Wrigley Field: Home of the Chicago Cubs, Site of Chicago’s Next Development Challenge

It’s one of Chicago’s most iconic, most visited, most historic structures.  It’s been the scene of intense joy and, more often, intense heartbreak.  It’s a landmark, and there’s only one other place like it left in the nation – make that the world.

I’m referring to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.

Often referred to as “The Friendly Confines,” Wrigley continues to draw fans – up to 3 million a year – to watch the Cubs play baseball 82 or so times annually.  When the Cubs doesn’t make the playoffs (all too infrequent in recent years), the park has hosted a handful of rock concerts featuring long-standing acts that are household names.

Here in the 2012 baseball season, Wrigley Field is the subject of controversy regarding the type of new development that will take place to keep the doors open and the crowds coming back.  And, frankly, to keep the place structurally intact and to keep revenue flowing.

First, full disclosure:  I’m a life-long Cubs fan, having attended games at the old ball yard from the mid-1960s to the present.  But rather than share thoughts on the future of the Cubs as a team, let’s focus on what may happen to the property at 1060 W. Addison St.

Wrigley Field is the second-oldest Major League ballpark in the nation, just a few years behind Fenway Park in Boston.  It is built in a neighborhood that once was sleepy and quiet, but since the 1980s or so has evolved into a very desirable place to live and socialize.

Frankly, the amenities at Wrigley are decidedly old-school, Spartan perhaps.  Lights didn’t arrive until 1988, and the venerable, 75-year-old scoreboard is manually operated.  The park dominates the Lakeview neighborhood so much that natives and visitors call the area Wrigleyville.

A rendering of the development planned for the area surrounding Wrigley Field

The Chicago Cubs, owned since 2009 by the Ricketts family, have bold plans to bring the Wrigley Field up to modern standards, but serious questions remain regarding the financing.  Land for new development is at a premium, but developers have proposed a hotel, apartment and retail complex at the southeast corner of Clark and Addison streets, directly across from Wrigley’s main gate.

And, to use a baseball metaphor, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has thrown one high and inside by proposing to relax some of Wrigley’s landmark status.  If enacted, the Cubs could add more modern features like large electronic scoreboards in the outfield bleachers and shut down surrounding thoroughfares on game days to create a so-called “carnival atmosphere” around the park.  That already takes place in many regards. For years, the old brownstone and greystone apartment buildings along Waveland and Sheffield avenues across from the park have housed businesses where patrons can take in a game from the rooftops and enjoy food and drink on game days.

The famous marquee near the entrance gate to Wrigley Field

So what should be done?  For decades, some fans and non-fans have shouted loudly that Wrigley needs to be demolished and the team needs a modern stadium to compete in today’s big-business Major League Baseball.  Others clamor with equal fervor to preserve and improve what’s become one of the game’s true museum pieces and a part of Chicago’s real estate and cultural history.

Rest assured, the final pitch will not be thrown at Wrigley Field for at least a few seasons to come – no matter where the Cubs finish in the standings.

We’ve all seen major sports facilities renovated before in Chicago, so what do you think should go into the next lineup:  Rebuild and renovate the ballpark and neighborhood, or consider what many believe is the unthinkable and shut the park down?  Let us know how you’d manage this late-inning situation.

CRE News: What We’re Reading the Week of May 7

Each week, The Elevator Speech summarizes news related to some of the key industry trends, buildings, deals and dealmakers that shaped headlines. Here’s what caught our attention the week of May 7:

• BentleyForbes Holdings LLC selected CBRE Inc. to take over leasing the Prudential Plaza, just north of Millennium Park. In addition to handling the leasing, CBRE has also been hired to find investors to recapitalize the 2.2 million square foot office complex at 130 E. Randolph St. and 180 N. Stetson Ave.
  

  Prudential Plaza

• In an annual report measuring effective rents, the Studley Effective Rent Index shows that rents at high-end downtown office buildings are rising again.  Average net effective rents for landlords rose 1.7 percent from a year earlier, to $6.10 per square foot, but far below the $10.86 landlords collected in pre-recession 2007. Rents have risen as the slowly improving economy has boosted demand for office space and a lack of development has kept a lid on new supply.

• The city of Chicago is offering for-profit education DeVry Inc. $1 million to open an operations center in the West Loop that is expected to employ 600 people. According to a report for the city Community Development Commission, DeVry plans to move to 300 S. Riverside Plaza from its current location at 3300 N. Campbell Ave.

Forever Marilyn dismantled at Pioneer Court

• The iconic Forever Marilyn statue left Magnificent Mile this week, having attracted millions of tourists to its Pioneer Court location situated between the Chicago River and Tribune Tower. Hundreds of bystanders watched as the 40,000-pound sculpture was dismantled.

• According to a survey by Chicago-based real estate consultant firm Christenson Advisors, lenders’ salaries, recruiting activity and deals in general increased in 2011 compared to 2010. The increases are directly tied to the increase in commercial real estate transaction activity improving the past year. Most of the 75 commercial lending companies surveyed indicated they expect salaries to continue increasing as a result of the solid growth in the markets.

What headlines caught your attention this week? Leave us a comment and let us know.

BOMA/Chicago Demonstrates “Giving Back Sprit” Through Rebuilding Together Volunteer Program

By Jeff Tigchelaar, Senior Real Estate Manager, CBRE

A few days ago, a group of people from the Chicago real estate industry got together to help in some small – but significant – ways to make life better for those who needed a helping hand.  As a result, two elderly women now live in cleaner, safer and more pleasant surroundings and the team from the real estate community learned first-hand what it’s like to make a difference in someone’s life.

On April 28, members of the BOMA/Chicago Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility committee and Emerging Leaders subcommittee spent the better part of a day cleaning and repairing two homes in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.  At one home, we removed debris and clutter and installed some paneling in the basement and at the other, we installed a security door, hand rails and bathroom grab bars, painted two rooms and removed old appliances from the basement.

The work - completed by David Myles, Paul Rades, Jennifer Christakes, Justin Girard, Lucas Schlemmer, Anamaria Spiteri, Abigail Kichura, and myself – was coordinated through Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago, a national organization that provides no-cost home repair for elderly, disabled and low-income families.

The effort is part of a national initiative called National Rebuilding Day, which takes place in cities across the nation.  Our team worked on two homes that day, but collectively, volunteers from the initiative worked on dozens of homes in Chicago.

The BOMA/Chicago volunteers took home two key takeaways from our day in Englewood:

1.  We got to visit a neighborhood in Chicago that really needs help and witnessed the difficulties people living there are up against every day.

2.   We made a true difference in the lives of two women by improving the safety and comfort of their homes through simple devices such as hand rails and grab bars.

My day working on National Rebuilding Day was inspirational. I came away from the experience with a positive feeling, with a sense that I gave back to the community; and I’m sure my BOMA/Chicago colleagues felt the same way.  Perhaps next year we can enlist property management companies as sponsors and get the entire commercial real estate industry involved.

Without question, the work we accomplished will raise awareness about National Rebuilding Day and hopefully spark conversation to help those in need, even if it’s just for one day.

Do you take part in a program to give back to the less fortunate in or around Chicago?  Does your company participate in National Rebuilding Day or some similar initiative?  Let’s start a dialogue; please share your insight.

CRE News: What We’re Reading the Week of April 30

Each week, The Elevator Speech summarizes news related to some of the key industry trends, buildings, deals and dealmakers that shaped headlines. Here’s what caught our attention the week of April 30:

100 W. Monroe St.

• A study by World Business Chicago found that the NATO Summit in Chicago will give the City a $128 million boost. The group, which is affiliated with the NATO Host Committee, predicted 21,200 people will come to Chicago for the Summit; that translates to 49,300 hotel stays and 2,200 temporary jobs.

• An investor group led by the president of MB Real Estate paid about $12.5 million for the 22-story office building at 100 W. Monroe St. The buyer sees an opportunity to invest in mid-tier buildings in the Loop amid the rebounding Chicago office market.

• The owners of the United Center are planning a $75 million-$85 million retail development. Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is leading a venture with Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz that plans to build 260,000 square feet of restaurants, bars, a team store and event space in the parking lot east of the arena.

• Nearly 140 people from 65 local startups moved into 1871, the 50,000-square-foot work space for digital entrepreneurs in the Merchandise Mart. The startup center in the Merchandise Mart further reinforces Chicago’s position as a technology hub.

The iconic Merchandise Mart on the Chicago River

• Two nearly full downtown Chicago office buildings were put up for sale, a sign that the downtown Chicago office investment market is improving. The 12-story office building at 300 W. Adams St. and the 30-story tower at 20 S. Clark St. were recently put up for sale.

What headlines caught your attention this week? Leave us a comment and let us know.

A Clear-Cut Benefit of BOMA/Chicago Membership: Hosting a Brown Bag Seminar

By Mike Collins, Commercial Client Advocate, J.C. Restoration, Inc.

One key to success in business is this: take advantage of opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to help establish yourself as an expert. In today’s competitive environment, smart managers will cut through the fluff of traditional advertising and marketing communications to conduct in-person meetings that provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information.

BOMA/Chicago Affiliate Members can provide just that by leading a Brown Bag Seminar, one of the many educational offerings developed through the Professional Development Center.

For those unfamiliar with the program, Brown Bag Seminars give Affiliate Members a chance to deliver a presentation on topics related to managing commercial real estate.  Each seminar lasts around one hour, with 30 minutes allocated for a question and answer session. Attendance of the seminars – offered at no-cost to BOMA/Chicago members – runs from 10 to 50 participants.

As a relatively new member to BOMA/Chicago and its community of property managers, I welcomed the opportunity to become a recognized face and subject matter expert; it proved to be a very valuable use of my time, and a rewarding one, too.

Preparing for the Brown Bag Seminar last November did not require a large time commitment because I modified a presentation I had delivered previously. With minor tweaking for a downtown, BOMA/Chicago-specific audience, my PowerPoint presentation was finished within an hour or two.

Brown Bag Seminars focus on education, so I wanted to drive home two key messages:

1.  Building managers should research restoration company alternatives before a need arises. Demand for my services most often comes suddenly, with no time to exercise the due diligence employed in hiring any other service provider or contractor.

2.  Use a set of criteria for drilling down and judging the caliber of companies offering restoration services. I believe attendees were able to draw up an appropriate list of pointed questions to help accurately assess provider options.

A big reward came a few months after hosting the Brown Bag seminar when a senior executive who attended the seminar invited J.C. Restoration to bid on a portfolio of properties he managed. We have since become their exclusive provider of emergency services – an opportunity that surfaced directly from the Brown Bag Seminar.

If you are thinking about leading a Brown Bag Seminar, I suggest you go for it! You’ll get the attention of business prospects interested in your subject matter, and you’ll become a trustworthy resource for them so you won’t be forgotten when an opportunity arises. I had expected to be put on a year-long waiting list to deliver my presentation, but I was on the agenda much sooner.

If you’ve lead a Brown Bag Seminar or similar program, please share your thoughts.  What were the benefits to you and your audience? And if you’ve attended as a manager, what value have you gotten from attending – and what value might the presenters have gotten for their efforts?

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NOTE:  Interested in delivering a Brown Bag Seminar to BOMA/Chicago colleagues?  Please contact Lisa Bluhm, Director of Education, at 312-870-9612

CRE News: What We’re Reading the Week of April 23

Each week, The Elevator Speech summarizes news related to some of the key industry trends, buildings, deals and dealmakers that shaped headlines. Here’s what caught our attention the week of April 23:

The Chicago Board of Trade Building at 141 W. Jackson Blvd. in the heart of Chicago's Financial District.

• Chicago-based CME Group Inc. sold two of three buildings that make up the Chicago Board of Trade Building Complex for $151.5 million. The new owners are a joint venture between GlenStar Properties, LLC and USAA Real Estate Co., and will own the north and south towers of the CBOT Building at 141 W. Jackson Blvd.

• A first quarter market report by U.S. Equities Realty found that the Chicago office market saw direct vacancy drop by 0.9 percent since one year ago. According to the report, direct vacancy dropped to 14.1 percent in the 140-million-square-foot downtown market, from 15 percent in the first quarter of 2011.

• The owners of the site at 300 W. Washington St., the location of the former Chicago Mercantile Exchange, have plans to build a one million-square-foot office building in the vacant lot. The billionaire Crown family, in partnership with Tishman Speyer Properties, are gearing up for the slowly improving office market in Chicago.  Chicago-based architecture firm Krueck and Sexton Architects was hired to draw up plans for the new building.

181 W. Madison St.

• Toronto-based insurer Manulife Financial Corp. is paying nearly $105 million for the 41-story office tower at 150 N. Michigan Ave. Manulife is paying less than the $113.2 million SEB paid for the building in 1999 due to its 80 percent occupancy rate and the slow office investment market in Chicago.

• General Electric Co.’s pension fund will sell the 50-story office tower at 181 W. Madison St. The 936,683-square-foot building is expected to sell for more than $300 million.

What headlines caught your attention this week? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Crisis Communications for Building Owners and Managers During the NATO Summit

By Nick Kalm, president and founder, Reputation Partners, LLC

In my nearly 30 years of crisis communications, I’ve helped address many issues and crisis situations affecting the commercial real estate industry. Although the communications strategies differ for each crisis, it’s clear the organizations that actively communicate and have the most robust crisis communication plans maintain the best reputations. And as Warren Buffett famously said, “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only a few seconds to destroy one.”

A demonstration in downtown Chicago

For building owners and managers specifically, reputations are sacred. Ineffective communications during an incident can lead to a loss of current and prospective tenants and employees, financing, pending deals and credibility. Owners and managers of Chicago’s downtown commercial buildings are likely going to be put to the test next month during the NATO Summit in how they communicate to key stakeholders.

There are many crisis scenarios that may involve your building during the NATO Summit, such as:

• A peaceful demonstration could escalate into a volatile, potentially violent protest outside of your building, prompting local news crews to arrive seeking comments;
• The City of Chicago could issue an extreme security threat alert and shut down all public transportation (including Amtrak, CTA, Pace and Metra), stranding tenants and employees in the Loop;
• A man with a crude bomb in his backpack could enter your lobby and demand access to a tenant company.

The steps you take now will determine how and how well you communicate during a potential crisis situation next month, next year or 10 years from now. Best practice crisis communications for building owners and managers is a three-part process: Prepare, Execute and Recover.

Prepare: Preparation is the single best way to ensure your reputation stays intact during and after a crisis. With less than one month before the NATO Summit, building owners and managers should have a crisis communications plan in place for various issues that may arise. A strong plan contains a vulnerabilities assessment such as potential communications and operational breakdowns.

Preparing materials in advance of the NATO Summit ensures you won’t have to scramble for data and resources during a crisis. Some materials for Chicago building owners and managers to consider developing include:

• Building fact sheet, including the year built, construction materials, number of floors, life safety attributes, number of building staff, etc.;
• Full contact lists of Chicago Police Department, employees, tenants, building staff, local media, partners, legal counsel and insurance brokers;
• Streamlined response/communications protocol, including who will be appointed spokesperson to address various stakeholders should an incident occur;
• Template press releases and tenant notifications; and
• Rules of engagement with the media.

Stay informed of developments and news related to the NATO Summit by monitoring local media, BOMA/Chicago’s dedicated web page, protestors’ blogs, NotifyChicago alerts and Chicago’s Public and Private Partnership (CP3). Consistent monitoring will help identify warning signs such as unusual activity or a heightened interest in your building by the media and/or protesters.

Execute: In the event that a protest or threat escalates into a crisis situation, building owners and managers must effectively communicate to key stakeholders. This includes updating your building’s website, issuing statements and sending notifications to tenants, employees and staff. If possible, all communications during a crisis should contain updated information incorporating new developments and corrections to any false statements or rumors. Building owners and managers can work with the Chicago Police Department to gather accurate information needed to provide timely updates whenever possible.

If an incident occurs during the NATO Summit that involves a commercial building, it’s possible that the building owner and/or manager will be contacted by the media for comments. In this scenario, spokespeople must effectively communicate as much relevant information as possible, but should not speculate or unnecessarily heighten the situation. When working with media, it’s best to keep answers brief: Speak in headlines and speak slowly and clearly. This avoids message misinterpretation.

Recover: Crisis communications is ongoing. After an incident, building owners and managers should update their crisis communications plans as soon as possible to reflect what was successful and what needs reevaluating. In addition, proactive communications with key stakeholders like tenants, employees and media will ensure the building’s reputation is solidified for years to come.

A crisis situation during the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago may or may not occur, but the event merits that all local building owners and managers are prepared. Effective crisis communications will not only ensure the safety of your tenants, employees and staff, it can also build and protect your reputation as an effective leader in Chicago’s commercial real estate industry.

What steps have you taken to prepare for the upcoming NATO Summit?