Chicago’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood is getting a new $50 million “urban workspace campus” for the city’s makers, creatives and tech innovators that’s expected to create up to 200 new jobs.
Called The Terminal, the project is converting a cluster of three old warehouses at 1334 N. Kostner Ave. into office and community space, which will occupy 250,000 square feet on 6.9 acres.
The warehouses being remodeled were originally occupied by the Pyle-National Company starting in 1916, where it manufactured headlights and other lighting and electrical equipment for railroad companies, as well as exterior lighting for prominent buildings like the Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, Soldier Field and the Rose Bowl Stadium.
The project, which has been in the works for over three years and formerly called Humboldt Lit, is being built by real estate developer IBT Group, with additional funding provided by the Mansueto Office, a firm owned by billionaire entrepreneur and Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto.
The Terminal is being built in a Federal Qualified Opportunity Zone, a designation that seeks to revitalize underinvested parts of the U.S. by encouraging private investment through tax incentives for qualified investors.
The developers plan to renovate both the interior and exterior of the warehouses, as well as create an outdoor courtyard space. The developers had originally planned to begin moving tenants into the building in June, but those plans were delayed because of the Covid-19 crisis.
“Through the virus and everything that’s happened, it’s become even more validated today as we look for an environment that people can simply work safely in a campus-like setting,” said project developer Gary Pachucki of the IBT Group, at a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday afternoon.
Before the pandemic, Fulton Market, River North and the Loop were popular neighborhoods for tech companies to open an office, but were sometimes too pricey for Chicago’s budding startups. While the pandemic is changing office patterns, with some companies giving up office space altogether, The Terminal developers say they want the West Humboldt Park office campus to be an affordable option for small tech companies and other makers and innovators.
The Terminal is the latest project in the INVEST South/West corridor, a program that aims revitalize 10 neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West Sides with jobs, retail, amenities and other resources. In the first year of the program, the City says it has invested more than $70 million of public resources into these corridors and received more than $300 million in private and philanthropic commitments.
“This is going to make a huge difference for this neighborhood,” said Andrea L. Zopp, the president and CEO of World Business Chicago, at the ceremony. “It’s going to create jobs. It’s going to drive long-term sustainable change for the people who live around here so that they can have the kinds of neighborhoods that we all want.”
While The Terminal developers have touted the upsides the project will bring to West Humboldt Park, some community members have expressed dissatisfaction with their lack of involvement in the project. Nobel Neighbors members told Block Club Chicago in August that IBT Group hasn’t solicited enough community feedback for the project, which could affect property values in the neighborhood.
