Lee Miglin

Miglin was one of seven children born to a Roman Catholic family of Lithuanian descent; his father worked as a Central Illinois coal miner.[2][3]

Miglin began his career selling silverware door-to-door and pancake batter out of the trunk of his car.[3] In 1956, at the age of 31, he began his real estate career, taking a job as a broker with Chicago real estate magnate Arthur Rubloff.[3] At Arthur Rubloff & Co., Miglin would first get involved with warehouse construction, later moving into office development.[4] One of the projects he was involved in was the development of the first two of the three towers at the President's Plaza office complex near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport[4] (he would later develop the third tower in 1985 with his firm Miglin-Beitler).[5] Miglin was regarded as an early developer of the business park developments.[6]

Miglin formed a successful real estate development partnership with J. Paul Beitler, who had also worked at Rubloff & Co, creating the firm Miglin-Beitler Developments in 1982.[4][5] Among the projects developed by the firm were Madison Plaza,[5] 181 West Madison Street,[4][7] Oakbrook Terrace Tower (the tallest building in Illinois outside of Chicago)[5][8][9] The firm also managed properties.[5]

In 1988, Miglin-Beitler Developments unveiled plans to construct a 1,999 foot 125-floor skyscraper in Chicago to be called the Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle. However, the building was never built, with plans faltering during a 1990 downturn of Chicago's downtown office market.[4][10][11] Miglin-Beitler had held hopes of resurrecting the project, but these hopes would be dashed by Miglin's murder.[11]

After the firm began shifting its focus away from development and towards property management in the 1990s, Miglin gradually withdrew from the daily operations, but still remained involved in the company.[4]

In 1959, Miglin married 20-year-old Marilyn Klecka, who is of Czech descent and also Roman Catholic.[3] Klecka, a successful entrepreneur known as the Queen of Makeovers, established a prominent perfume and cosmetics company and is a celebrity[12] on the Home Shopping Network.[2] They had two children together, Marlena (born 1968) and Duke Miglin (born 1971), who became an actor.[3]

The second season of the anthology television series American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, recounted the Cunanan spree. It included appearances by Miglin, portrayed by Mike Farrell.[16] This portrayal was based on Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History by Maureen Orth, who speculated that Miglin may have been a closeted gay or bisexual man in a secret relationship with Cunanan.