Focus

We were feeling pretty lucky at this year's St. Patrick's Day happy hour. We all joined in to celebrate Chicago's highest of holidays - cheers!

In collaboration with our development partner?Atlantic Residential?we've completed the first phase of construction at?Lucca Fox Valley. The first in a three-phase delivery schedule, Focus turned over 65 units at the new luxury community in Aurora, IL where community managers welcomed the property’s first residents.? From design to delivery, the Focus construction team played a crucial role in the success of this project. Through careful design-build coordination, innovative construction practices, and meticulous management of onsite logistics, the Focus construction team delivered the first phase of Lucca Fox Valley on budget, and two months early.? Read more below - https://lnkd.in/gGCjiGsV Affinius Capital Centennial Joshua Stark Courtney Brower Joe Vartanian Joseph Zamost, MRED Shlok Shah Brittany Taylor Darrin Brown Ross Nasca Maria Lopez

A big thank you to Tim Anderson, Stephen Fluhr, Shannon Pope and Mark Stern for joining us this morning and sharing behind-the-scenes insights on Mall Redevelopment and the future of Old Orchard Mall. There are tremendous opportunities to strengthen our communities through the thoughtful redevelopment of these historic assets!

Last Friday, it was our pleasure to host the most recent cohort of trainees from Revolution Workshop on the construction site for Lucca Fox Valley. The Focus construction team toured the trainees through the jobsite, explaining the intricacies of construction an answering questions from the tradespeople in training. Shout out to Brittany Taylor for taking the lead on this community enhancing event and a special thanks to the entire Fox Valley team for hosting a great event! Joe Vartanian Shlok Shah Joseph Zamost, MRED Ross Nasca Darrin Brown

Join Focus' CEO and Founder Tim Anderson next week at this ULI Chicago hosted panel discussion on the dynamics of mall redevelopment. Alongside Stephen Fluhr of our partner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Shannon Pope and Mark Stern of JLL, the panel will explore how adaptation of mall properties varies across the region and the important considerations for each community. Click below to learn more about the event and register to attend.

Join our very own Terry "Vic" Howell tomorrow for a panel discussion about rethinking retail - placemaking, mixed-use and redevelopment. Hosted by Bisnow, this Future of the Chicago Suburbs event includes a special panel about trends in commercial redevelopment where Vic is joined by expert peers includes Andrew Juiris of Double Eagle Development, Roxanne Ibe of Talisman, Tammy Kelly of EQT Real Estate, Roger Daniel of Daniel Management Group, Inc., and Justin Parr of LCI Development Partners. This event is tomorrow, March 6th at Bell Works. Click the link for event information: https://lnkd.in/dhb9EEhE

Happy #womeninconstructionweek! Shoutout to all of the amazing women who lend their talents and hard work to Focus everyday. #WICWeek is an annual event which aims to celebrate and support women in the construction industry, which is a core value shared by Focus. Visit the Women In Construction Week website to find resources and events you: https://wicweek.org/

A feature in today's Crain's Chicago Business explores the lasting impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic half a decade later. As a Chicago-based developer and general contractor, we were not insulated from the effects explored by Danny Ecker and Ally Marotti but did confirm an important assumption about our thesis for real estate design; community is key. During the pandemic, Focus was actively building one of the most vulnerable asset classes, an office building. But instead of falling flat as some may have expected, 167 Green flourished. With its top floor dedicated to shared spaces like a full size basketball court and hotel style lounge, 167 Green gave employees a space they wanted to come back to. Similarly, Focus was actively redeveloping two equally as vulnerable asset classes; malls. The Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills and Fox Valley Mall in Aurora were reimagined with community spaces at the center of the thesis. Mixing uses to transform the mall centers from retail containers to a more natural conglomeration of housing, shopping, dining, and experiences. Both were delivered in the years immediately following the pandemic, and both leased expeditiously and with a premium on the market. https://lnkd.in/guxHPQfz

The unique benefits for retail owners which stem from Focus’ integrated model for development and construction, and their hands on experience repositioning or adding value to retail developments are numerous. From?improved access to real time pricing data and enhanced budget accuracies, to thoughtful construction coordination which maintains operations and integrated landlord services to boost leasing, the Focus delivers a better experience overall.?Read more below - https://lnkd.in/gBwwbAxB

Now that construction on the first phase of the Hawthorn Mall redevelopment project has been completed, we engaged Chicago-based art curator? Johalla Projects?to develop the first phase of a public art program at Hawthorn Row. Working with Chicago-based artist?Sarah Goone?teams developed concepts for two locations which would reflect the fun and dynamic energy of the reimagined Hawthorn Row. The two resulting pieces are intended to surprise and delight tenants and guests alike. Located on the building exterior, garage door and inside the parking structure, the new murals use organic shapes, faces and a dynamic color palette to engage the community in a new way. Titled Neighborhood Watch and The gateway, these two murals embody the youthful and forward looking personality of the new Hawthorn Row. These new installations are just the first in future art programming across the mall redevelopment plan.?Future phases of redevelopment will add additional multifamily communities, a new public plaza and more. Each of these new spaces will use multiple strategies to better engage the community. From public green spaces to future art programming, the reimagined Hawthorn Mall will be a community center for the future.?Click here to learn more - https://lnkd.in/gtySe58U Affinius Capital Atlantic Residential Centennial