In 1981 J. Paul Beitler and Lee Miglin founded Miglin-Beitler, Inc. which quickly became one of Chicago's most successful commercial real estate companies, responsible for a portfolio of over 30 million square feet in 16 states and the first company to privatize the management of the largest public building in Chicago, the Richard J. Daley Center.
Following the death of Lee Miglin in 1997, J. Paul Beitler continued as Beitler Real Estate Services LLC, developing over 10 million square feet including some of the largest and most architecturally distinguished projects in Chicago, the surrounding suburbs and the mid-west. Today, Beitler is a family run company developing and investing in all types of real estate projects, including: office, retail, hospitality, residential and public / private ventures.
President
J. Paul Beitler has been one of Chicago’s best known real estate leaders and most influential developers for over 40 years. His high profile developments and detailed management style have placed him among Chicago’s most respected real estate professionals in the history of Chicago.
Prior to entering the real estate world, Mr. Beitler served in the Vietnam War where he earned the Army’s Bronze Star. He returned to the United States and eventually began his career as a commercial real estate broker in Chicago, IL at the real estate firm Helmsley-Spear Inc. While at Helmsley-Spear, Mr. Beitler was in charge of leasing a five-building portfolio of 2M square feet of office and retail buildings.
Beitler then transitioned to the real estate firm of Arthur Rubloff & Co. where he was a Vice President of tenant representation and became the firm’s single highest producer. While at Rubloff, Mr. Beitler expanded his activities into development projects and was appointed a project manager for the development of Marriott’s 1,200-room hotel on Michigan Avenue.
While at Rubloff, Beitler partnered with principal Lee Miglin on several projects (including the purchase of the Drake and Drake Oakbrook Hotels) and, in 1981, the duo left Rubloff to form their own highly successful real estate development company, Miglin-Beitler Developments, Inc.
Over the course of Mr. Beitler’s career, he has been involved in a diverse range of projects. His companies have negotiated over 7,000 leases, managed over 30 million square feet of space across 16 states and developed 10 million square feet of buildings.
Mr. Beitler made international headlines when he unveiled plans to develop the tallest building in the world, the Miglin-Beitler Tower. Mr. Beitler partnered with Credit Suisse to acquire and redevelop the five-building 2M square foot Helmsley-Spear portfolio in Chicago, IL (the same portfolio of buildings that Mr. Beitler began his real estate career leasing 30 years earlier).
Mr. Beitler represented La Quinta Hotels with the introduction of their first “select service” hotel in downtown Chicago when they acquired the former JUF headquarters at 1 North Franklin and converted the building into a 233-room hotel.
In addition to Mr. Beitler’s many development projects, he has been recognized as one of Chicago’s most influential real estate brokers, most well-known for acting as the sole broker in one of the largest transactions in the history of Chicago – the long-term lease signed by JP Morgan Chase at 131 S. Dearborn Street in Chicago, IL for 650,000sf. Mr. Beitler also leased another 350,000sf of space to Chase at One North Dearborn Street for a combined total of 1 million square feet. Both buildings were Beitler developments.
In addition to his success and involvement in the business world, Mr. Beitler has been extremely active in many prominent civic, cultural and business institutions. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Science and Industry, Board of Trustees for the Museum of Contemporary Art, is a Member of the Architecture Committee of the Art Institute of Chicago and was on the International Board of Directors for the Frederic Remington Art Museum in New York.
Mr. Beitler was formerly an Advisory Board Member for Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate Center for Real Estate Research, former Member of the Board of Directors for the Greater State Street Council and Board of the Chicago Development Council and was inducted into the Chicago Association of Realtors Hall of Fame in 2001.
On a personal level, Mr. Beitler is extremely active in many different activities and received his Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) rating for both fixed-wing jet and turbine-helicopter aircraft by the FAA. In 2021 the FAA awarded Mr. Beitler the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for exhibiting professionalism, skill, and aviation expertise for over 50 years. Mr. Beitler also earned his Master Scuba Diver (MSD) and Rescue Diver certificates by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). Mr. Beitler is a licensed Illinois Real Estate Managing Broker and is an alumnus of Michigan State University.
Vice President
John Paul Beitler III (“J.P.”) manages all aspects of the Beitler companies including Development, Tenant Representation, Leasing, Contract Negotiation and the day-to-day management of the companies.
Mr. Beitler serves the development team on a diverse range of projects including office, retail, residential and public/private ventures. Mr. Beitler has led the team through several complex development agreements including the redevelopment of the Commuter Rail Division of The Regional Transportation Authority’s (Metra) Randolph Street Station in Chicago, IL. Renamed The Shops at Millennium Station, Mr. Beitler was able to structure multiple long-term agreements with Metra including a leasing and management agreement and a long-term 60-year ground lease which led to the successful revitalization of Millennium Station; one of Metra’s busiest stations in their system.
Mr. Beitler was responsible for establishing the complex redevelopment agreement with the City of East Moline, IL for the multi-million dollar mixed-use project in the Port of Call Redevelopment Project Area known as, Fountainhead Quad Cities. As part of the agreement, Mr. Beitler secured over $10M of City financing and established a new TIF agreement with the City.
In addition, Mr. Beitler was awarded the master development agreement for the $170M Judge Doyle Square PPP project in Madison, WI. This urban redevelopment project comprises a new 562-car public parking facility, a 159-unit apartment building and 262-room Embassy Suites by Hilton supporting the city's convention center.
Mr. Beitler also has extensive product marketing experience – for both new ground up office projects and existing product. Existing-building leasing assignments include: 208 South LaSalle (350,000sf), 11 South LaSalle (330,000sf), 6400 Shafer Court (170,000sf), 1699 East Woodfield Road (110,000sf), 1840 Oak Avenue (50,000sf) and 151 North Michigan Avenue (20,000sf – retail). New development assignments include 200 West Randolph Street (400,000sf – office) 151 North Franklin Street (office), 301 & 321 South Wacker Drive (office / hotel) and 151 North Michigan Avenue (retail). In addition, Mr. Beitler has exclusively represented Metra with their office, retail and land properties including the leasing of Metra’s headquarters building at 547 West Jackson Blvd. (310,000sf); taking the building from 60% to 95% occupied with no tenant improvement dollars.
Mr. Beitler has over 15 years of tenant representation experience and has represented a broad range of private and public tenants with their lease transactions in the areas of legal, consulting, trading, architectural, financial services, not-for-profit, marketing and retail. Notable transactions include: Thompson Coburn LLP (60,000sf), Advantage Futures LLC (50,000sf), Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Inc. (CEDA) (35,000sf), Niro, Haller & Niro, Ltd. (30,000sf), Kohler Interiors (25,000sf) and the American Association of Diabetes Educators (20,000sf).
Prior to joining Beitler Real Estate, Mr. Beitler worked at one of Chicago’s largest law firms, Mayer Brown LLP. He specialized in paralegal services and worked with such clients as America Online, Bank of America and United Airlines.
Mr. Beitler is a licensed Illinois Real Estate Managing Broker, has earned the LEED Green Associate credential from the Green Building Certification Institute and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas.
Outside of work Mr. Beitler is an aviation enthusiast. Mr. Beitler is an instrument rated pilot earning his pilot's license at the age of 17 and founder of the private jet website PlaneFinder.com.