You just don`t see building directories like this anymore:
American Wood Preserving Co.; Aultman Engine and Thresher Co.; John Clay & Co., cattle loans; David Evans & Co., pig iron; Illinois Terra Cotta Lumber Co.; Isbell-Porter, gas works apparatus; Kistler Lesh & Co., tanners; Majestic Coal & Coke; Phoenix Horseshoe Co.,; Power Specialty Co., superheaters;
Southern Cotton Oil Co.; Joseph Stockton Co., teaming; Jonas Waffle, assistant general freight and passenger agent.
Business and industry have changed since 1908, when companies such as these populated the Rookery Building, now designated a LaSalle Street landmark. But some things have not changed.
Even 82 years ago, brokers, attorneys, investment counselors, and people who listed themselves simply, like Tracy Dick, capitalist, dominated the tenant roster for the Rookery, which is undergoing a complete restoration.
The 12-story, 102-year-old building on the southeast corner of LaSalle and Adams Streets is being renovated by Baldwin Development Co. Hasbrouck Peterson Associates is the architect for the restoration of the building, which is on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Architect William Hasbrouck found the tenant roster in an office building directory at the Chicago Historical Society. He said that architect Frank Lloyd Wright was once a tenant in the building, as was attorney Clarence Darrow. Familiar names on the 1908 roster include J. Walter Thompson Co., advertising agents, and H.V. Von Holst, an architect who was Wright`s only partner.
But it obviously was a much simpler time. Only six real estate companies were tenants.
Pig iron dealers and cattle loan companies are not likely to be tenants in the refurbished Rookery, but law firms and capitalists are.
”The financial industry, clearly, is a target for leasing because we are on LaSalle Street, as are law firms,” said Goldie Wolfe, president of Goldie B. Wolfe & Co., the leasing agent. ”But we`re also seeing interest from other companies, companies wanting a bit of identification, and they are comparing us with the high-rises. They want to build an image, and in the Rookery that image would have a lot to do with the building they`re in.”
While the exterior and many interior features are being restored, the mechanical and other building systems are being replaced. When completed in early 1991, the building will offer 226,500 square feet of office space and about 35,000 square-feet of retail space.
Workers cleaning the lobby and atrim uncovered a cache of gold, worth about $80,000 at today`s prices, in the form of some 200 ounces of gold-leaf detailing. Restorers also have run across a barrel of doorknobs designed by the architectural firm of Burnham and Root especially for the building.
Restorers also have run across a barrel of doorknobs designed by the architectural firm of Burnham and Root especially for the building.
– Renovation of commercial buildings will be one of the big industries in the coming decade, according to QR Publishing, the Chicago-based publisher of Commercial Renovation and Qualified Remodeler magazines.
According to the publisher`s figures, the current U.S. building inventory totals more than 100 million homes and 4.5 million commercial buildings.
”Of these structures, more than 60 percent are at least 18 years old and now require upkeep, maintenance and modernization to keep them competitive in the real estate market,” said David Sauer, president of QR Publishing.
Even some relatively young buildings, especially in the suburban office market, face major overhauls to keep up with the newer projects.
Among the most recent examples is the Oak Brook Regency Towers, a twin 13-story tower office project with 385,000 square feet that was built in 1976. Last week Fifield Asset Management Inc. announced that it is undertaking a $5 million, three-year program to renovate and modernize the project.
Travis Julian, president of Fifield Asset Management, said the renovation is being done to maintain the property`s attractiveness to corporate users. He said Fifield will seek insurance, financial and high-technology headquarters tenants to lease the rehabbed space.
The renovation will include redesign of the facade, improved signage and landscaping, updated common areas and upgrading of the mechanical systems. A restaurant and retail space in the project also will be refurbished.
The towers are on a 12.5-acre site on the southeast corner of 22nd Street and Illinois Highway 83 in the western suburb. The two towers are about 80 percent occupied.
The largest tenant, Spiegel, will vacate its space in 1992 when it consolidates operations at Hamilton Partners` Esplanade in Downers Grove. The renovation will proceed around the operations of two other major tenants, Shell Oil and Illinois Bell, Julian said.
An investment fund sponsored by Boston-based Aldrich, Eastman & Waltch Inc. owns the property. Aldrich hired Fifield to direct the renovation.
– Brokers and developers fearful about the amount of vacant small-shop space in area retail projects might take heart from the activities of James Kaplan Cos. Inc., which has completed 17 smaller retail leases in the last three months.
”In contrast to current market predictions, we believe small-space users will continue to play a vital role in leasing during the first half of 1990,” said James Kaplan, president of the Chicago-based management and leasing firm. ”Based on the leasing movement we have experienced in the last 90 days, we believe specific small-space users continue to actively seek the right location in the right segment of the marketplace,” Kaplan said. But he said ownership must be willing to deal to make the leases.
Kaplan has filled more than 44,000 square feet in both the city and suburbs with the 17 leases.
The leases were from 600 to 15,000 square feet for stores ranging from former Chicago Bulls center Artis Gilmore`s men`s footware shop in the One East Superior Street Building to an Ace Hardware center in downstate Freeport. – Chicago-based Zeller-Lake Partners has purchased a 32,700-square-foot site on the southwest corner of Franklin and Lake Streets in the Loop and plans to build a 12-story parking garage with 11,000-square-feet of retail space on the property.
A surface parking lot and 3,500-square-foot, three-story office building on the land will be replaced with the new project, according to Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services, which represented sellers United Pacific Life Insurance Co. and Reliance Development Group of New York in the sale. No purchase price was disclosed.
– Other leases and sales:
Airborne Express has leased 90,000 square feet, and Commonwealth Edison has taken 54,000 at 601 W. Harrison St., both for vehicle storage and distribution space. Hiffman Shaffer Anderson Inc., which converted the former Chicago Tribune facility into multitenant space, handled both leases. … Lord & Taylor has leased 75,900 square feet at Trammell Crow Co.`s 101 W. Mark St. in Wood Dale. Podolsky & Associates, which represented the tenant, said the retailer would use the space for warehousing and distribution in addition to other space it leases in Itasca. … The Oak Brook Agency of New York Life Insurance Co. has leased 24,000 square feet at the Oak Brook Executive Plaza, 1211-1315 W. 22nd St. Manufacturers Real Estate, owner of the building, said the insurance firm will consolidate marketing operations from the Loop and two Indiana locations in the new office. … Bennett & Kahnweiler Realty Advisors has acquired seven buildings in the St. Charles Business Park totaling 370,000 square feet. The six industrial buildings and one office building were purchased for investment by a domestic pension fund, which paid more than $16 million. … Philipsborn Investment Corp. and Spectrum Management Co. as general partners have acquired the former Alden Co. warehouse at 5000 W. Roosevelt Rd. for an undisclosed price from Crown Oaks Midwest Inc., which had renovated the space for multitenant industrial use. The Philipsborn Co., parent of Philipsborn Investment, also arranged an $18.3 million mortgage for the 1.27 million square foot property.
