PRESS STATEMENT
 
Spokesperson: William Spatz, Chairman of Spatz Development, LLC
312.733.4033 ext 202 (office) 
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Greenhouse Theater Center Webpage 

Wendy and Bill Spatz have entered into an agreement to purchase the Greenhouse Theater, located at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, from Victory Gardens Theater.  The Chicagoans own Spatz Development LLC, a long-established developer and manager of shopping centers, which has recently diversified into non-retail projects throughout the country.
 
“We are not strangers to non-traditional projects, but the Greenhouse is our most exciting, and probably the most personal,” said Wendy Spatz, Vice President of Spatz Development.  “We are committed to both maintaining the current Victory Gardens model operating the Greenhouse as a non-profit, and developing planned growth in two areas - training and education, and support for new and emerging companies.”
 
In terms of education Wendy and Bill Spatz plan to increase the space dedicated for classrooms, offer additional courses, and hire more teachers, with the goal of having an affiliation with a major higher-education theater program. “We would like to see a major institution offering college credit to our Greenhouse students.”  
 
Reaching this goal as well as incubating new and emerging companies will require a substantial investment in upgrading the building.  “We are prepared to complete the upgrade within 12 to 18 months of closing on the property,” said Spatz.
 
Spatz Development owns and/or manages 21 shopping centers in ten states, and has several non-retail projects under construction including a 271-home subdivision, and a 92,000 square-foot office tower in the Baton Rouge, LA area.  Spatz is also redeveloping and expanding a retail site in Washington, D.C.  In addition they own and operate a 40,000 square-foot grocery store, a 10,000 square-foot daycare center, and a 3,300 square-foot Laundromat.  Their latest Chicago-area development was a 174,000 square-foot center in Carol Stream, IL anchored by Home Depot.
 
Their most innovative project, however, is in the Katrina-ravaged Lakeview District of New Orleans. Bill Spatz designed, and the Spatzs’ son Bryan, is overseeing the construction of the first hurricane-proof / flood-proof home.  This 2,700 square-foot two-story luxury home is built to withstand 200 mph winds, the equivalent of a direct hit by a large tornado. In the event of a catastrophic flood, the home is designed to vertically float, but is prevented from moving laterally by buried pilings at the four corners.
 
Wendy and Bill Spatz are well-recognized patrons of the theater community, which Bill Spatz admits started in his childhood.  “Growing up on the North Shore I fondly remember attending a local production at Steppenwolf Theater in Highland Park,” said Spatz.  “I have vivid memories of seeing Warp at the Body Politic Theater, which is now, ironically, the Greenhouse.”  Wendy Spatz currently serves as a vice president on the Board of Directors of Victory Gardens Theater.   She will continue her work in that capacity while helping to oversee the Greenhouse remodeling, operations, and promotion of its theater tenants.
 
Wendy and Bill Spatz are also members of Elephant Eye Theatrical, a company formed to develop and act as lead producer for new Broadway musicals.  Elephant Eye currently has five musicals under development, including The Addams Family and The Bruce Lee Story.
 
The Wendy and Bill Spatz Charitable Foundation, under its former name, the Spatz Foundation, has contributed over $800,000 to charitable causes nationwide.  “Just as Spatz Development has evolved, so has the foundation,” says Wendy Spatz.  “We are going to be refocusing a lot of our efforts on the development of the Chicago theater community, and especially the Greenhouse.”