Albert Friedman is a big believer in change. His willingness to evolve has served him well during his long career in commercial real estate, and has led to his company, Friedman Properties, becoming one of the busier property management companies in Chicago, with Friedman owning, managing and leasing more than 50 office, retail, residential and hospitality buildings.
And today? Friedman has embraced experiences. Experiential real estate, he says, brings crowds to neighborhoods, crowds that then shop at nearby retailers and dine at area restaurants. Experiences also create buzz about a neighborhood, turning it into a destination.
An example? Friedman and his company made headlines earlier this year by bringing Theater of the Mind to River North’s Reid Murdoch Building, one of the properties owned and managed by Friedman Properties.
Theater of the Mind is the immersive theatrical experience co-created by former Talking Heads frontman and famed musician David Byrne and writer Mala Gaonkar.
Friedman says that this theatrical experience is just the latest destination attraction that will bring visitors to Chicago’s River North neighborhood.
“Cultural activities are so important to a city,” said Friedman, chief executive officer and chairman of Friedman Properties. “People come to the theater and then they stay in the neighborhood. They shop at local retailers and eat at nearby restaurants. Having sports teams and sporting events in a city is important, of course. But the cultural activities are equally as important.”
What is Theater of the Mind?
It’s not easy to describe Theater of the Mind. In a press release, Friedman Properties says that the experience combines neuroscience with storytelling, presenting the story of Byrne’s life combined with historical and current lab research regarding the brain.
According to Friedman Properties, attendees will participate in sensory experiments as they travel through eight rooms.
Theater of the Mind will be a busy attraction, too. It will feature 140 performances a week and is expected to draw an estimated 100,000 visitors in its first year. Friedman Properties also predicts that it will generate an economic impact of $11.4 million.
Chicago will become only the second city to host Theater of the Mind when it opens this fall. The experience debuted in Denver in 2022, where it ran for more than 20 weeks.
Theater of the Mind is scheduled for a far longer run at the Reid Murdoch Building. Friedman plans to make Theater of the Mind a permanent cultural attraction in Chicago. The production is co-produced by Goodman Theater and will fill a 19,000-square-foot space at 333 N. LaSalle St.
Friedman said that experiential retail is an important tool to attract office tenants, retailers and restaurants to a neighborhood.
“Sometimes we want to reflect only on the past,” Friedman said. “We want to try to relive the past over and over again. That doesn’t work. We must think outside the box. That’s how you bring energy to an area.”
Albert Friedman, chief executive officer and chairman, Friedman Properties. (Photo courtesy of Friedman Properties.)
Experience with experiences
Bringing in Theater of the Mind isn’t the first time Friedman Properties has filled a space in one of its buildings with what could be considered an unusual tenant. Just look at the iconic Medinah Temple on Chicago’s Near North Side. Today, it houses Bally’s Chicago casino.
This is a temporary location for Bally’s while construction crews are building its permanent casino in Chicago’s River West neighborhood, a casino that is expected to open in 2026. But even with the temporary nature, the casino has provided a jolt of activity to the temple building and has been a strong replacement for the Bloomingdale’s Home Store, which closed its Medinah Temple location in 2020.
“We were wondering what we could do in the Medinah Temple building that would be different,” Friedman said. “Along came the mayor and the city of Chicago asking us about housing Bally’s temporary location. It’s worked out very well. There were a lot of concerns before Bally’s came in. But it has added energy to the neighborhood. It has made the area feel safer. It has brought more people into that part of town. It’s made a positive difference.”
Then there’s the World of Whirlpool Experience Center also in the Reid Murdoch Building. This is a hands-on experience that lets guests explore and learn how different Whirlpool products work. The space offers workshops and cooking demonstrations and has helped bring additional foot traffic to the building.
“Whirlpool is one of our larger tenants in the Reid Murdoch Building. The chairman of Whirlpool told me that people love to come and work in that building,” Friedman said. “There’s a feeling and energy level there. That is what we are trying to develop. It’s not just about renting an apartment. It’s not just about going out to eat once. It’s about the overall experience when you are in a neighborhood. You want to feel like you are living in a vibrant, pleasurable environment.”
Friedman said that cultural activities and retail experiences are key factors in boosting the vibrancy of a city.
He points to the staggering number of restaurants in Chicago. Why are there so many? People still like to shut off their smartphones and gather with others to eat and swap stories.
It works the same for experiential retail: These attractions provide people with an experience they can’t get online. They also foster community as people gather for a shared experience.
A good example? The Magic Parlour, a magic show in the downstairs area of Petterino’s restaurant at 50 W. Randolph St., another building owned and managed by Friedman Properties. The show has earned strong reviews and steady crowds since opening in the restaurant’s lower level.
And those crowds have benefitted other tenants in the surrounding neighborhood, with the Magic Parlour guests visiting local bars, restaurants and retailers after the show ends.
“Activities like going to the theater are critical to the health of a neighborhood,” Friedman said. “After we did the magic show, the Goodman Theater talked about doing something else. We saw how many people Theater of the Mind was attracting in Denver. We thought that would be the perfect next experience to bring to the neighborhood.”
Experiential retail like Theater of the Mind and the Magic Parlour can be useful tools as companies continue to entice their workers to come back into the office, at least on a part-time basis, Friedman said.
It’s true that modern offices with amenities such as private conference spaces, onsite fitness centers and healthy dining options are attracting more tenants in the Chicago market. It’s true, too, that companies can make a stronger case for persuading their employees to return to the office if their office space offers these amenities.
But companies that operate from an office in the center of a busy neighborhood filled with dining, drinking and entertainment options can also entice their workers back by promoting these walkable amenities.
That combination of in-office and neighborhood amenities can be a powerful tool for companies hoping to bring more workers back to the office.
“Companies have to ask themselves what type of experience they are giving to their employees,” Friedman said. “Are you offering them a feeling of safety and pleasure? Young people want to work somewhere where they can go out to lunch or go out to happy hour after work. This is what we can do. It’s about creating an environment in which young people when they come to work are happy to be there.”
This is important, Friedman says. Companies are missing out when their workers spend too many days working from home.
“Employees get to know one another by coming into the office,” he said. “That’s how you develop that camaraderie. You can’t do that when everyone is working from home and spending their free time staring into their phones.”
