Urban Innovations started out in the adaptive reuse of loft buildings more than 30 years ago and currently manages eleven Class B properties totaling over 750,000 square feet. Embracing sustainable operations and practices has been a natural evolution for the company leading to six ENERGY STAR buildings and one that is LEED Certified. Taking their sustainable efforts a step further, Urban Innovations has signed on to work with an Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Climate Corps fellow to dive deeper into their building portfolio’s energy performance.

The founder and chairman of Urban Innovations, Howard Conant Jr., has been influencing the world of real estate for more than 35 years. Howard loves hearing “That can’t be done,” then proving the naysayers wrong. From revitalizing River North loft buildings to redeveloping Section 8 senior housing, Howard looks forward to many more opportunities and challenges of urban renewal.

Read more of the article here.

JoAnne Gottfried, Urban Innovations’ Vice President of Marketing, weighs in on the increasing number of women in Chicago real estate. “I’d like to think that one factor is the increasing realization that real estate development and management can be a powerful source of social and environmental change,” says Gottfried.

Read more of the article here.

Urban Innovations has re-acquired two office buildings in the West Loop’s Greektown neighborhood of Chicago totaling 150,000 square feet. Urban Innovations previously owned these properties and sold them in 2005 to a private investor.

UI bought the 60,000 square foot office building located at 833 West Jackson Boulevard along with the 90,000 square foot property at 322 South Green Street as a value-added investment. The buildings sit adjacent to one another, separated by a parking lot that services the properties.