Joel M. Carlins, co-chief executive officer with Chicago-based developer Magellan Group, spent his early years engaged in the intangibles inherent in the practice of law. Once a case or consultancy concluded, all that remained were files he stored in an office cabinet.
An encounter with the Salvation Army in the 1990s changed all of that. By then, Carlins had consulted building owners, designers and contractors, in addition to numerous area banks. He had also begun dabbling in construction, including the redevelopment of a rapid transit station. The Salvation Army wanted to know what he thought it should do with a small building it owned on a slender parcel on Chicago's Gold Coast.