Tim Rasmussen is peddling a business that gives new meaning to the term "sweat equity."

The Chicago real estate broker is seeking buyers for the Chicago Sweatlodge, an old-school banya, or Russian sauna and bathhouse, in the Northwest Side neighborhood of Portage Park.

It's one of the few establishments of its kind in the city—the mother of all man caves, a place where men go for a schvitz, massage and maybe some pierogi, and a shot or three of vodka. The dress code: a towel, flip-flops and an optional felt cap to protect your head from the intense heat. The asking price: $2.1 million.

"This is a solid money-making business," said Rasmussen, senior adviser at SVN Chicago Commercial. "If my wife wouldn't leave me, I would probably look at putting a few guys together to buy it."

He's selling both the property and business at 3500 N. Cicero Ave., which Chicago restaurateur Leon Toia opened in 2007. Toia, the former owner of Leona's Restaurants, did not return phone calls.

A banya is a traditional bathhouse that has been part of Russian culture for centuries. The Chicago Sweatlodge draws business from the city's large population of Russian and Eastern European immigrants, but "a lot of hipsters go there, too," Rasmussen said. It competes with another banya, Red Square in Wicker Park, but that's a "fancy place" with a white tablecloth restaurant, he said. "The Sweatlodge is more of an every-guy place. It's really diverse," attracting, among others, big burly men named Boris who "look like they could squeeze your skull," Rasumussen said.