Chicago technology entrepreneur Michael Ferro and his wife, Jacqueline, are planning an estimated $2.85 million renovation of the 8,000-square-foot Gold Coast duplex penthouse they bought last year for $7.7 million. The project will bring their total cost of ownership of the six-bedroom home to more than $10.5 million.
A serial entrepreneur, Ferro founded Click Commerce in 1994 and took it public six years later. He later founded and acquired several medical technology businesses before moving into media, first leading the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times before turning his attention to Tribune Publishing, which at the time was the parent of the Chicago Tribune. Ferro served as nonexecutive chairman of Tribune Publishing from 2016 until 2018. He sold his stake in Tribune Publishing the following year to the company’s current owner, Alden Global Capital.
On the Gold Coast, Ferro and his wife have lived on another floor in the same vintage co-op building where they bought the duplex penthouse last year. A building permit that the couple submitted to the city of Chicago in July reveals that their estimated $2.85 million worth of alterations would include undertaking some interior demolition, adding new partitions, updating mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and replacing windows with fire-rated windows.
The penthouse’s features include a 39-foot-long, walnut-paneled gallery hall with vaulted, hand-frescoed ceilings, original limestone staircases, two offices and 5,000 square feet of outdoor space.
The architect handling the Ferros’ renovation work, Dorota Betancur, declined to comment on her clients or on the project. Jacqueline Ferro did not respond to a request for comment. And one of the two real estate agents who represented the couple in buying the penthouse last year, Colette Cachey Smithburg, declined to comment.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.