Real estate colleagues were stunned in 1999 when longtime retail developer and avid runner Harold “Hal” Eisenberg died at 53 just two weeks after being diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer.
This week, 600-plus industry professionals will gather in Chicago to celebrate the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation's 25-year legacy of raising funds for cancer research and testing, college scholarships and mentorship programs to develop future generations of real estate professionals.
The Northbrook-based foundation hopes to raise $750,000 from Thursday’s dinner at the Hilton Michigan Avenue Hotel. That event and others, including the annual Eisenopoly game night, already have raised more than $4 million.
The foundation said it has funded more than 27,000 tissue samples, 11 research projects, nearly 2,000 mentorships and $500,000 in scholarships.
Eisenberg worked for Sears mall development subsidiary Homart and later formed Lake Shore Development.
His oldest child, Peter Eisenberg, is the foundation’s president and a principal at local development firm Iron Ridge Partners.
“I’m proud that we’re here 25 years later, and that we’ve accomplished a lot,” Peter Eisenberg said. “The real estate community has rallied around this foundation, supporting it with both time and treasure.”