No Heir Apparent Prompts Big Man in Chicago Real Estate to Sell

The River North building that houses Google's Chicago crew will go on the market as the man who owns a vast real-estate empire prepares to sell everything.

Michael Alter, who runs Skokie-based Alter Group Ltd., is selling off his office and industrial properties in Illinois, Virginia, Florida and Arizona because none of his children nor his nieces and nephews want to run the business that his father, William Alter, began in 1955, reports ChicagoBusiness.com.

In the Chicago area, Alter owns 708,902 square feet of buildings and 750,000 acres of land (and he's keeping that). His future plans include developments with multiple partners, including a 600-acre property in Grayslake where he's eyeballing a $200 million mixed-use project for 2015.

"We'll be starting over and building a new portfolio," Alter said.

Learn more about the Alter family history and his plans for future development on ChicagoBusiness.com.