Crain’s Headlines: Brookfield Zoo President to Step Down


The president of Brookfield Zoo plans to resign after 17 years at the helm.

Crain’s reports no departure date has yet been set for Stuart Strahl, who announced to his board of trustees that he is heading for the exit.

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Strahl is 64. The Chicago Zoological Society, which operates Brookfield, reported a $4.5 million deficit in 2018—the most recent year for which figures are available.

In other Chicago-area business news:

The owner of a vintage 10-story property aims to cash out, hoping to ride a wave of development in the southwest corner of the Loop.

A venture of Marc Realty has hired Jones Lang LaSalle to sell the property at 216 W. Jackson Blvd.

The asking price for the 121-year-old building is unclear, but a source familiar with the offering tells Crain’s the property is expected to fetch close to $27 million.

And finally, the pitchman for Wendy’s new breakfast sandwich menu is a familiar face to the folks who work at McDonald’s Chicago headquarters.

That’s because the man being featured in a barrage of social media ads promoting the new breakfast sandwiches is none other than Mike Haracz, the former executive chef of Wendy’s archrival: McDonald’s.

He left McDonald’s in 2019 and is now touting Wendy’s breakfast offerings in the ads. Wendy’s breakfast menu is slated to debut in March, a rollout that is likely to intensify the already heated battle for breakfast customers in the fast food industry.


Crain’s Headlines is a joint production between WTTW and Crain’s Chicago Business. It airs every Monday through Thursday on the WTTW News program “Chicago Tonight.” 


Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors