From 1916 to 1992, Pyle-National Co. manufactured steam-driven generators and railroad lighting equipment from a three-building complex along train tracks in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood west of the Loop business district.
The buildings sat empty and dilapidated for nearly three decades before Chicago developer IBT Group and Mansueto Office, billionaire Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto’s real estate investment company, embarked on a $70 million redevelopment in the summer of 2020.
The ongoing conversion of the complex into The Terminal, a hub with affordable space for tech, manufacturing and life science innovation, is a 2023 CoStar Impact Award winner, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s participation in a 2020 ribbon-cutting event signaled the importance of the project both to Chicago’s reputation as a business incubator and to the ethnically diverse area in and around Humboldt Park.
The project is funded privately and through federal historic tax credits secured after the complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
About the project: The largest building in the 250,000-square-foot complex was redeveloped first. As other phases continue, about 30% of the overall space already has been leased in the two-story buildings. A certificate of occupancy was issued in March 2022, and the project at 1334 N. Kostner Ave. is expected to be completed in spring 2024.
What the judges said: “This project best represents the spirit of redevelopment, for not only an existing building but also for the people of an existing community in which it serves,” wrote judge Charles Ditchman, senior project manager at KTGY Architecture.
They made it happen: Leaders of the project include Ari Glass of Mansueto Office, Andrea Caputo of RATIO Design, Ross Allen of ARCO/Murphy, Chris Usler of Ryan, Carmen Maugeri of Mauge, and Zach Pruitt of Cawley Chicago and Gary Pachucki, founder and president of IBT Group, LLC.
