Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/863214
52 S C T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 W hether helping to revamp Chicago's River Walk or rebooting retail in New York City's Rockefeller Center — Donna Blair, COO of Denver-based Continuum Partners, has played a major role in several high-profile retail revitalization projects. Her very first turnaround project, though, was a private and personal one: In 1993, fresh out of Marquette University and recently married, she bought a condo along with her husband in Chicago's then-gritty River North area. "This was at a time when River North was surrounded by Cabrini- Green and many people were concerned about the neighborhood," Blair said, recalling the crime-ridden public housing project that got demolished in 1995. "We pulled up in front of the building with my parents, and there were homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk. The streets were strewn with garbage. My parents asked: 'Are you sure this is where you want to live?'" But even back then, as a 20-something, Blair could see that there was more to the area than what met the eye. "We saw an opportunity to be part of a pivotal transformation," she said. "We believed in the neighborhood and what it could become." Today the River North Gallery District, as it is called now, with its Hidden potential Continuum Partners and its new COO, Donna Blair, share a taste for redevelopment opportunities By Rebecca Meiser N E W S M A K E R S E X E C U T I V E M OV E R S A N D S H A K E R S PHOTO: ALANA WATKINS