Happiness: The overlooked real estate investment

[Michael McLean]

So what ever happened to “the pursuit of happiness?”

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote, when crafting the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So where in today’s culture and politics of the United States are we addressing the pursuit of happiness?

Looking at my home city of Chicago, I see some of it, but not a whole-hearted effort. Many Americans seem to value the pursuit of money, goods and indebtedness, which could not lead us farther from the founding basis for the creation of this country. When applying this question to real estate investment, we have to ask ourselves: How we have gone so terribly wrong? Our built environment, our homes, parks, schools, institutions and political bodies seem to totally ignore this goal.

We have inconveniently forgotten that one third of our unalienable rights is the pursuit of happiness. Our entire approach needs to change. Even our strong and well intending nonprofits miss the point when affordable housing laws only allow for a unit that provides a place to live with no thought as to how the unit adds to happiness. Does the unit have access to a collective space where residents can connect with each other? A gym to improve mental and physical wellbeing?

It’s about time things change. It starts with investing in people and where they live.

Through the enormous resources that the real estate industry wields, we must focus our efforts on this noble pursuit of happiness; no other country in the world was founded on such an incredible idea. Even so, other counties have effectively achieved this goal, while many Americans still chase wealth as an inappropriate replacement. US developers prioritize attracting wealth and hundreds of investors.

What we invest in differs significantly. We invest in people and their communities. Our projects look toward the pursuit of happiness to guide our decisions, both in location and product type. Luxury apartments or workforce housing. Main Street retail or centers of business.

Condor Partners pursues the happiness of our customers, residents and businesses.

We couple our efforts with the character of the community in which we invest and allow that community to instruct us on what, where and when an investment should be placed. Chicago’s neighborhoods are unique, invariably different, and constantly changing. We adapt to each variable so that our projects pursue happiness in that very moment, which defines the relationship between a building and the people that will utilize it, the people that will be affected by its residents, and the government that oversees those uses. This approach produces significant results.

Mural Park: employment opportunities matter.

Mural Park, an office project in the Pilsen neighborhood, has opened the eyes of the market to the potential of local employment in Chicago’s Neighborhoods and the importance of commercial development outside of our central business district. The $45 million project consists of the adaptive reuse of two, 100-year-old, 100,000 square feet, heavy timber warehouses. We have delivered the first 100,000sf building to base building are now have negotiated leases that put us over 40% leased in just 6 months. This project aligned itself with the community’s values, culture art, history and local economic growth. It prevented the proliferation of new apartments, as they were once planned for 200 luxury lofts, and is sponsoring the development of a 30,000sf public plaza next to the soon to be built Paseo Trail, Chicago’s next rails to trails project.

Hotel Lincoln: a hotel that reflects the community provides an authentic experience.

When we developed Hotel Lincoln in the Old Town neighborhood, we disrupted the entire hotel industry in Chicago, kicking off a wave of neighborhood boutique hotels no one thought possible previously. We approached every detail with one question: How can we honor the unique history that surrounds this hotel? We started by reviving the hotel’s original neon sign. We built a rooftop providing sweeping views of the history below. The result is travelers who really want to experience what it’s like to live in one of the nation’s most historic neighborhoods can truly feel that at Hotel Lincoln and the local community has “that place” that feels like home.

Now, our future work aims to grow these ideas of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness further into the south side, aiming to disrupt The Chicago Way of business replacing it with The Right Way.