Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC), the parent company of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, has signed a 103,533-square-foot lease at Mural Park, 920 W. Cullerton Street in Chicago. Transwestern Real Estate Services represented the landlord, Condor Partners, in the transaction with JLL representing HCSC.
Transwestern senior vice presidents Jeff Dowdell and Katie Steele brokered the deal for Condor Partners. Sean Reynolds, Meredith O’Connor, Matthew Carolan, and Amy Berg of JLL represented HCSC in the transaction. The deal brings Mural Park to 63 percent occupancy.
Mural Park is a commercial redevelopment of two 100,000-square-foot industrial loft buildings in Pilsen, a historic neighborhood in the South Chicago submarket. The 100-year-old buildings were transformed into modern, Class A, brick-and-timber office space in January 2019.
HCSC will fully occupy one of the loft buildings and join existing tenants Puratos Group, Noble Forward, Relay Chicago and Back of the Yards Coffee within the two-building project. Mural Park’s remaining loft building, at 924 W. 19th Place, still offers 30,871 square feet for lease.
“Mural Park is the preeminent office redevelopment project in Pilsen and Chicago’s near South Side, and the long-term lease with HCSC validates this emerging submarket as the next prime office destination,” said Dowdell. “Tenants can tap into Pilsen’s local workforce as well as the city’s downtown talent while achieving affordable and quality office space in an authentic neighborhood close to the traditional downtown commercial office district.”
Mural Park is located eight miles south of Chicago’s central business district and has direct access to multiple interstates, with CTA and Metra stations nearby. It is positioned along El Paseo, an old railroad bed that will be turned into a cycling and walking path. Currently in development, the path will connect University Village with Pilsen and Little Village, featuring gathering spaces, public art and gardens.
“Condor set out to prove that we can develop responsible, respectful and regenerative development in our neighborhoods,” said Michael McClean of Condor Partners. “We aligned the values of the project with the values of the community and were able to secure a 100,000-square-foot lease during a pandemic when millions of potential leases were canceled. This is proof that community-based development is resilient.”
