SVN Hired to Sell Homan Park Office Campus

An moribund office campus in Chicago’s West Side could get a second shot at life.

SVN Chicago has been hired to sell four properties in the Homan Square neighborhood: the five-story former Sears Administration Building at 3333 West Arthington Street, 11-story former Allstate headquarters at 3245 West Arthington, a parking structure with over 1,150 spaces at 3240 W. Arthington and a 3.8-acre development site at 3201 West Arthington, CoStar reported.

The firm has tapped five brokers including Scott Maesel and Drew Dillion to represent the seller. Freight company Arka Express, which is a venture led by Markham CEO Arnold Kozys, bought the properties for $3.25 million in 2018. SVN declined to say how much the sellers expect to make with the sale, but they did say they’re open to selling the property in pieces.

The former Allstate and Sears buildings have a combined 500,000 square feet of vacant space and are ready for interior construction, according to the brokers. The firm expects the site to be redeveloped for residential use and could be a prime candidate for incentives like tax increment financing, historic tax credits, opportunity zone tax advantages and low-income housing tax credits.

“We’ve had really good interest from developers that need scale for a project to dive into, who can’t just do a three-flat in the neighborhood,” Schroedl told the outlet. “It’s going to take a certain type of developer that can take down a project this large while understanding the landmark and incentives aspects of the deal.”

The property is in an area that’s historically been undeveloped, suffering from minimal job growth and few big investments. But Homan Square is just four miles west of the buzzing Fulton Market District — one of the hottest neighborhoods in Chicago for real estate investors.

As Fulton Market continues to explode, growth and development could bleed into surrounding neighborhoods like Homan Square.

—Quinn Donoghue