From Dennis Rodman’s hair mural to ... Bitcoin building?
A North Side building known for its colorful murals, including one of then-Chicago Bulls player Dennis Rodman that brought Kennedy Expressway traffic to a standstill in the 1990s, is looking to add a new distinction: the first commercial building bought with Bitcoin.
The longtime owner of the
Mural Building is putting the four-story office and warehouse structure on the market for sale in the coming days, Ted Wynn said Wednesday.
Wynn, who has owned the property for more than four decades, said he will accept the cryptocurrency as payment, in what could be the first deal of its kind.
There is no asking price. Wynn said he expects it to sell for “many multiples” of the $900,000 he paid for the Ashland Avenue building in the late 1980s.
It is going on the market as the owner of a Miami Beach nightclub called Treehouse invites Bitcoin bids for that property, according to media reports.
It’s yet to be seen whether either building finds a buyer, or whether the selected offer will come in the form of Bitcoin.
“I like the idea of Bitcoin,” Wynn said. “It’s not going away. It’s only going to get more valuable. I don’t have to take Bitcoin. I’ll take cash, but I’m excited about taking Bitcoin.
“We think this should create a lot of buzz,” said Wynn, 72, is a real estate investor who also owns outdoor advertising company Victor Sign Corp.
The Mural Building is near The 606 elevated recreational trail and developer Sterling Bay’s planned $6 billion Lincoln Yards mixed-use development along the Chicago River.
Wynn is represented in the deal by CBRE brokers Michael Caprile, Ryan Bain, Zach Graham and Victoria Gomez. It is the first time CBRE has listed a property for sale anywhere in the world with Bitcoin as a payment option.
If the building is purchased with Bitcoin, broker commissions and the building’s mortgage will be paid off in cash. Wynn said he’d keep the rest of the proceeds in
Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that traded for $5 about a decade ago, recently reached an all-time high of more than $60,000 per coin. Wynn’s approach is a bet that Bitcoin is becoming a relatively safe — yet still potentially lucrative — investment.
In seeking Bitcoin offers, he also hopes to interest traditional real estate investors and those looking for the first time to reinvest some of their Bitcoin riches.
“There are people around the globe who’ve created a lot
of wealth in Bitcoin,” he said. “A building is a way for them to diversify their investment, as well. I think there’s going to be a market for hard assets like buildings, for people who have invested in Bitcoin.”
Various forms of cryptocurrency have been used in commercial real estate sales, such as creating ownership shares that can be traded as digital tokens.
A property purchased entirely in Bitcoin would be another key step in the broadening acceptance of the alternate currency, said Pittsburgh-based Bitcoin consultant Daniel Mross, who is advising Wynn. Mross is a longtime investor in Bitcoin who created a documentary called “The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin.”
Electric vehicle maker Tesla and several large investors and financial institutions have poured billions of dollars into Bitcoin in recent months.
“The risks of holding Bitcoin were much, much higher when it was on the fringe,” Mross said. “As more companies are holding Bitcoin and it’s gaining acceptance in mainstream financial institutions, all things point to Bitcoin becoming more useful. It makes sense that we’ll see more and more transactions happening with Bitcoin.”
Wynn’s other real estate investments include the Windy City Fieldhouse in Logan Square and an Uber driver support center on North Avenue along the Kennedy.
The Mural Building deal offers the chance for the 111-year-old Chicago structure to add to its folklore, which includes time as a Lava Lamp factory in the early days of that 1960s fad, according to Wynn.
Two tenants have longterm leases for most of the building, which was renovated recently, Wynn said.
Wintrust Bank has storage space for furniture and other items, and the bank controls mural space on three sides of the structure, which it uses to promote a rotating list of Chicago charities, Wynn said.
The rest is leased to the Night Ministry, which has offices and overnight shelter space, showers and other services for homeless people, he said.
The Mural Building has featured murals of several Chicago sports stars, including the one of the Bulls’ unpredictable Rodman in 1996.
Bigsby & Kruthers controlled the mural space at the time, and it also used the building for storage. The clothier put up a massive likeness of Rodman, who was known for frequently changing his brightly colored hair, that immediately led to rubbernecking on the Kennedy.
Crews kept unpainted plywood cutouts in the shape of Rodman’s hair. After seeing his hair color for that night’s game, they’d use spray paint to have the new hairdo ready for the next day’s commuters, Wynn said.
The mural proved too eye-catching, and the 32-foot-tall painting was blamed for frequent traffic gridlock. Some motorists were seen pulling over to take photos.
After a little more than two weeks, Bigsby & Kruthers covered and began removing the mural, citing safety concerns.
Just hours before the announcement that it would be removed, the mural had been featured on NBC’s “Today” show.
“That thing went all over the world,” Wynn said. “It became infamous in the ad world.”