New Venture May Buy Complex for $80M

SKOKIE, IL-Two local real estate executives have seized on the down market to create a new real estate firm. Richard Blum, formerly the CFO at Chicago-based Fifield Realty Corp., and Tom Saletta, also a former principal at Fifield, have started White Oak Realty Partners LLC. The company already has its first pending deal, a joint venture purchase of the 660,000-square-foot Central Park of Lisle for a price that sources say should close at around $80 million.

Both had worked for Steve Fifield for about 15 years. Blum tells GlobeSt.com that he just realized that now is a perfect time to become a company owner in commercial real estate. “I’ve got three kids, I was looking around, trying to see what I wanted to do, and the fact is it’s just an opportune time to start a new business.” He formally left Fifield’s employ in July, but stayed another four months to help close up a few transactions.

What really solidified his venture, Blum says, was the help of a childhood friend and neighbor, prominent Chicago real estate developer Michael Alter, who now runs the Alter Group firm that his father Bill Alter started a half century ago. “I consider Michael to be one of the most honorable, straightforward people I know,” Blum. “He and I talked for a number of months, and we finalized a deal in January. Mike is providing the overhead, and in return gets a good return on his investment.” Both live on White Oak Lane, the origin for the new company name.