Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate (MBIRE) won first place in the Graduate Division of the 12th annual Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation Real Estate Challenge, which culminated with final presentations on Saturday, April 23, at Wintrust, 231 S. LaSalle St. in Chicago.
The challenge tasked students with creating a redevelopment plan for Johnny’s IceHouse East, the 51,500-square-foot former home of the Chicago Blackhawks’ practice rink located at 1350 W. Madison St. in the heart of Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.
MBIRE was among five graduate-level teams from universities across the country to participate in the program. As the grand prize winner, MBIRE was awarded $5,000 in scholarships, made possible by Wintrust Commercial Real Estate, toward its real estate program.
The winning MBIRE proposal, The Capsule, was presented by the school’s Windy City Development team and calls for transforming the building to create a lobby, 41-vehicle parking lot, 2,000-square-foot tech school and 6,000-square-foot bitcoin mining space on the first floor; a 16,800-square-foot e-gaming arena and 3,200-square-foot restaurant on the second floor; and additional space for e-gaming stations and dining on the third-floor mezzanine. The total project cost of The Capsule is $25.9 million.
MBIRE’s Windy City Development team included Trace McGuire (team lead), Brett Berlin, Leila Gathogo Win, Tyler Hanson, Alexandra Martello, Tatiana Nagornova, Michael Penicnak, Pamela Sánchez Muñoz, Jennifer Warfield and Ryan Watt.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team,” said Jon Dennis of UrbanStreet Group, who along with Andrew Savoy of CA Ventures, serve as adjunct professors at MBIRE and advisers for the team. “They performed a full market analysis to repurpose this building in a way that is exciting and forward-thinking. This competition gave them a taste of what it’s like to be a developer.”
According to the Eisenberg Foundation, the winning plan is the most economically viable and complementary to the unique uses surrounding the site. The Real Estate Challenge commences early in the year and culminates in April, when the student teams’ presentations are judged by a panel of professionals.
Supporters of the 2022 Challenge included Wintrust Commercial Real Estate, Bradford Allen and Johnny’s Icehouse.