Chicago Leader Hirsh Mohindra: Expertise in Multiple Industries

 There is a particular kind of summer evening on Chicago’s North Shore when culture ceases to be an event and becomes a form of choreography. Cars turn toward Highland Park. Restaurant tables fill earlier than usual. Wine is selected with considerably more forethought than most people devote to municipal elections. Friends negotiate who is bringing dinner, who has the tickets, who remembered the folding table and whether the person promising dessert can be trusted. Somewhere in Winnetka or Glencoe, a host is deciding whether dinner should precede the concert or simply be transported to it in enough containers to suggest a minor military exercise. By the time the music begins at Ravinia, the performance is only one element in an evening that may have started hours earlier and will continue afterward over drinks, introductions and plans for the next concert. This is why Ravinia is more interesting as an economic institution than merely as a music venue. The festival sits in Highland ...

  There is something slightly misleading about the word nonprofit . It sounds austere, almost monastic, as though an organization has taken a solemn vow against money. Anyone who has attended a gala at one of Chicago’s major cultural institutions knows that the reality involves rather better tailoring. On any given performance night, an opera house, symphony hall, ballet company or major theater can resemble a luxury business with remarkable fidelity. There is the beautiful room, the expensive real estate, the scarcity of the product, the ritual of arrival, the hierarchy of seating, the well-dressed clientele, the cultivated air of exclusivity and, somewhere nearby, a glass of sparkling wine being sold at a price that suggests the grapes received graduate degrees.   A premium seat at a major Chicago performance can cost hundreds of dollars. Donors can contribute hundreds of thousands or millions. Galas are elaborate social occasions in which philanthropy, civic prestige and ta...

There is something curious about the way Americans spend money on beauty. A person who would regard the purchase of a $500 work by an emerging artist as an event requiring research, consultation with a spouse and perhaps a modest spiritual retreat will sit down at a restaurant on Saturday night and spend the same amount on dinner with remarkably little existential distress. The painting would remain on the wall for decades; the dinner will be gone by midnight, with the possible exception of the credit-card charge. Yet we understand the restaurant expenditure almost instinctively. We are not purchasing calories, which would make the economics indefensible. We are purchasing an evening: anticipation, architecture, lighting, music, ceramics, wine, choreography, conversation, service, surprise and, somewhere near the center of this elaborate production, food. Chicago’s best restaurants have understood this for years, which is why the most ambitious among them increasingly resemble cultural...

 Chicago has spent the better part of a century becoming extraordinarily good at producing people who eventually become famous somewhere else. This is not exactly a municipal failure. Cities generally prefer their alumni to win Academy Awards rather than indictments. But it does create a peculiar economic arrangement in which Chicago supplies an enormous amount of the early infrastructure — small stages, improvisational companies, rehearsal rooms, audiences willing to watch unfinished work, directors willing to take risks, actors willing to perform for very little money — and then watches as Los Angeles, New York and the television and film industries capture a disproportionate share of the financial value once those people become commercially important. Chicago theater has functioned, in this sense, like one of America’s most productive venture-capital firms, except that it has traditionally neglected the part where the venture capitalist owns equity. The city develops talent, tes...

Buying a house is one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make. Whether you are purchasing your first home or moving into a new property, the process can feel overwhelming without a clear plan. From preparing your finances to receiving the keys, each step matters. Working with an experienced real estate professional like Hirsh Mohindra can help make the home-buying journey more organized, informed, and manageable. Here are seven essential steps to follow when you are ready to buy a house. 1. Check Your Finances Before looking at homes, take a close look at your financial situation. Review your income, savings, credit history, existing debts, and monthly expenses. Understanding your financial position will help you determine how much you can realistically afford. Remember that buying a home involves more than the purchase price. You may also need to budget for a down payment, closing costs, property taxes, insurance, moving expenses, maintenance, and potential repairs. Cre...