have rmly defended their commitment to a diverse workforce against attacks from outside organizations.

I encourage business leaders in Illinois and across the country

Changing demographics won’t allow DEI to completely disband

Those of us whose work touches diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have experienced whiplash in the past four years.

We’ve ridden the wave from the ambitious corporate commitments of 2020’s racial justice uprisings to last year’s headlines proclaiming “ e Downfall of DEI.” e very public pullbacks from Ford, Tractor Supply, Molson Coors and others are painful but shortsighted. Despite the headlines, DEI is here to stay — but only if approached holistically and systematically.

Equitable Organization.”

Changing U.S. demographics make DEI an essential business priority. Census data shows Gen Z is nearly 50% people of color, while Pew Research reports that over 20% identify as LGBTQ. And the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention nds 1 in 4 adults has a disability. Organizations that embrace this diversity are better equipped to serve their increasingly diverse customers.

e business case for diversity is as strong as ever: Research and advisory company Forrester notes that top sales organizations have diverse teams, and Harvard Business Review links leading DEI practices to higher customer satisfaction scores. When done right, DEI is a driver of business success. at sounds great in theory but here’s the problem: Many organizations aren’t taking a holistic approach. As a result, they’re missing out on the bene ts.

Take the common practice of housing DEI within human resources. Last year, my rm worked with a client who chose not to renew their contract because DEI lacked a protected budget and “employee salaries had to take priority.” is siloed approach treats DEI as an extra, not a necessity.

Some organizations focus solely on training. While unconscious bias or cultural awareness month workshops are helpful, they’re not

to maintain their commitments to an inclusive and diverse work environment and to ignore the threats of those who would eliminate such efforts for ideological reasons at the expense of their employees, their customers and, ultimately, the success of their business. Push back against the

racist and sexist motives that would lead people to derisively refer to others as “DEI hires” because of their race or gender. Do not be swayed by a vocal minority seeking to roll back progress made to protect against discrimination and harassment in business.

enough. Without systemic changes to policies and processes, training risks backlash and isn’t a good nancial investment. People get busy, forget and make mistakes. It’s human nature.

A successful DEI strategy requires embedding it across the organization, tied directly to business goals. is means applying a DEI lens to every function: the entire employee lifecycle, product development, marketing, business development and beyond.

For example, identify equity gaps in recruitment and promotions and close them with updated policies. Build inclusion into your marketing strategy by ensuring campaigns resonate with diverse audiences. Even small organizations can implement targeted, cross-functional DEI e orts.

None of this will stick without accountability. Measure progress through employee engagement surveys, pay gap analyses, retention rates, training participation and more. Accountability ensures DEI e orts scale and prevents organizations from spinning their wheels.

To gain buy-in, revisit your organization’s mission and values.

Connect DEI to your goals — whether it’s enhancing innovation, improving customer satisfaction or increasing employee retention. Leaders with good intentions can drive meaningful change by making these connections.

For those who are worried about “woke” backlash to DEI or political controversy, remember this is about staying relevant. And if necessary, rebrand it. I recently met with a senior leader who advised me to frame our work as “organizational improvement methodology” instead of DEI. Our future ef-

forts? “Change management.”

A recent Conference Board survey found that over half of companies are “adjusting terminology” while continuing the work. Call it systemic change, organizational improvement or something else entirely. What matters is that the work gets done.

Because when DEI is truly embedded — woven into the fabric of your organization — it becomes just the way things are done. at makes it much harder to undo. at is how we ful ll the promise of diversity.

Kwame Raoul is attorney general for the state of Illinois.

Bernadette Smith is CEO of the Equality Institute and author of the book “Inclusive 360: Proven Solutions for an

The U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard has been exploited by opponents to racial justice as they seek to expand the decision far beyond its scope, writes Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. GETTY IMAGES

UAW reaches secret deal with Rivian to make it easier to unionize workers

The agreement could prove to be particularly important for United Auto Workers under Donald Trump’s incoming administration, which is expected to be less friendly toward unions than President Joe Biden’s

By Josh Eidelson,

In recent months, the United Auto Workers reached an agreement with Rivian Automotive Inc. that would make it easier to unionize the company’s workforce — contingent on the electric-vehicle maker ever reaching pro tability.

Under Rivian and the UAW’s con dential pact, the automaker would adopt a neutral stance toward e orts to organize workers at its Illinois factory where its vehicles are made, according to people familiar with the matter.

e neutrality commitment will only take e ect once the company reaches certain criteria including pro tability metrics, said the people, who didn’t elaborate on what those metrics were and spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private terms.

e previously unreported neutrality commitment could help pave the way for the UAW to organize workers at Rivian, a longtime target in the union’s uphill struggle to unionize the EV industry. But that opening could still be far o : Rivian has never posted a quarterly adjusted pro t. at goal has been elusive as the company struggled with supply-chain snags and a broader slowdown in EV demand.

Rivian did not provide a comment. e UAW declined to comment.

By securing a pledge from Rivian that the automaker wouldn’t oppose a unionization e ort by its workers, the deal could prove particularly important for the UAW under President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, which is expected to be less friendly to unions than President Joe Biden’s.

Unions often mount pressure campaigns to convince companies to adopt "labor peace" or “neutrality agreements” to circumvent the variety of legal and illegal ways companies can dis-

suade workers from organizing. e accords can restrict both union-busting tactics by management, and disruptive or embarrassing protests by organizers.

“When there are neutrality agreements, workers are much more likely to choose union representation because workers feel safer in making the decision,’’ said Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School, who served in Biden’s White House. “Neutrality just communicates to the employees ‘make the decision you want to make, and we’re going to abide by the law.’ ”

Such private agreements can also help companies get unions’ support — or avoid their opposition — as they seek government funding or approvals. But they

can be hard to enforce if the two sides come to disagree on how their terms should be interpreted, or whether each other are in compliance.

For Rivian, the deal helped pave the way for a conditional loan of as much as $6.6 billion from the US Energy Department to help fund construction of a new EV plant in Georgia, according to people familiar with the matter. Rivian still needs to satisfy technical, nancial and other requirements to nalize and receive the loan from the department.

Rivian is looking to the factory to help ramp up production of more-a ordable electric vehicles. But its hostile relationship with the UAW was said to be a point of contention in funding discussions with the pro-labor Biden

administration, Bloomberg News reported in July. A representative for the Energy Department declined to comment.

Still, there’s no guarantee Rivian will perform well enough to trigger the new union-friendly commitments. In a November call with investors, Rivian con rmed it's on track to reach a longstanding goal of "positive gross pro t" this quarter, in part fueled by the sale of regulatory credits. Chief Financial O cer Claire McDonough said at the time that the company expects to see a positive gross pro t margin in 2025 as a whole, though it does not expect to do so in each quarter.

Longtime target

Unionizing Rivian would be a major coup for the UAW’s push to hike labor standards in the evolv-

ing EV industry and organize non-union auto factories. Last fall, coming o a six-week strike that secured record contracts with the three big Detroit carmakers, UAW President Shawn Fain announced a campaign to organize the plants of 13 other automakers, including Rivian and Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. Despite an early victory at Volkswagen AG, that e ort has lost momentum following a failed vote at Mercedes in May.

Rivian has been a longtime target for the UAW, which has recruited employees for a committee to organize its plant in Normal, Illinois. e union has also helped sta le safety complaints with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In a September statement about safety issues at the plant, Fain urged governments not to subsidize the company unless it improved its working conditions.

In January, the US National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint accusing Rivian of illegally ring an employee in Virginia because they engaged in collective action about workplace issues; Rivian later settled that case. e agency, which enforces employees' right to organize at work, is currently investigating UAW allegations of illegal threats, retaliation, and surveillance by Rivian management in Illinois, agency spokesperson Kayla Blado said.

If the UAW eventually prevails in a unionization vote at Rivian, the company would be required to collectively bargain over issues such as pay and working conditions. Workers would have a formal say in more company decisions, and management would have less discretion over aspects of the business such as bene ts, scheduling and safety matters. For some customers, a unionized workforce could help solidify Rivian’s brand as the alternative to Tesla and Musk.

UChicago-born startup Simple Mills sells for $795M

By John Pletz

Simple Mills, a maker of gluten-free snacks and baking mixes, is being acquired for nearly $800 million in cash by Flowers Foods, a baking giant that makes Wonder bread, Nature’s Own and other brands.

Chicago-based Simple Mills will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of its new owner.

Founded in 2012 by University of Chicago MBA student Katlin Smith, Simple Mills has grown to $240 million in revenue with its crackers, cookies, snack bars, and baking mixes selling in more than 30,000 natural and conventional stores. It has 111 employees, more than half whom are in Chicago. Flowers, based in omasville, Ga., is publicly traded and does about $5 billion in annual sales. Smith, who moved to the San

Francisco area several years ago, will continue to lead the company.

" is transaction marks the beginning of a new phase of growth for Simple Mills, and we are thrilled to join the Flowers family,” Smith said in a written statement. “With Flowers' resources, we will be well positioned to broaden distribution, accelerate innovation and amplify brand awareness, while advancing our mission.”

Simple Mills joins Grubhub and Braintree among the most successful startups to come out of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

e buzz around Simple Mills started growing when Smith won the New Venture Challenge business-plan competition at Booth a decade ago.

“She’s a force of nature,” says Booth professor Steve Kaplan, who co-founded the New Ven-

ture Challenge program. “She’s done an awesome job. She saw the wave toward health and gluten-free foods early and caught it.”

Stories of her tenacity and grit in winning meetings with reluctant customers became the stu of legend at Booth.

“We knew the company was doing really well,” Kaplan says. “What we didn’t know was how well.”

Bloomberg

Inside Rivian’s factory in downstate Normal | BLOOMBERG

50-story apartment tower coming to Bronzeville?

A local real estate broker said he is close to buying a property just south of McCormick Place with plans to build a 370-unit residential high-rise

By Danny Ecker

A local real estate broker has publicly unveiled plans for a 50story, 370-unit apartment building just south of McCormick Place, but the owners of the property he’s eyeing for the project say they don’t have a deal to sell it to him.

JC Gri n, a former capital markets broker at real estate services rm Transwestern, said he is in talks to acquire the 6.6-acre development site at the corner of 26th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. e Bronzeville property sits between the convention center and the former Michael Reese Hospital site, which is poised to be redeveloped into a sprawling mixed-use campus and has also been eyed by the Chicago Bears as a potential site for a new stadium.

Gri n said he is in “ nal stages” of negotiation on a deal to pay “between $30 million and $35 million” for the development site and build a mixed-use residential tower he has dubbed Metropolis Pointe. e $300 million-plus project from his Gri n Venture Group would be designed to “extend the skyline further south” and meet a “pressing housing need” as the city looks to address a shortage of a ordable housing, Gri n said.

But the longtime owners of the Bronzeville property are expressing caution over whether any deal will move forward. After industry publication Real Deal Chicago reported Gri n’s plans for the tower, real estate investor Brett Walrod told Crain’s that he and his coowners of the property “don’t have terms of a deal, and (Gri n Venture Group) has not demonstrated

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Still, such a move would have been a much-needed boost for the maker of Ritz. Candy and packaged food companies have watched growth slow recently, as they hesitate to push more price increases to customers for fear of losing them.

A merger between the two would create a combined company with almost $50 billion in annual sales. It would bring growth for Mondelez, which saw yearover-year net earnings sink 13.4% last quarter. e snacking industry has also faced headwinds regarding concerns over how GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and the changing presidential administration could a ect business.

Consolidating purchasing power could also give a combined company more in uence in buying cocoa beans, which have nearly doubled in price since January, said Randal Kenworthy, who leads the consumer and industrial products practice at business management consulting rm West Monroe.

As an already unstable supply of

that they have the funding to close on a deal.”

Walrod owns the site through a joint venture with real estate investor Michael Madura and commercial real estate brokers Steve Disse and Je Devine, which bought it in 2007 for $12.4 million, according to Cook County records.

Sources familiar with the matter said the site’s owners are separately negotiating with a di erent group to potentially acquire the site, though the status of those talks is unclear. Walrod declined to comment on details of other discussions.

e mixed signals over the planned residential tower are the latest twist for a property that the owners have been trying to sell for more than four years. e site was the centerpiece of a 2023 lawsuit challenging the city’s zoning power and the controversial Chicago City Council tradition known as aldermanic privilege.

A federal judge in March threw out the lawsuit led against the City of Chicago, which alleged public o cials illegally scuttled a deal in 2020 to sell the site to a data center developer as part of a plan to boost the transformation of the former Michael Reese Hospital property.

at failed legal challenge sent the owners back to the market for a buyer. Gri n said he has had lengthy discussions with the owners about the site and has lined up nancial partners to buy the land in hopes of closing on the acquisition in the rst quarter of this year.

He listed Capri Investment Group’s Quintin Primo — who is redeveloping the James R. omp-

the key chocolate ingredient was hit with environmental factors such as drought, Hershey and Mondelez have seen their share prices su er. Mondelez’s is down 12.5% year to date. Hershey’s hit a 52-week low in November, but rebounded somewhat, jumping more than 14% on news about the potential acquisition Dec. 9.

ere is a ip side to the combined purchasing power, though, Kenworthy said.

“You’re overexposing your overall portfolio on cocoa beans,” he said. “It’s really a tradeo .”

Snack makers have long been salivating over Hershey and its growing dominance in the U.S. chocolate world. Its 37% of market share beats Snickers-maker Mars’ 29% and Butter nger-maker Ferrero’s less than 8%, according to Euromonitor data.

Any deal needs the backing of the Hershey Trust, which was formed in 1905. It oversees 115year-old Milton Hershey School, which the chocolate magnate and his wife, Catherine, started as a home and school for orphaned boys when they couldn’t have their own children.

In 2002, Mondelez predecessor

son Center in the Loop in partnership with tech giant Google — as one potential backer for the acquisition and apartment development.

Primo said in a statement to Crain’s that his rm “does not comment on projects in which we may, or may not, become involved” but that he is “supportive of Black investors and developers, like JC, becoming involved in communities such as Bronzeville and the Chicago market as a whole.”

Gri n said he may pursue a “signi cant piece” of funding for the project from Opportunity Zone investors, taking advantage of the federal program that the Trump administration created in 2017 to help encourage investment into blighted communities nationwide.

His rm’s purchase of the site, he added, would not be contingent on receiving city approval for the project, but said 4th Ward Ald. Lamont Robinson “has been supportive” of the vision. When the site’s ownership hired a broker to sell the site in 2020, marketing materials said the existing zoning on the site would allow for nearly 1.4 million square feet of development.

“Our intention is to take this 6.5 acres of land and... help spur economic development that has unfortunately stagnated over the last decade under several iterations of faulty leadership in the city,” Gri n said.

He added the tower would be the rst project for which he has served as principal developer. e Chicago native has been involved with the e ort to develop Woodlawn Central, a mixed-use project planned a few blocks from the fu-

company Kraft Foods was among a list of companies that expressed interest in buying Hershey when it said it was exploring a sale. Mondelez, which split from Kraft Foods Group in 2012, made another bid for Hershey in 2016. e Chips Ahoy-maker walked away after the iconic chocolate company rejected its $23 billion bid.

e Trust, which has faced scandals, has since seen leadership changes and divested some shares to diversify its holdings. A representative from the Trust did not respond to a request for comment today. Mondelez and Hershey representatives both declined to “comment on market rumors and speculation.”

If the deal is not dead and Mondelez comes back with another o er, it would still be di cult to sway the Hershey Trust. It does not view acquisitions through the same lens as private equity or other companies might, said West Monroe’s Kenworthy.

“In a normal scenario, I think (a deal) would happen,” he said. “It would make nancial sense in the industry, but the unique governance of Hershey makes it very unpredictable.”

ture Obama Presidential Center on the South Side. He said he is also working with former Chicago Bear Israel Idonije on a planned conversion of the historic Hudson Motor Building on 2222 S. Michigan Ave. into a 154-room Hilton hotel. Gri n engaged design rms Wight and Studio Barnes to draw up plans for Metropolis Pointe, which is named as a nod to Bronzeville’s historical nickname as a “Black Metropolis” during the Great Migration era of the early 20th century. Renderings of the building show an observation deck near the top of the high-rise with views looking north at the skyline and south toward a range of South Side communities. e land Gri n is eyeing for the project was the longtime home of the Sykes Center, a 152,000-squarefoot outpatient care facility most recently used by Advocate Medical Group. Advocate vacated the building in 2018 and the owners later demolished the property before putting the now-vacant land up for sale.

A sale at $30 million or more

On Dec. 11, Mondelez's board approved a new share repurchase authorization of up to $9 billion of Class A common stock, replacing the current $6 billion authorization. Morningstar issued a note that said the move “dashes any hope that Mondelez hungers for a transformation deal,” like Hershey would bring.

Morningstar had estimated earlier last month that Hershey could fetch a price tag between $45 billion and $50 billion, or $218 to $247 per share. e share price was trading at $180.90 at 2 p.m. ough he did not directly address the Hershey situation, CEO Dirk Van de Put said in a news release that the stock reauthorization re ects the strength of the business and the cash ow needed to reinvest in brands.

“We continue to make signicant progress against our strategy of accelerating growth and focusing our portfolio in the attractive, resilient categories of chocolate, biscuits and baked snacks," he said. "Our teams remain focused on executing against our growth agenda in a challenging and dynamic operating environment.”

Mondelez also recon rmed its

would be in line with the deal the owners had hoped to complete in 2020 with Equinix, a publicly traded data center owner. Equinix would only close on the purchase if it had the approval from the city to build a data center on the land, but then-Ald. Sophia King allegedly told Equinix she would block such a plan because the city wanted to purchase that property at a “cheap” price itself, according to the lawsuit.

Equinix ultimately terminated its deal. In the lawsuit, the owners alleged King’s chief of sta subsequently told them they were asking for too much money for the site and suggested $15 million as a fair price. e developer behind the Michael Reese Hospital redevelopment e ort would later o er them $15 million for the land, which the owners turned down, the lawsuit said.

e owners, which re nanced the property in 2017 with a $17 million mortgage, were seeking at least $15 million in damages from the city in the lawsuit to account for lost property value.

commitment to smaller acquisitions and other "key capital allocation priorities” in the release.

For Mondelez, which makes 36% of its revenue in Europe, acquiring Hershey would be a way to bolster its North American sales. Hershey’s salty snacks, such as Dots Pretzels and Skinnypop Popcorn, would also bring more presence in those aisles.

For Hershey, which generates 10% of its sales abroad, a deal with Mondelez would give it access to international markets, though it remains unclear if Hershey’s brands would resonate with customers in other countries, said Erin Lash, director of consumer equity research at Morningstar. Launching abroad could take more investment, which would be added risk.

ere’s also the Cadbury conundrum. ough Mondelez predecessor Kraft Foods bought British chocolate maker Cadbury in 2010, Hershey has owned the rights to make and sell Cadbury products in the U.S. since 1988. It maintains those rights.

“I would anticipate (Mondelez has) kind of always wanted that business,” Lash said.

A rendering of the high-rise portion of Metropolis Pointe, which would feature an observation deck WIGHT & CO. AND STUDIO BARNES

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

To place your listing, visit www.chicagobusiness.com/peoplemoves or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN

Gensler, Chicago

Gensler Chicago welcomes transfer John Thomann, AIA, CID, Technical Director and Principal. John is an authority on codes, permitting, and on-site coordination with more than 20 years in technical leadership at Gensler. He offers specialized experience in top-tier law rm interiors and workplace design, supported by his core and shell architecture background. John is a trusted client advisor with a broad spectrum of project experience, including Marriott’s Global Headquarters.

Klein & Hoffman, Chicago

Klein & Hoffman announces the retirement of Peter Power, RA President & Principal, effective December 31, 2024. Over 29 years, Pete advanced from Intern Architect to President, shaping the rm’s growth technically and geographically. Under his leadership and guidance, Klein & Hoffman serves thousands of clients in Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, & Kansas City regional areas. Known for his expertise in window rehabilitation and replacement and his work on many prominent historic buildings, Pete managed major projects and mentored many colleagues. Re ecting on his career, Pete shared, “Klein & Hoffman has been a place of growth, collaboration, & opportunity like no other.” K&H continues its legacy under President Allysia Youngquist, RA.

BANKING / FINANCE

Bank of America, Chicago

World Business Chicago proudly welcomes Tim Little, Managing Director, Midwest Region Executive, Business Banking, to its Board of Directors. Joining leaders from Chicagoland’s top 100 companies, Tim will support WBC’s mission to drive inclusive economic growth, workforce development, and community impact, positioning Chicago as a global hub for business and innovation.

Mesirow, Chicago

Mesirow announced that Jason Handrinos has joined Mesirow Institutional Sales & Trading as the Global Head of Sales and Growth. In this role, he will lead xed income sales by driving collaboration across existing businesses, identifying new revenue streams and business opportunities and increasing exposure across Asia and Europe. Jason brings over 15 years of xed-income sales and leadership experience to Mesirow.

HEALTHCARE

TimelyCare, Fort Worth

The Astor Company & Flood Brothers Disposal Company, Chicago

World Business Chicago proudly welcomes Kevin Flood, CEO of The Astor Company and Flood Brothers Disposal Company, to its Board of Directors.

Joining leaders from Chicagoland’s top 100 companies, Kevin will support WBC’s mission to drive inclusive economic growth, workforce development, and community impact, positioning Chicago as a global hub for business and innovation.

TimelyCare has named Michelle Lanter Smith Chief Marketing Of cer. A former marketing leader at IBM and past president of PrismHR, Smith brings extensive expertise in data-driven marketing and global team leadership. She earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and a bachelor’s in business administration from Marquette University. Smith also serves as a trustee at Elmhurst University, highlighting her commitment to leadership in education and business.

LEGAL

Honigman, Chicago

Honigman LLP welcomes back Mary Hyde to its Intellectual Property Department as partner in the rm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. She focuses her practice on all types of trademark, marketing and advertising, and copyright matters; including handling federal litigation actions for trademark infringement and dilution, trade dress infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright and breach of contract matters.

Mather, Evanston

Samia Amamoo has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Risk Management and Compliance Of cer at Mather. She will continue to support operations by leading the strategic direction of Mather’s Enterprise Risk Management program. Samia manages safety and risk programs, creating/overseeing data-driven risk programs ranging from fall prevention to cyber security. She was named Caring Communities’ 2023 Risk Manager of the Year and was honored as one of Chicago Crain’s 2024 Notable Black Leaders.

NON-PROFIT

Chicago Commons, Chicago

Larry Szumski, Vice President of Operations at Peoples Gas, has joined the Board of Directors at Chicago Commons, a nonpro t dedicated to empowering children, families, and seniors in underresourced communities. With 35 years of experience in the energy sector, Szumski brings leadership in utility operations, safety, and compliance. A lifelong Chicagoan, he is passionate about giving back to the community and supporting initiatives to drive meaningful change.

INDUSTRY HEALTHCARE

MedHQ, Westchester

Cawley Commercial Real Estate, Chicago

ARTS / ENTERTAINMENT

University Club of Chicago,

Patrick E. Cermak was recently named the 71st President of the University Club of Chicago. He will serve a two-year term. Cermak is President and Chief Operating Of cer of Wight & Company, a family-owned design, engineering, and construction rm. He is past chair of the Club’s Civic Affairs Committee and has been on the board since 2020. He also serves on the boards of WTTW/WFMT, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Cramer Center at Northern State University, and Design Futures Council.

Cawley CRE congratulates Joe Shapiro on his promotion from Associate to Senior Associate. Shapiro specializes in industrial real estate, focusing on tenant representation, investment sales, and asset brokerage. Since joining Cawley CRE in 2020, Shapiro has been a crucial asset to the industrial team. He is also the 2024 recipient of the Cawley CRE Scholarship.

CONSULTING

Accenture, Chicago

World Business Chicago proudly welcomes Amanda Kranz, Chicago Of ce Managing Director, Accenture, to its Board of Directors. Joining leaders from Chicagoland’s top 100 companies, Amanda will support WBC’s mission to drive inclusive economic growth, workforce development, and community impact, positioning Chicago as a global hub for business and innovation.

NON-PROFIT

Mather, Evanston

Dominice LaPorte has been appointed Chief People Of cer at Mather. Formerly SVP of HR, Dominice’s new role further advances Mather’s people & culture strategy. She leads the human resources team to position Mather as an employer of choice, focusing on key initiatives that emphasize holistic wellness for team members while upholding Mather’s core values of being Inclusive, Resilient, Bold, & Impactful; along with the organization’s DEIB initiatives. Dominice brings more than 30 years’ experience in HR.

MedHQ, a leading provider of advisory and administrative solutions to healthcare organizations, has announced that Miller will become its Chief Executive Of cer in early 2025. Miller, who has served as President since 2023, has played a key role in expanding MedHQ’s service offerings and driving strategic growth, including the 2024 acquisitions of Trajectory Revenue Cycle Services and Physician Focus. As CEO, Miller will continue advancing MedHQ’s mission.

National litigation defense rm Hawkins Parnell elected new partners: Daisy Denizard advises and represents clients in complex litigation, insurance issues, and risk management. She serves as national coordinating counsel and local counsel in Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin in mass torts and product liability litigation involving toxic exposures to asbestos, talcum powder, and various chemicals. John Kohnke has over 35 years of experience representing corporations and government entities facing high-risk toxic exposures, environmental issues, product liability, and catastrophic accidents. His knowledge of the manufacturing, transportation, and construction industries has earned him a reputation as a go-to resource for complex matters.

Chicago Community Loan Fund, Chicago

Bob Tucker has been elevated to president of the Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF). He started nearly 10 years ago and was most recently Chief Operating Of cer and Executive Vice President of Programs and Interim President where he led internal operations and provided strategic leadership to ensure CCLF ful lls its mission to provide exible, affordable and responsible nancing and technical assistance for community stabilization and development efforts.

NON-PROFIT

Start Early, Chicago

Celena Sarillo joins Start Early as Executive Director of Illinois to oversee the organization’s portfolio of policy, research and early learning and care programs across Illinois. Celena last served as CEO of the American Red Cross of Illinois. A leader in community and education equity, she led Erie Neighborhood House and served on Chicago’s Early Childhood Task Force. She sits on the boards of National Louis University, Wintrust Wealth Management, McCormick Foundation and the Chicago Network.

Mather, Evanston

Brenda Schreiber has been appointed Chief Experience Of cer at Mather. In this role, Brenda oversees Mather’s three areas of service—Senior Living, Community Initiatives, & Mather Institute— as well as Marketing, to further innovate, evolve, and grow. She will guide the implementation of standards & processes and direct strategies that are scalable, customizable, and uniquely recognizable as Mather. Brenda brings 25 years’ experience navigating dynamic changes in the senior living industry. NON-PROFIT

DL3 Realty, Chicago

World Business Chicago proudly welcomes Leon Walker, President & CEO, DL3 Realty, to its Board of Directors. Joining leaders from Chicagoland’s top 100 companies, Leon will support WBC’s mission to drive inclusive economic growth, workforce development, and community impact, positioning Chicago as a global hub for business and innovation.

BUSINESS SERVICES / CONSTRUCTION

Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP, Chicago

LAW FIRM

Kohnke

WALGREENS

strong for a variety of factors, including the aging population, increases in chronic disease and generic drugs, and the recent dramatic rise in sales of innovative drugs like GLP-1s, Walgreens points out in its annual ling. e company, which opened its rst store in Chicago in 1901, says some 78% of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of a Walgreens store.

Following several quarters of poor performance, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth told investors in October that he wanted to refocus the company on its pharmacy retail roots and put other initiatives, like its once-touted health care ambitions, on the back burner.

“We've seen him evolve towards really simplifying back to the core business,” says Kate Festle, a health care merger and acquisition partner at Chicago consulting rm West Monroe. “Our working assumption is that PE ownership would accelerate that arc.”

While the pharmacy segment would almost certainly remain the key piece of the business, private-equity owners may choose to o oad smaller and less pro table assets as a way to raise cash, especially as Walgreens continues to battle nancial losses. Despite total revenue growing 6% in scal 2024, Walgreens still reported an $8.6 billion net loss in scal 2024, stemming, in part, from its slow-growing health care vertical.

Over the last several years, Walgreens spent billions on establishing a health care segment that hasn’t delivered expected dividends. Walgreens became the majority owner of primary care provider VillageMD and helped it acquire other health care services companies like CareCentrix and Summit Health-CityMD. Since

then, however, Walgreens has said it is interested in reducing or eliminating its VillageMD stake. Walgreens is also the sole owner of Shields Specialty Pharmacy.

e fact that Walgreens has already signaled which assets it is interested in selling provides some insight into elimination targets by a potential private-equity buyer. Here’s a list of what might be axed:

◗ International segment: Walgreens has signi cant overseas operations. Its international segment, which delivered 15% of the company’s total sales, consists of pharmacy-led health and beauty retail and a pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution business in Germany.

Non-U.S. pharmacies include Boots-branded stores in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and ailand and the Benavides brand in Mexico. Worldwide, the segment operated 3,688 stores and optician locations as of Aug. 31.

e wholesale business based in Germany consists of GEHE Pharma Handel and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland. In fact, wholesale business made up 51% of total sales in the international segment, Walgreens reported in August.

Even still, a private owner may choose to o oad the international segment, in part, because of high in ation and slow economic

market for European-style farmhouse cider is still strong, he said.

growth in many European countries.

“A lot of our U.S. private-equity rms right now are watching Europe closely and are not necessarily bullish on Europe as an economy right now with what's going on in Germany and France and the U.K.,” says Keith Campbell, global mergers and acquisitions lead at West Monroe. “ ere's some de nite concern on the private-equity side of European investments next year.” Walgreens has, at least twice, reportedly oated the idea of selling Boots in recent years.

◗ VillageMD: Chicago-based VillageMD, which Walgreens has a 53% stake in, has struggled to reach pro tability as its patient base grew slower than anticipated. Operating losses for scal 2024 in Walgreens’ health care segment, which VillageMD is housed within, grew to $14.2 billion, up from $1.7 billion in scal 2023. Losses were primarily driven by a $6 million impairment charge related to VillageMD.

Less than two years ago, retail pharmacy companies were poised to become health powerhouses, with Walgreens’ ownership of VillageMD and CVS Health’s purchase of Oak Street Health seeking to form vertically integrated health care companies. Now, both drugstore giants are on the ropes and have signaled they’re looking for ways to get those primary care as-

sets o the books. “(Walgreens) said out right that they view VillageMD as an investment versus an asset, and they're trying to reduce their stake in that to make it an investment versus an asset,” Festle says.

◗ Summit Health-CityMD: is medical practice and urgent care center company became part of the Walgreens family in 2022. e pharmacy giant invested $3.5 billion in an $8.9 billion deal to help VillageMD acquire Summit. If VillageMD goes, so does Summit.

◗ CareCentrix: Walgreens paid about $700 million for the home health bene t management company across two separate deals, but reported in October that it took a $332 million impairment charge related to CareCentrix, making its future in the Walgreens portfolio precarious.

◗ Shields Specialty Pharmacy: Shields sales grew by more than $100 million in scal year 2024 to $573 million, driven by further growth within existing partnerships, Walgreens says in its annual ling. Walgreens was reported to be interested in selling Shields for more than $4 billion at the beginning of the year. But Walgreens later denied the report.

◗ Cencora: Walgreens holds an equity stake in U.S. drug and medical supplies wholesaler Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen. Cencora supplies and distributes substantially all generic and branded pharmaceutical products to the segment’s pharmacies. Walgreens currently purchases its non-pharmaceutical merchandise from numerous manufacturers and wholesalers.

Walgreens has been steadily selling Cencora stock over the last couple of years. A current sello of the remaining Cencora investment could raise $4.7 billion, Bloomberg estimated.

DELTA-8

From Page 3

most of (retailers) stopped doing it. Head shops still have some. Some people still order by mail.” Two key di erences between Illinois and Michigan, however, are price and availability. e retail price of marijuana is about half as much in Michigan as in Illinois, and the tax rate also is about half as much. e number of stores in Michigan (843) dwarfs the number in Illinois (242). e number of growers in Michigan also is much larger.

“At the very moment that these (delta-8) products came into play, Michigan had a ton of stores,” Sobczak says. “People could easily go to a licensed weed store, and prices already were coming down.”

States such as Virginia and Nebraska have aggressively enforced bans on intoxicating hemp with nes and lawsuits, says Katharine Neill Harris, a research fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.

Virginia, which legalized cannabis possession but still doesn’t allow retail sales, inspected 424 businesses after passing an intoxicating-hemp ban last year and issued nearly $11 million in fines.

“Sometimes the goal isn’t anancial payout but to get the business to stop doing something the state doesn’t like, such as marketing to minors or infringing on customer product brands,” Harris says. at appears to be the bet Pritzker is making.

“Can you stop every package from ever showing up on the shelves of a store? No, I guess you couldn’t,” he said during a press conference Dec. 13. “But it sure would make it di cult for an existing legal convenience store or gas station: If they’re selling an illegal product, they’re going to get in trouble.”

But the pandemic created challenges for the craft beer world. People drank at home instead of at bars and restaurants. As demand for bottled and canned beer soared, so too did the cost of bottles and cans for craft brewers. ose formats are not as pro table as draft. In August 2023, AB InBev sold a slew of its craft beer brands to Tilray Brands, a Canada-based cannabis company building its beer portfolio. ose included Breckenridge Brewery, Shock Top and others. It was around this time that Hall began the process of buying Virtue back from AB InBev. e deal closed late this summer.

Hall declined to disclose how much he paid to buy his company back. “We both decided it was fair,” he said, adding that investors and partners chipped in. An AB InBev spokeswoman directed questions to Hall.

He said Virtue is his passion, and he spent most days at the farm even when AB InBev was running it. e

“I love the idea of cider and kind of bringing that European farmhouse character to southwest Michigan,” Hall said. “We want to be the best we can be and make really great stu , better stu every year and more interesting stu every year. We feel like there’s a market to keep us going, especially because one of the things that changed during COVID is the whole direct-to-consumer market exploded.”

Potential issues

Moving back to independent operations will pose its challenges. Companies making such a move must modify their operations and supply chains, and could run into issues with suppliers, said J.D. Gerblick, deal advisory and strategy partner at KPMG.

Pricing issues could become a concern, too, as many consumers remain focused on in ation, said Brian Krueger, vice president of business development and portfolio strategies at beverage industry consultant Bump Williams Consulting.

Nationally, cider sales across all channels — which include restaurants, bars, grocery stores and more — are down 2.5% this year, and craft beer is down 2.3%, Krueger said. But regional cider makers are doing better than national ones. Such companies are able to more quickly respond to market changes.

“I like the fact that (Virtue is) going to be a little bit more in control,” Krueger said. “ eir focus is going to be determined more by them than by ltering through AB as a company then the AB distributors. ose can be pretty crowded houses.”

Indeed, Hall said he wants to get back to focusing on true European-style farmhouse cider, as opposed to making cider that appeals to the masses. Virtue will continue to make all its cider at the farm. It sources apples from within 60 miles, then ferments and barrel ages them, consistent with the cider-making methods in France, England and Spain.

When it was under AB InBev’s umbrella, Virtue would ship some of its cider via tanker to be canned at a Goose Island facility. at pro-

cess has ceased. It became so costly during the pandemic that it was no longer pro table.

“ at’s where our costs went through the roof, when that whole shipping thing exploded during COVID,” Hall said. “It was the difference between making money on a six-pack and losing money on a six-pack.”

Instead, Virtue will focus on draft cider and 750-ml bottles. Customers will be able to buy both at the farm. Virtue will also continue direct-to-consumer sales, which it began during the pandemic, when homebound customers were trying to nd ways to satisfy their cravings without exposing themselves to COVID at the stores.

e company will also selfdistribute its products to restaurants, bars, convenience stores and groceries in Michigan and Chicago. Hall said he is talking to restaurants such as Pompette in the Bucktown neighborhood, Obelix in River North and El Che Steakhouse in the West Loop. Virtue products will also remain available at bars and restaurants that have long carried the product, such as Hopleaf in Andersonville

and Delilah’s in Lincoln Park. Virtue plans keep its 16 full-time employees, and demand will determine seasonal hires, Hall said. e company does expect a sharp volume decrease. As an AB InBev company, Virtue topped out at about half a million cases of cider annually. Going forward, it expects to produce closer to 20,000. Virtue will keep all the equipment and leave room to grow. Additionally, there are changes afoot at Virtue’s 48-acre farm, which is about a 2.5-hour drive northeast of Chicago. Hall wants to take the farm from more of a brewpub experience to a winery feel, he said.

Currently, customers visit the interior of the farm's barn, grabbing seats inside or throughout the property. e barn will be cleaned up, the bar will be relocated and some of the cider tanks will be moved to make more room inside. e changes should be complete by next summer.

“ e space is a little raw,” Hall said. “One of the things we’re going to do in the rst quarter is to dress that up a little bit so it’s more comfortable year-round.”

VILL A GEMD

O’Hare International Airport? What will happen to the already strained local labor pool if Trump pursues mass deportations? What would tari s mean for the cost of construction materials?

While those questions hover over the market in the months ahead, some real estate developers are just happy to be done with the election season and are bullish about the potential for deregulation that could help them get to work building new housing, among other asset types.

Of ce distress lingers

◗ What happened: e pandemic’s slow-burn impact on the o ce sector continued in 2024, with companies predominantly shedding workspace as they adapt to new post-COVID work patterns.

e downtown o ce vacancy rate is now almost 26%, dwar ng the sub-14% gure when the pandemic began. Suburban o ce vacancy topped 31% for the rst time ever. at backdrop and elevated interest rates added fuel to an ongoing historic wave of distressed property: Recent additions to the list of o ce towers in foreclosure were the Illinois Center o ce complex, 330 N. Wabash Ave. and 70 W. Madison St. Buildings that were sold, including those at 150 N. Michigan Ave., 333 W. Wacker Drive and 1 N. State St., traded at fractions of their pre-pandemic value, dealing painful nancial blows to sellers and their lenders.

◗ What to look for in 2025: How much more o ce space cutting is still to come? Will the record-high vacancy rate plateau? And will more companies follow Amazon’s lead, pushing harder to get employees back into o ces full time? ose fundamentals will determine how quickly the local o ce market can shake its malaise.

While more downsizes are likely on the way, landlords are hoping big recent o ce expansions by engineering rm Sargent & Lundy and payment processing rm Adyen are a sign of absorption growth that could o set the losses.

Tenants in the market for space, meanwhile, may have more options as investors buy distressed buildings at discounts and use fresh capital to begin competing for deals. For city o cials looking for help restoring downtown’s vitality, that reinvestment can’t come soon enough.

Stadiums and megaprojects

◗ What happened: Chicago pro sports teams found potential bedfellows in antsy developers trying to kick-start megaprojects around the city.

e Bears pivoted from their vision for an Arlington Heights stadium to plans for a new publicly subsidized venue south of Soldier Field or on the former Michael Reese Hospital site. e White Sox began a pursuit of $1 billion in public money for a new stadium at Related Midwest’s South Loop site known as e 78. Owners of the Chicago Stars women’s soccer club told state legislators they want help building a new home if

men’s teams get taxpayer money, while Chicago Fire FC owner Joe Mansueto took steps toward a deal to build a stadium he would pay for himself at e 78.

Top state o cials said there’s no appetite to use public funds to subsidize any new stadium.

Not to miss out on the megaproject fun, the owners of the United Center unveiled plans for the 1901 Project, a $7 billion mixed-use campus around the Near West Side venue. And momentum is building quickly for a massive development on the long-fallow former U.S. Steel South Works site, the future home of the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park and a new 52-bed Advocate Health Care hospital.

◗ What to look for in 2025: Far quieter than the Bears’ stadium push is Mansueto’s 25,000-seat Fire project, a vision that could take key steps forward in the coming weeks at e 78. at could catalyze other development on the 62-acre site, which Related says is large enough to accommodate stadiums for both the Fire and Sox.

Will state lawmakers open public co ers for the Bears, Sox or Stars? Will the Bears keep their focus on downtown, or revert back to a suburban option? And will Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf actually pursue a sale of the franchise? e Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, meanwhile, said they intend to break ground on the rst part of the 1901 Project in the spring. Related has a similar timeline in mind to begin work on the South Chicago quantum park. On the North Side, the planned Lincoln Yards campus remains stalled as developer Sterling Bay keeps hunting for new capital partners and tries to stave o an increasingly impatient lender in Bank OZK. Johnson’s TIF vision

◗ What happened: Commercial real estate investors began 2024 battling

with Mayor Brandon Johnson over his plan to hike the tax on large commercial property sales, which voters ultimately rejected in March. While the relationship between the administration and commercial property owners doesn’t seem to have improved since then, Johnson and Department of Planning & Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright — who is far more popular among developers — o ered some clarity on how they aim to use public resources to try to revive both downtown and disinvested neighborhoods.

e mayor threw his support behind spending nearly $250 million in tax-increment nancing money to help convert vacant Loop o ce space into more than 1,400 apartments. He also unveiled plans to redirect $1.25 billion worth of bond proceeds paid o from expiring TIF districts to help nance a ordable housing and spur economic development in poorer communities over the next ve years.

◗ What to look for in 2025: Johnson won support from the City Council this past fall for changes tied to his “Cut e Tape” initiative, which stands to remove parts of the city’s development review process and get more projects going faster. Will those expedited processes generate more development in a city that today has few construction cranes operating?

Johnson also announced the rst two a ordable housing projects to receive money from the bond program. How many more will be announced in 2025? And at a di cult time for developers to secure nancing, will Johnson be more e ective getting such projects underway than the previous administration was through its Invest South/West program?

Property tax troubles

◗ What happened: Cook County property tax bills dealt a nancial

gut punch in 2024 to homeowners in the south and southwest suburbs, where the median residential property tax bill rose by almost 20% — the largest percentage jump for the region in at least 29 years. In the city, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s reassessment of downtown — o ce buildings and hotels in particular — drew consternation from owners who say those properties haven’t recovered from the pandemic and remote work to the degree that Kaegi says they have.

And in response to complaints over the past several years about the unpredictability of Cook County property taxes, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a series of recommendations for the assessor’s o ce and the Cook County Board of Review to adopt, including to share more data and use a more uniform approach in deciding how much commercial buildings are worth.

◗ What to look for in 2025: History suggests the Board of Review will knock down Kaegi’s assessments, and the results of those appeals could shift more of the local property tax burden from commercial landlords to homeowners, which was the case in the suburbs the past two years. Low-income homeowners in the city will be wringing their hands as they anticipate sticker shock when their bills come out in the summer.

Will lawmakers step in with a program to provide relief? Kaegi and other county o cials have called for “circuit-breaker” legislation to help mitigate fallout. Downtown revival?

◗ What happened: e Johnson administration took steps to add new uses to the central business district. In addition to the TIFbacked projects to transform ofces on and near LaSalle Street

into apartments, a handful of other downtown o ce-to-residential projects popped up as well. A proposal to convert the vintage Loop o ce tower at 65 E. Wacker Place into about 250 apartments got zoning approval in December, and developers also proposed turning a Magni cent Mile o ce tower and two West Loop warehouse buildings residential.

◗ What to look for in 2025: It stands to be a big year for shaping the post-pandemic Loop and whether it evolves into more of a mixeduse neighborhood where people want to be, rather than have to be for work. Will more companies and investment pour into the Loop as Google continues to transform the James R. ompson Center into its new Chicago home?

Following the Fed

◗ What happened: e Federal Reserve voted to make its third interest rate cut at its December meeting, after holding the rate at its highest level in two decades for more than a year. e elevated interest rate environment continued to slow real estate dealmaking and dampened property values in 2024. It also made renancing tricky for landlords with debt that came due in 2024.

◗ What to look for in 2025: It remains to be seen whether the cuts will be enough to unleash more dealmaking and bear out the “Survive until ‘25” mantra. With the fed only penciling in two rate cuts for the year ahead, will lenders be more resigned to calling it quits and cutting their losses?

Nationally, more than $1 trillion of commercial real estate debt is expected to mature in 2025, according to a Moody’s Ratings report. at means the year will be an in ection point for downtown buildings with massive mortgages. Will they be able to re nance or work out deals with their lenders, or will 2025 be catastrophic for regional banks with a lot of exposure to commercial real estate?

How those resolutions play out in Chicago will be critical to the city’s future.

Post-COVID Mag Mile

◗ What happened: Landlords on Chicago’s best-known but vacancy-plagued shopping strip felt the pain of how far property values have fallen. Two properties — the Shops at North Bridge and 625 N. Michigan Ave. — were handed over to lenders, and another, at 605 N. Michigan Ave., was sold at a fraction of its former value. Another lender-owned vertical mall, Water Tower Place, lost Sephora as a tenant.

But the corridor got some good news with new leases from Spanish fashion chain Mango and Warner Bros., which plans a Harry Potter-themed store, as well as a pending deal that would mark clothing chain Uniqlo’s return to the avenue after three years.

◗ What to look for in 2025: Can the avenue make more incremental gains and chip away at its vacancy rate? How e ective will owners be

in repositioning their properties?

e new owner of the Shops at North Bridge plans to put new capital into refreshing the mall, and the lender that controls Water Tower Place is marketing the mall’s upper oors for non-retail uses.

Will other properties with maturing debt fall into distress? Whether a proposed o ce-toapartments conversion at 500 N. Michigan Ave. gets nancial backing and moves forward will say a lot about the corridor’s potential to be more than just a shopping district.

Hotels still recovering

◗ What happened: Chicago had a big summer of high-pro le events — led by the second-annual NASCAR Chicago Street Race and the Democratic National Convention — that gave the city a much-needed positive spotlight and helped ll hotel rooms.

But hotel owners still yearn for the level of business they enjoyed in 2019 and continue to grapple with higher labor costs. Revenue per available room at downtown hotels averaged $162.70 during the rst nine months of the year, according to real estate data and analytics company CoStar Group. at metric, which accounts for both room rates and occupancy, was up 9% from the same period in 2019 but still well below the comparable gure when accounting for in ation.

◗ What to look for in 2025: e local hospitality sector is still waiting to hear who will be the permanent leader of city tourism arm Choose Chicago, which parted ways with former CEO Lynn Osmond in January 2024. Strong recruitment e orts from that agency will be key to lling the city’s 2027 and 2028 convention calendars. ose years have gaps from a slowdown in long-term booking during the pandemic when Chicago was closed for business and some rival markets weren’t.

Choose Chicago is also mulling the creation of a Tourism Improvement District, which would tack on an extra 1.5% surcharge to room rates for stays at large downtown hotels to generate millions of dollars of new funds for tourism promotion.

New life for industrial party?

◗ What happened: After stampeding into warehouses during the pandemic to bolster their supply chains, companies collectively pulled back in a big way in 2024. Luckily for landlords, high borrowing costs forced developers to cool o their building spree, too. For the rst time in three years, the majority of new warehouses under construction in the Chicago area had tenants lined up in advance, rather than being built on speculation. Supply and demand are now relatively balanced in the local industrial real estate market, though the vacancy rate stands near a record low at under 5% and landlords continue to increase rents.

◗ What to look for in 2025: With borrowing costs starting to tick down, will developers jump back into

building mode? Only 6.3 million square feet of new warehouses are expected to be completed in the Chicago area in 2025, according to real estate services rm Colliers. at’s way down from 16.8 million square feet in 2024 and a fraction of the record 40 million square feet delivered in 2023. Rising rents in the industrial property sector look good to investors at a time when o ce and retail deals appear more risky. Exuberant developers could restart debates that in amed suburban municipalities during the pandemic regarding whether to allow outmoded o ce properties to be transformed into truck-heavy logistics centers.

The adapting retailer

What happened: While brickand-mortar retail in the Chicago area has shown some resilience in the face of e-commerce thanks to spending on essentials such as clothes and groceries, local consumer spending slowed in the rst six months of 2024 due to ination and economic worries.

Still, demand for retail space in the Chicago suburbs was strong as availability dropped to a nearly 20-year low, according to CBRE Econometric Advisors. It was a di erent story downtown, where the number of empty storefronts surpassed a daunting threshold as retail vacancy in the Loop hit 30%.

◗ What to look for in 2025: It will likely take some time for the impact of the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cuts to trickle down to consumers and stimulate the economy. Downtown, major o ce commitments by Google and JPMorgan Chase and several o ce-to-apartment conversions o er some hope for retailers that vibrancy and foot trafc will return.

In the suburbs, redevelopment projects that aim to breathe new life into malls by adding hundreds of apartments are taking steps forward at West eld Old Orchard and Yorktown Center, and a developer has an eye on a similar potential project at Wood eld Mall.

Apartment rents on the rise

◗ What happened: Downtown apartment rents ticked up in the third quarter after a lukewarm year for landlords, rising 2.3% year over year. Building owners and experts say demand for downtown living is still strong even as new supply in the market puts some downward pressure on rents. More than 3,200 new apartment units came online in 2024.

◗ What to look for in 2025: If people continue moving and living downtown in 2025, they’ll likely be paying a lot more for the same apartments. Very little new supply is expected to be added in the new year — just 500 units are in the pipeline for delivery in 2025, according to Integra Realty Resources. e appraisal and consulting rm expects year-over-year rent spikes as high as 5% that could bleed into 2026. at won’t sit well with those already sounding alarms about a lack of a ordable housing across the city.

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