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Chicago

Ace Hardware moving to ex-McDonald campus in Chicago expansion

Billionaire John Paul DeJoria bought the 80-acre site for $40M in 2019, a year after McDonald’s left

Ace Hardware's John Venhuizen and John Paul DeJoria with Oak Brook reserve (Getty, Ace Hardware, Oak Brook Reserve)
Ace Hardware's John Venhuizen and John Paul DeJoria with Oak Brook Reserve (Getty, Ace Hardware, Oak Brook Reserve)

Beauty billionaire John Paul DeJoria finally found another tenant for the 80-acre suburban Chicago site he bought for $40 million in 2019, a year after McDonald’s exited the complex to head downtown to the Fulton Market District.

Ace Hardware is moving its corporate headquarters to the former fast-food chain’s home at the Oak Brook Reserve, which includes a 332,000-square-foot office building vacated by McDonald’s in 2018, the Chicago Business Journal reported.

Ace is taking 250,000 square feet at 2915 Jorie Boulevard and plans to add another 47,000 square feet, the outlet reported. “An extensive interior renovation” will start later this year, an Ace spokesperson told the outlet.

It’s a big commitment to the physical workplace as suburban office landlords face record vacancies. Leasing has tended to center on firms downsizing their footprints, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield parent Health Care Service Corp. It inked a lease in March in suburban Chicago for a quarter less space than it previously had. Ace aims to host up to 1,100 employees in the new offices.

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It took two years for DeJoria to land his first tenant. BDO Digital, a subsidiary of accounting firm BDO USA, signed a long-term lease for 28,000 square feet in November in the former Hamburger University Training Center at 2715 Jorie Boulevard, next door to Ace’s new location.

Ace isn’t moving far, as it’s staying within Oak Brook. Next year it will leave its headquarters since 1974 at 2200 Kensington Court, where the hardware business had about 200,000 square feet.

[CBJ] – Sam Lounsberry

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Oak BrookOffice MarketSuburban Chicago