Crain’s Chicago Real Estate Daily reports that an apartment portfolio that includes the Belden-Stratford, a Beaux Arts beauty overlooking Lincoln Park, is up for sale. The properties are owned by separate limited partnerships and managed by a company founded by the late Leonard Richman.
De mortuis nil nisi bonum? Every rule has its exceptions.
Simply seeing Leonard Richman’s name makes me shudder, although it’s been nearly 30 years since I had dealings with the man while negotiating for one of his buildings, the Lawrence House in Uptown. Richman remains the most callous, dishonest, imperious and foul-mouthed individual I’ve encountered in Chicago real estate. The Lawrence House, at the time, mirrored the man: a superficially decent appearance and a rotten core.