Market Makers: Meet Dr. Marva Cooksey

  As a proud Chicago native and product of the Chicago Public School system, Dr. Marva Cooksey has worked passionately for over 35 years to serve her community as a licensed clinical pharmacist. She currently practices at Advocate Aurora Christ Hospital. In 2014, she embarked on a mission to rejuvenate men's health by attending SOMA Institute and obtaining a massage therapist license in 2015. This endeavor allowed her to be able to integrate her expertise as a clinical pharmacist and clinical massage therapist. She founded "Next Man Up" (NMU) a man’s ultimate spa experience. Four years later and a yearning to provide a place of tranquility for males, Dr. Cooksey established her boutique spa located at 946 E. 43rd St....

Market Makers: The Story of Developer Derek Pulchny

SCG is excited to announce the production of our company magazine, Market Makers. Check out this sneak peek piece!   Meet Derek Pulchny, founder of DTA Group, a construction company that has been building for 20+ years with focused efforts in Chicagoland and the surrounding suburbs. The long list of areas where Derek and his team have built homes include Woodlawn, Kenwood, Bronzeville, Lincoln Square, Northbrook, Glenview and Arlington Heights. With a concentration on residential development, their mission is to construct high-quality, functional homes where buyers and their loved ones can create cherished memories.  Derek was raised in a Polish family where building your own home is customary and carpentry skills are passed down through generations. While being an apprentice...

Hasani Talks to REMAX about Post Quarantine Home Features

Within the last five years, SCG has acknowledged buyers’ desire for their homes to be a place of both work and leisure. The recent quarantine only amplifies this trend as people are spending more time at home than ever before. With an eye for consumer trends, SCG started consulting the additions of home theatres and offices prior to the quarantine. “Steele says his team anticipated increased buyer-demand for immersive-experience theatres in the properties they develop”. Hasani believes the craze for home theatres will only increase as subscriptions to blockbuster-streaming services increase during the pandemic. As we adapt to the possibilities of more working from home, the demand for a dedicated and functional workspace increases. “Clients are scrutinizing [their] use of...

University of Chicago plans to break ground on 13-story hotel

University of Chicago plans to break ground on a 13-story hotel right next to campus.  The project holds an estimated $55 million price tag and is being devolved by Study Hotels. The ground breaking is soon approaching and the grand opening is expected in early 2021. Study Hotels' president Paul McGowan said “Our main focus and the purpose behind our brand is to integrate ourselves into the university community — school life and the future environment on campus”. To view the complete article click HERE.       Article and picture brought to you by Block Club Chicago

Code Green

The Green Living Room is a "new coffee shop and community gathering spot in Woodlawn". Visitors can come in pick up a coffee sit, relax, and have a snack. Also offering a chance to buy African American cultural home goods and clothing. Along with the opportunity to socialize with fellow peers; visitors can come in and get work done with the free wi-fi, computers and printers. Blacks in Green employees, the nonprofit behind for Green Living Room, said that "the Green Living Room is important because it fosters a sense of community in West Woodlawn and it brings together various services so residents don’t have to travel to other neighborhoods for errands."  To read the full article click HERE Article...

Chance the Rapper Releases New Music video Made By Students

Chance the Rapper, a Chicago native, released a " video game coded and designed by South Side students" for his single "I Love You so Much". Chances's charity SocailWorks release this game called "SuperMe" using students in the CS4ALL program, where they designed superheros that took after their own images. In this game Chance's music is playing while a superhero is flying through the sky collecting hearts. To read the complete article and even play the game click HERE Article and picture brought to you by Block Club Chicago

Transit- Oriented Development (TOD) is Coming to the South Side

What TOD does is that it "incentivizes housing with limited parking near mass transit".  The new, 91 unit 8 story high apartment complex, is being proposed at the corner of 43rd Street and Calumet near the 43rd Street Green Line. Nearly half of the units will go for the going market rate while the other half will be marketed as income-restricted affordable-rate units. According to Alderman Pat Dowell (3rd) she believes that "the development could be a catalyst for the area". For the full Article click HERE Article and photo credited to Curbed Chicago

“Broker as Politician” Chicago Agent Magazine Interview

Steele Consulting Group's founder and CEO Hasani Steele was recently featured in Chicago Agent Magazine. He discussed his involvement with political leaders in communities where SCG has spread the positive effects of continued development. "Steele sees politics and real estate as symbiotic. Government officials work for the best interests of their constituents, just as agents work to assist communities through the development and sale of properties. The taxes generated by these transactions drive the development of amenities that make the community more livable and appealing." Click HERE to see the full article Article courtesy of Chicago Agent Magazine. The relationship between politics and real estate is a topic of ongoing internal discussion for SCG. For elected officials to make their...

Mini Libraries of South Shore

Veronica Kyle, a South Shore resident, unknowingly started a wave when she put up her Little Free Library outside her home with the hopes of influencing her surrounding neighbors to turn to learning and literacy rather than a life of the streets. The residents have been without a Public Library for close to a year, and with these little libraries popping up Veronica hopes to bring further peace and learning to her community. Veronica knows firsthand the importance of this after "...her house bears a bullet hole, received as a man was shot to death nearby. “Systemic problems” like a lack of literacy have led to drug sales, which have in turn increased the violence in her community, she said."...