Women in Real Estate 2019: CBRE’s Keely Polczynski Achieves Maximum Value

Long before the Fulton Market District was a hotspot in Chicago, Keely Polczynski started tracking buildings, tenants and conversing with owners in the neighborhood to help them understand the upward trajectory she foresaw. This resulted in her being at the epicenter of Chicago’s biggest real estate story of the past five years: the emergence of Fulton Market. As meatpackers and distributors have moved out to make way for retail and office, their first call is often to Polczynski.

An 18-year veteran at CBRE, Polcyznski is one of only a few female SVPs at the firm. To date, she has arranged sales of more than 400 million square feet valued in excess of $1 billion.

These are just some of the reasons we chose Polczynski as one of the 2019 Women in Real Estate Award winners. Connect Media’s Women in Real Estate Awards honor the achievements and inspirational stories of women who have reached respected positions of leadership and play key mentorship roles for others.

The sale of 59-65 E. Oak St., which ownership intended to trade at nearly double the price per square foot of any other asset along Oak Street, illustrates Polczynski’s approach to achieving maximum value. She disregarded the property’s challenged physical layout, existing cash flow and subpar co-tenancy, focusing instead on its potential as a land site. With a redevelopment strategy rolled out before the sale was completed, 59-65 E. Oak traded for a record $50 million and today is home to many successful retailers.

Subscribe to Connect Daily Chicago

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Paul Bubny