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February 2010
Chicago’s Real-Estate Forecast
By Dennis Rodkin
“Realtors cannot change economic reality,” insisted Genie Birch, a Koenig & Strey GMAC agent and the president of the Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR). Birch’s remarks opened CAR’s economic forecast panel for 2010, which met on January 28th at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza. Here are ten other things that Chicago real-estate agents heard from the panel: Read more
Mark Pollack at Verde

I got the chance to meet textile designer Mark Pollack last week at Verde, Michele Fitzpatrick’s showroom in Pilsen. This was my first time seeing Michele’s new showroom (more about that later). Pollack was showing off his new green collection of fabrics, called Pure. A handful of designers and I sat in a circle as he discussed his fabrics and passed them around. It was like a baby shower, with us oohing and aaahing over the gorgeous texture and feel of the fabrics (not to mention how wonderful they looked.) I loved the checkered velvet (shown here), which reminds me of Chilewich’s vinyl creations and also of this Ann Sacks tile I’m considering for my bath. Except the fabric is incredibly, dreamily soft. See samples at Verde.

–JAN PARR

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Weekend Photos: The Exchange
Those Small Bar guys have been busy: Even as Phil McFarland and Ty Fujimura’s third SB location hovers on the cusp of launching in Lincoln Park (word on the street is next week) and Fujimura readies his forthcoming Japanese restaurant, Arami, in West Town, the duo found a few spare moments to freshen up yet another property in their portfolio. Opening Tuesday in the address last home to the Wicker Park DJ den Lava is The Exchange... Read more
Our Man in London: On Louis Susman's appointment as ambassador to the U.K.
By Carol Felsenthal
The retired Chicago businessman Louis Susman recently became the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, an appointment widely regarded as the prize for his ferocious fundraising on behalf of the Obama campaign. Derided by the British press as the “vacuum cleaner,” Susman is only the most prominent example of a continuing—and questionable—American tradition Read more