John Buck of John Buck Co.

For such a soft-spoken man, John A. Buck certainly has made his share of headlines. The Chicago-based development firm that bears his name has made its mark on the Windy City skyline over the 25 years it has been in operation, but the chairman and CEO himself began putting his imprint on the town in his first real estate gig–as fledgling broker for Cushman & Wakefield and self-professed “water boy” for the Sears Tower lease-up.



Since then, Buck has been responsible for some of the city’s brick-and-mortar mainstays, including 200 and 111 S. Wacker, 90 S LaSalle, 35 W. Wacker, 515 N. State and 1 N. Wacker. He talked about some of those projects recently during Real Estate Media’s RealShare Chicago . The subject of the event’s Inside the Real Estate Mind conversation, the Texas native shared with editor in chief Michael G. Desiato his reflections on presiding over a 400-member, employee-owned organization. And he reflected on the progress he has seen in the Chicago market over the past quarter century, as well as his thoughts on its current doldrums.

Desiato: What led you to a career in real estate?

Buck: Formal education was paramount in our family. I went to Notre Dame and then to law school in Texas. Taking the property-law courses turned my head. I went onto Wharton and decided real estate would be an interesting field for a small company where you could get a shot at doing some big things as opposed to working for a large corporation where politics come into play.