Mike Barrett co-founded Barrett Homes with his brother John in 2005 – right into the teeth of the downturn.

Twenty years later they’ve delivered 40+ single family homes and 115+ multifamily homes worth over $200 million across Chicago’s North Side.

We recorded inside their Armitage & Sedgwick building, a former CVS Mike turned into six oversized condos that sold from $2.2M on.

Mike walks through how the off-market deal came together, why a 72-foot lot with only six units was the right call, and the proprietary sound mitigation system they built after lightweight concrete kept failing on footfall noise.

Also covered:

Why buyers research a toaster longer than their home, and how Barrett built a brand around fixing that.

The entitlement grind: a year of rezoning, community meetings, and one project cut 40% from the original unit count.

Why brokers bring them off-market land, and what “easy to work with” is actually worth.

Their Smith Park deal, found by driving past a closing auto parts store. TOD ordinance changes, the case for upzoning every Dash 2 to Dash 3, and what Western Ave’s buildout proved.

Design calls that aged well (clay kitchens, warm neutrals) and one that didn’t (soapstone — don’t).

Why they’ve never left Chicago.

Hosted by Joe Smazal, multifamily broker at Antero Realty and owner-operator at Smaz Apartments.