Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/835995
120 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM TSCHETTER (NEXT LIVING ROOM, THE SINCLAIR KITCHEN); JORGE GERA (LUXE ON CHICAGO INTERIORS) Sumptuous interiors are a signature of Fifield Companies projects, from NEXT (top left) and The Sinclair (above) to Luxe on Chicago (left and below). become the driver of what we're doing today," explains Randy. But what a driver the residential efforts of this powerhouse couple—he an expert in financing and construction, she a design and marketing guru— turned out to be. In 2005, in a prescient move, the couple planned a develop- ment of five amenity- packed towers, together named K Station, on an eight-acre plot of land anchored by Kinzie Street in the then-emergent Fulton River District. The project not only saved the Fifields in the 2008 downturn, it changed the face of residen- tial rentals in Chicago and beyond, as the pair refined their business model, upped the amenity ante with each new tower, and expanded to LA and Hawaii. "We became totally data-driven, figured out what our renters wanted, and brought in the best to deliver," Steve notes. With amenities that ranged from lightning-fast internet to the best fitness equipment on the market, the Fifields attracted renters with higher median incomes, raising demand for their apartments as well as their national standing as developers. Despite the high occu- pancy rates the Fifields have achieved with their data-savvy, amenity-laden approach, they remain unassuming about their success. "No one cared about apartments when we started doing them," says Randy. "The downturn benefited us, but we didn't foresee it. We were just trying to deliver the best product possible." Talk about being in the right place at the right time—with exactly the right vision. . SPACE HAUTE PROPERT Y