Chicago/Midwest People & Company News, week of August 21, 2026

McColly Bennett Commercial Advantage is expanding its commercial real estate brokerage and dealmaking presence in Will County, establishing an office and adding two brokers in New Lenox. The firm has named Joe Nugent a vice president and real estate broker, and Esmerelda Roman a real estate broker. With this commercial focus in New Lenox, McColly Bennett Commercial Advantage now has a presence in Valparaiso, Dyer, Bourbonnais and New Lenox.

Cleveland-based KeyBank Real Estate Capital announced that Brandon David has joined the organization as a vice president within its income property group. David reports to Robert Ray, the group’s regional executive, and will be responsible for managing and expanding relationships with West Coast-based real estate sponsors across all product types. He works closely with clients to deliver a broad range of financing solutions, including construction and bridge financing, permanent debt, agency lending, and balance sheet execution.

RMK Management Corp. has been hired to oversee leasing and property management for The Bellwether, a 14-story, 117-unit rental community in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood that is the office-to-residential conversion of the former office building at 79 W. Monroe. Originally built in 1905, the property underwent a major expansion in 1924 and has served as office space and as a major bank headquarters. In 2025, R2 Companies began the redevelopment of the landmark structure. It is the first office-to-residential conversion to be completed as part of the city of Chicago’s LaSalle Street revitalization initiative.

Devon Self Storage, a member of The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc., has assumed property management for three self-storage facilities in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, further expanding the company’s third-party management platform across key regional markets. The three-property collection totals 1,863 units and 281,693 rentable square feet.

Two of Chicagoland’s development firms announced that they have completed a merger. UrbanStreet Group and Wingspan Development Group, a national development arm of Nicholas Family of Companies (NFOC). Wingspan will transition its future pipeline of multifamily and mixed-use developments to UrbanStreet so the firm can focus on its continued rapid expansion in commercial sectors such as sports and entertainment venues, retail, industrial and land development. UrbanStreet will be leading multifamily development efforts, and Nicholas & Associates will continue to provide construction services for any multifamily projects that fall under the alliance in Illinois, Florida and Wisconsin.