The vacant and former Johnson Publishing building in Chicago’s South Loop, originally home to the publishers of Ebony and Jet Magazines, is now on the selling block.
Columbia College Chicago has selected Colliers International to sell the 120,000-square-foot property located at 820 S. Michigan Avenue.
The building was originally constructed in 1972 but has remained vacant since 2012 when Johnson Publishing moved out. Columbia College acquired the property in 2010 with plans to relocate its library there from 624 S. Michigan Avenue and later to convert it into a student center.
Following a formal strategic planning process and participatory input phase for student center programming, the college found that retrofitting a vertical office building would not provide the ideal working space for students practicing in highly diverse, creative fields and who engage in collaborative disciplines. Currently, the college plans on constructing a new student center at the corner of Wabash Avenue and 8th Street, partially funded by proceeds from this sale.
Colliers has successfully completed other projects in the market such as the sale of the former Michael Reese Hospital site, the acquisition of The British School of Chicago’s new South Loop campus, and the sale of the Old Colony building at 407 S. Dearborn.
The Colliers team in charge of marketing the building consists of David Burden, principal, SIOR; Tim Hart, senior vice president; and Tyler Hague, LEED AP, vice president.
Burden and his team believe the property will generate significant interest from buyers given the DX-16 zoning for potential use in education, hospitality, office, retail, residential and mixed-use sectors.
