Noah Schatz
Noah was raised in the Chicago real estate business, the son of Jay “Jack” Schatz, a World War II combat veteran who returned from the skies above Europe with a body full of shrapnel and embarked on a new journey that altered the skyline above the Windy City. He started out by purchasing the three-story, loft-style building at the southeast corner of Fairbanks and Ontario (now known as the Schatz Building), which was home to the famed Chez Paree nightclub, of which he became a co-owner.
In the late 1960s, he co-developed McClurg Court, a twin-tower behemoth with 1,061 apartments at 333 West Ontario, which remains the second-largest multifamily asset in Chicago. In 1971, he co-developed the Holiday Inn at 644 North Lake Shore Drive, which now operates as the W Chicago. Five years later, he co-developed the Holiday Inn City Center at 300 East Ohio, now branded as the DoubleTree by Hilton. He purchased the apartment building at 201 East Walton in 1976 and then the 24,000-square-foot development site at 530 Lake Shore Drive. In addition, he was an equity investor in One Financial Place (home to the Chicago Stock Exchange), 240 East Ontario (recently supplanted by a Northwestern University Hospital outpatient facility), the Wolf Point Holiday Inn, the Chicago Dock and Canal Trust (now the situs of, among other things, the River East Art Center), and Lake Shore Plaza (located at 435 East Ohio).
Not long after Jack passed away, Noah formed Schatz Development for the purpose of constructing a 41-story, 227-unit luxury high-rise condominium building at 600 North Fairbanks. Designed by world-renowned architect Helmut Jahn, Schatz Development brought high-end design to the middle market with a stunning concrete and glass tower that cantilevered over the Schatz Building, which contributed air rights to the project. The development was an unqualified success, completed on time and on budget, with 180 condominium units pre-sold within the first 180 days. The building is now featured in the Chicago Architectural Tour.
Following the completion of 600 North Fairbanks, Noah founded domu, an online apartment-listing service for Chicago landlords and tenants. domu used design simplicity to create a superior user experience and solved a variety of problems plaguing the online apartment-hunting process and frustrating prospective renters. It remains the pre-eminent local apartment listing service and the largest local advertiser on Chicago public transit.
In 2014, Noah founded Chez, a premier event space named for the Chez Paree. Chez remains one of Chicago's top luxury event spaces, popular for corporate outings, weddings, and other social occasions. In 2019, the Schatz Companies sold Chez to Jewell Events Catering, a prestigious event management firm.
Noah attended the Latin School of Chicago and graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He grew up shooting at the Lincoln Park Traps with his father and blossomed into an All-American, a world champion, and a world record skeet shooter, having competed on the professional skeet circuit for 16 years. Nowadays, he is a frequent sporting clays shooter (and occasional competitor) and an active bird hunter. He is also an avid distance runner who takes frequent HIIT classes and regularly engages in vigorous physical activity. He maintains a keto lifestyle while studying biohacking to maximize longevity, fitness performance, brain health, and, most importantly, restorative sleep.
Noah is the proud father of three children and lives with his partner Jill, who has five kids of her own -- a de facto merger that has created a family of ten, with all eight kids sprung from the nest. Noah’s offspring include Owen (a Los Angeles-based filmmaker for premier professional athletes and hip-hop artists), Lilah (a branding and marketing consultant in Chicago), and Caleb (a student at Indiana University).