Miles L Berger

Miles L Berger was a member of the Chicago Plan Commission from 1965 to 1986, including five years as chairman, and during a key period in the early 1980s was coordinator of the North Loop redevelopment project that dramatically changed one of downtown's most visible areas. He was vice chairman of Heitman Financial Corp., one of the nation's top real estate investment firms; chairman of Mid Town Bank; vice chairman of Columbia National Bank of Chicago; and a member or former member of a couple of dozen civic and charitable boards and commissions. He and his wife, Sally, a nationally recognized health-care consultant, partner in the accounting firm Ernst & Young and former Chicago Library Board president, had one home on Astor Street and another just off a ski slope in Aspen, where they entertain a variety of celebrities. He was raised on the North Side in comfortable circumstances and went to the Latin School. He went to Brown University in Providence, R.I., and majored in history with the intention of becoming a lawyer but his father died when he was a sophomore and he returned to take over the family business. He founded Mid- America Appraisal and Research Corp., one of the largest appraisal firms in the country - and sold his interest in 1980.