The new location encompasses five floors, or 80% of the 50,000-sf building that formerly housed Lind-Waldock & Co., a futures brokerage firm that was acquired by Refco Group Ltd. The move not only consolidates Hull House into a single location, but also brings it back to its beginnings while saving occupancy costs in comparison with comparable rental space.
The non-profit enlisted the local office of Studley to search for consolidated space and, ideally, move closer to the original Hull House settlement, which was founded at Polk and Halsted in the Near West Side in 1889 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams.
The Studley team was headed by Tiffany Winne, managing director, and John Goodman, EVP. Winne tells GlobeSt.com, "the former Lind-Waldock space was vacant. It wasn't on the market, and we approached the owner about an option to purchase, which would give Hull House equity and the opportunity to get into a great building in beautifully appointed space that it would not have been able to afford as a rental."
She declines to disclose the price of the condo, but says, "it represented a cost savings of more than $1.6 million over the next 10 years, which is a 20% occupancy-cost reduction." Furthermore, the new location raises the non-profit's image with building-top signage on the façade that faces the Eisenhower Expressway.
"This relocation serves as a return to our historic Near West origins and reinforces our commitment to carry on Jane Addam's message of community service and social reform," says Clarence Wood, president and CEO of Hull House, in a statement. "Our new, more centrally located facility will help us expand our offerings in alignment with this commitment."
Hull House has founded approximately 30 community centers in the Chicago area over its 117-year history. In the 1960s, the original 13-building Hull House complex was partially torn down to make room for the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. Two of the original structures were preserved as a museum honoring Addams.
Brian Netzky of Lincolnwood-based Interstate Tenant Advisors Inc. represented the owner, identified as 1028 Van Buren Associates LP, in the condo sale negotiations. The space not occupied by Hull House remains rental. A call to Netzky was not returned by deadline.
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