CHICAGO – The Albany Park Community Center Inc. moved its executive and citywide programming offices to a full floor, 12,000 square feet, at The Ravenswood Professional Building at 1945 W. Wilson Ave. APCC opened for business in its new space on Wednesday.
APCC, a non-profit organization, had been at its former location at 3403 W. Lawrence Ave. for more than 25 years. In 2011, after being situated in make-shift offices, spread out over several floors, APCC retained The J. Rich Co. to find it a better option. “JRICH took the time to learn about our organization to better understand our real estate needs,” Brendan Foster, APCC Chief Operating Officer, says in a press release. “Their expert knowledge of the market led us to a real estate deal that will allow us to continue to serve our community in an amazing new office space.” APCC chose to work with JRICH CEO Jason Schulz and President Rich Schulz because of their extensive background in representing and brokering real estate transactions for non-profits. The new space will let APCC develop and expand its community-based initiatives. The City of Chicago recently picked APCC to run two Jane Addams Hull House Headstart programs. ”Albany Park Community Center is most excited about this new facility because it allows them to expand their service capacity and service area in the Chicago community, especially since they have picked up a lot of programs from other non-profits that are now defunct,” Rich Schulz tells GlobeSt.com. “They are one of the long time survivors in the Chicago non-profit community and they continue to serve and grow.” Rich Schulz says his firm was able to secure the new space, which was built and paid for by the landlord, at a rental rate that is about $3.50 a square foot lower than what APCC had been paying at its former location. Rich Schulz also says that even though APCC is leasing 12,000 square feet, they will be only paying for 8,000 square feet for the first two years and will pay incrementally after that until they pay for the full area in five years. The firm also obtained exterior signage and garage parking for APCC at no additional cost. APCC, incorporated in 1975, is a community based organization and a United Way member agency. The J. Rich Co. LLC is a Chicago-based commercial real estate advisory firm based specializing in representing tenant interests. JRICH works with clients on a brokerage and consulting basis.