I've probably blathered about my first landlord in Chicago being Mr. Podmajersky (I lived at 1906 S. Halsted, I'm pretty sure), YoChicago has video footage of Pod's personal recollection of how he created his fiefdom. Pretty much how I remember him telling the tale, back in the mid-90s. His son also owns some properties in the area.
YoChicago today | Podmajersky's private history of Pilsen Developer and landlord John Podmajersky is, for better or worse, something of a legend in Pilsen. He came to the neighborhood nearly half a century ago to visit his chronically ill parents and says he found a neighborhood suffering from abandonment and displacement in the aftermath of expressway construction. He reacted “like a kid in a candy store” and began buying up buildings. Saddled with a growing portfolio of distressed property and difficulty finding and keeping tenants, however, reality began to sink in.
Pod's solution was to rent to artists, enlisting their help in rehabbing and designing his spaces, and over several decades, he constructed a kingdom of lofts that is something to behold. In this fascinating video, he recounts the evolution of his properties and of Pilsen as he sees it - and he displays some of the attitudes that have made him enemies in the neighborhood.
Tags: Neighborhood
