CHICAGO — Daniel Levin, founder and chairman of Chicago-based developer and property manager Habitat Co., has passed away at the age of 94. Levin founded the company in 1971 to manage a series of housing projects totaling 25,000 units across several states, including South Commons, a 28-acre urban renewal project on Chicago’s South Side. Habitat now has $3 billion in assets and 10,000 units under management.
Levin began his career as a lawyer at a small firm in Detroit, where he represented the Chicago-based developer of Lafayette Park, a 78-acre mixed-use complex in Detroit that was designed by architect Mies van der Rohe. In 1957, he moved to Chicago and became involved with the firm that developed all the Mies van der Rohe-designed apartment buildings.
“Over the years, Mr. Levin has shared that Habitat’s growth wasn’t something he envisioned when he embarked on its first endeavor,” the Habitat executive team said in a prepared statement. “He simply wanted to be in the housing business, do good work and be sensitive to the need for housing at all levels.”
In 1980, David Levin developed Chicago’s East Bank Club, a 350,000-square-foot fitness and social club. Habitat also developed the 2,300-unit Presidential Towers in 1985. In 2020, the company broke ground on Ogden Commons, a mixed-use, mixed-income development, as part of Chicago’s Invest South/West Initiative. Most recently, Habitat completed Cassidy on Canal, phase II of 43 Green West and Phase I of OC Living in 2024.