Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez and his wife, Berenice, paid $690,000 for a four-bedroom house on the Near West Side in October.
A Chicago native and a former chief financial officer for CPS, Martinez in September was appointed CEO of CPS by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and his appointment was confirmed by the Chicago Board of Education. Immediately prior, he had been superintendent of the public school system in San Antonio, Texas, for six years.
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On the West Side, Martinez and his wife bought a house in the Illinois Medical District. Built in 1991, the house has 3 ½ bathrooms, a fireplace in the living room, hardwood floors, a terrace overlooking the backyard, a lower level rec room, a second-floor owner’s suite with two walk-in closets, a covered outdoor living room and a top floor with two bedrooms and a large skyline-view terrace.
The couple bought the house for less than the $728,000 than the previous owner had paid for it in 2007. Those owners first listed the house in July for $750,000, and cut their asking price later that month to $715,000 before they struck a deal Aug. 3 to sell the home to Pedro and Berenice Martinez. That Aug. 3 real estate contract was more than a month before Lightfoot publicly announced that she had chosen him as CPS’ CEO.
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Paz Martinez of Realty 123, who represented the couple, said she could not comment on her clients or even on their identities. However, she told Elite Street that “the property is in a very affluent neighborhood with a high volume of top-tier professionals.”
“The property itself is tastefully designed with functionality, aesthetics that are pleasing to the eye and a modern interface with a flair of Chicago classic structural design,” she said.
The house had an $18,192 property tax bill in the 2020 tax year.
Goldsborough is a freelance writer.
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