Chicago-based Baker Development Corporation has awarded Baum Realty Group the leasing assignment for its newest adaptive reuse project, 2017 N. Mendell. Ari Topper, along with Tyler Dechter, will oversee leasing for the property.
“We’re excited to work with Baum Realty on our newest asset. Their extensive track record with neighborhood redevelopment projects dovetails perfectly with this project,” said Baker Development’s president, Warren Baker.
2017 N. Mendell is a four-story, 61,000-square-foot, Class A office building located along the Chicago River in the emerging North Branch neighborhood. Baker Development purchased the century-old warehouse in 2015 and transformed it into a high-end, Class A office property targeting entrepreneurial office and light manufacturing tenants.
Features include medical grade air filtration with a continuous fresh air loop, self-tinting Dynamic Glass, redundant security systems and abundant on-site parking. 2017 N. Mendell also has a 3,200-square-foot rooftop workspace with panoramic city views and bicycle parking. The building offers users a significant occupancy cost savings via a pending 7B real estate tax incentive and additional savings given its location in an Enterprise Zone.
“Companies are seeking spaces outside of the traditional business hub in the Loop,” said Topper, who heads up office leasing at the nearly 30-year-old firm. “Understandably, there is now a serious premium being placed on healthy office environments, boutique buildings rather than high-rises, on-site parking and of course, cost savings, in these emerging neighborhoods. We’re excited to market the healthiest office space in Chicago!”
Though the transformation was completed in 2018, Baker Development, a pioneer in creating safe and healthy office environments, appears prescient in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Striving to create a safe and healthy environment for today’s office workers, the firm invested heavily in wellness infrastructure including a continuous fresh air supply to the building, medical grade photoionization technology, HEPA air filters and germicidal lighting throughout the common areas. Taking advantage of the 17,000-square-foot floorplates, the firm also installed a system whereby tenants can control their respective work environments and customize the health and safety of their space.
Today, 2017 N. Mendell is Chicago’s first and only move-in ready, Class A office building deploying medical-grade plasma and blue light technologies to mitigate risk of airborne and contact pathogens.
“We have created a workplace that allows our tenants to do what they do best in an environment that their employees feel comfortable working in,” said Baker.
Located on the western bank of the Chicago River between Ashland Avenue and Cortland Street, 2017 N. Mendell is just off of I-90/94 at the Armitage exit and two blocks from the Clybourn Metra station.
The property is the latest addition to Baum Realty’s expanding leasing portfolio in the Chicago area—and in particular, the North Branch Corridor. Other notable assignments include 1308 N. Elston, a 72,000-square-foot Class A loft office building and 1525 N. Elston, a 17,000-square-foot new construction office building.