CHICAGO—As reported yesterday in GlobeSt.com, Jonathan Holtzman's new firm City Club Apartments began directly managing five of its 30 properties on May 1, and by year's end will manage the entire $2 billion, 10,000-unit apartment and penthouse portfolio. But the company also has a $500 million development pipeline, which consists of six mixed-use communities. And before the company fulfills its plans to go truly national, and even international, it will focus much of its attention on Midwest cities such as Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Detroit, and Kansas City.

Holtzman created the Farmington Hills, MI-based company last year by selling his 50% interest in Village Green Holding Co. to Compatriot Capital, Inc. Village Green specialized in transforming historic structures into luxury apartments and mixed-use communities. Soo Line City Apartments in Minneapolis and Randolph Tower City Apartments in Chicago are just two examples of how the company brought new life to urban neighborhoods.

“Institutional capital likes the smile of America,” he tells GlobeSt.com, meaning West Coast cities such as Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, across the Sun Belt and then up the East Coast. But for “42 years, I've liked the nose of America.”