Water Tower Place developer shaped N. Michigan Avenue
Thomas Klutznick was a developer and entrepreneur who helped usher in the concept of vertical mixed-use development in projects including Chicago’s Water Tower Place that blended retail, residential and a luxury hotel in a high rise.
With Water Tower Place and other mixed-use hotel projects, Klutznick changed the look of downtown Chicago’s northern gateway, according to Maria Zec, general manager of the Peninsula Chicago hotel, 108 E. Superior St.
“He definitely helped transform this part of Michigan Avenue,” said Zec, who is also regional vice president of The Peninsula Hotels group. “Between us and the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons. … Tom built all three luxury hotels.”
Klutznick, 79, died of complications from dementia Jan. 4 in assisted living in Evanston, according to his daughter Karen. He lived in Woody Creek, outside Aspen, Colo., for many years but returned to the Chicago area in 2008.
Klutznick was also involved in developing office structures in Chicago, including 515 North State Street and 333 West Wacker Drive.
Projects outside Chicago included Copley Place in Boston, One Logan Square in Philadelphia, City Center Denver, Houston’s First City Tower in Houston and projects in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Reston, Va., and in Seattle, where he was involved in the restoration of the Olympic Hotel.
Klutznick was born in 1939 in Omaha, Neb., and soon moved to Chicago with his family. His father, Philip, who died in 1999, had been a federal housing administrator during World War II and came to the area with the idea of building a town for returning veterans and other young families.
The town was Park Forest and that was where Philip Klutznick raised his family, passing along what Jim Klutznick, Thomas’ brother, agreed could be called the “developer gene.”
“We were all sort of born in the dirt,” Jim Klutznick said, who also has been in development work for most of his life. “Any of us who ended up in development got it from Dad.”
After graduating from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1961 and working with a real estate firm in Chicago, Klutznick joined his father in building the shopping centers Oak Brook Mall and River Oaks, his brother said. After a long apprenticeship in the real estate business, Klutznick succeeded his father in the mid-1970s as chairman and chief executive officer of Urban Investment and Development Company.
Klutznick and his father worked together on Water Tower Place, 835 N. Michigan Ave., which opened in the mid-1970s. The development includes retail stores and shops, condominiums and the Ritz-Carlton hotel. For developer Kenneth Himmel, then in his mid-20s, it was a remarkable introduction to mixed-use development.
“Tom was my mentor,” said Himmel, who went on to work on development of Copley Place in Boston and is now president and CEO of Related Urban, the developer of the Hudson Yards project in New York. “Tom really took us through all that complicated mixed use and really taught us the business.”
Klutznick, Himmel said, was able to embrace great planning, design and architecture, had a firm understanding of finance and budgeting and the ability to manage a diverse group of people. “Aligning the stars,” Himmel called Klutznick’s ability to assemble a team of top professionals from various disciplines.
“You’ve got to be the ultimate orchestra leader, and he was,” Himmel said. “That’s what I learned from Tom.”
Chicago developer John Buck said Klutznick was a generous mentor who shared his knowledge and experience and was more than fair in his dealings.
Buck was putting together the project that became 200 S. Wacker Drive and needed an equity partner. A lender suggested he get in touch with Klutznick. After hearing details, Klutznick assured Buck they would come up with a workable structure for a joint venture, put up 95 percent of the equity and still made Buck and his group 50-50 partners.
“He knew I was a novice. He educated me and that was important,” Buck said. “More important, we struck up a (lasting) friendship.”
In 1982 Klutznick became managing partner of Miller-Klutznick-DavisGray Co., a real estate firm with properties including two premier resort companies, Pebble Beach Co. in California and Aspen Skiing Co. in Colorado. He played a leading role in the planning and development of The Inn and Links at Spanish Bay at Pebble Beach and the Little Nell hotel in Aspen, his daughter said.
In 1991, he formed Chicago-based Thomas J. Klutznick Co. The firm’s projects included a fullblock retail and hotel complex on North Michigan Avenue between Chicago Avenue and Superior Street that opened in 1997 and now includes the Peninsula Chicago hotel. The retail portion of the development included Tiffany & Co., Banana Republic, Pottery Barn, Polo Ralph Lauren and American Girl.
Himmel described Klutznick as a visionary who brought big projects to life and brought others along with him. “This man took me to the top of a mountain,” said Himmel. “He was a remarkable.”
In addition to his daughter, Klutznick is survived by another daughter, Katherine; sons John and Daniel; a sister, Bettylu Saltzman; another brother, Robert; and two grandsons.
His two marriages ended in divorce.
Plans for a memorial service are pending.