CRE Adrenaline Junkies

A day at the beach or a Netflix marathon just doesn't cut it. These real estate pros prefer heart-racing, palms-sweating, totally badass action. (Netflix can still provide that; they have every season of Magnum PI.)

CONLON Commercial broker associate Chuck Whitlock is snapped throwing a back flip in the terrain park at Breckenridge a couple years back. He moved to Chicago a year ago from Colorado (he was there for 11 years), and put on his first skis at age two, he tells us. He’ll hit the slopes about 30 days a year; favorite spots include Steamboat and Beaver Creek. Chuck learned how to do a back flip on skis from a college friend, and says it's not too hard once you set the rotation and make sure you have enough speed and amplitude to clear the landing. (We were sleeping during that lesson in Physics... and every other lesson.)

This shot's from the top of Mt. Huron. Chuck also does 720s and backcountry skiing, where he’ll hike up with his skis then ski down from 14,000 feet to as far as the snow goes. On his wish list: helicopter skiing in British Columbia, where a helicopter takes you up and you ski all the way down, also done in Colorado, Alaska, and Wyoming. (It has to be less stressful than the chairlift.) At the office, Chuck just repped the landlord in a long-term restaurant lease at 1936 N Clark in Lincoln Park with Jason Paskewitz (Rustic House, Gemini Bistro). An unnamed French bistro concept is slated to open in the 4,300 SF space by this fall. Newport Capital Partners' Ben Andrews repped the restaurant group.

Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff Realty broker Andy Rosenthal’s the bottom one in this skydiving shot from a year ago. He loves any and all adrenaline rushes, from skiing to mountain biking, and says it’s a fantastic way to work out. When he’s not skiing in Utah, you might find him jumping off a cliff (below) in Colorado, and yes, he’s above the treeline. He’s itching to raft down the Grand Canyon, which is home to the biggest rapids in the country. It’s a hot ticket based on a lottery system, though (otherwise the water would be a zoo of adventure seekers), and getting the permit is really difficult.

Andy attributes his love of outdoor extreme sports to his time in college at the University of Montana, where business school classes are held on mountain tops (just kidding). At work he’s happy to see lots of multifamily market activity, and thinks the market can easily support all the new apartment construction downtown. It’s an “if you build it, they will come” situation, he says, especially given the growing opportunities for young professionals in areas like technology. With that job security comes settling down, spurring a resurgence of the condo market that has nowhere to go but up, he says.

Think you can top these wild shots? Send proof to [email protected] for our next installment!