What defines Class A for high tech corporate users looking to attract the best and brightest? Class A buildings today have a lot more glass, a lot more technology. Obviously View Smart Windows play into all of this and it gets to the comfort of those tenants.
- Daniel Slack
Principal, Baker Development
2017 North Mendell
Century-old warehouse transformed into high tech office building
- View Smart Windows were key to repositioning the warehouse into a turnkey creative office space
- The building anchors Lincoln Yards, a former industrial area, now a tech and arts district
- With View Smart Windows, the site retains its unbeatable views of Chicago river and skyline
- View is part of a suite of healthy and high-tech features
Project Specs
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Location
Chicago, IL -
Owner/Developer
Baker Development Corporation -
General Contractor
Klein Construction -
Architect
MSRA Architects -
Project Specifications
4 stories, 70,000 sq. ft.
Businesses are increasingly willing to consider locations outside of the traditional downtown office core if they can find best-in-class buildings with public transit access and walkable amenities. Baker Development saw potential for this kind of destination in an abandoned, century-old distribution warehouse in Lincoln Yards, a newly-branded sub-market of Lincoln Park. While the Lincoln Park neighborhood has a thriving residential, shopping and dining scene, the blocks along the Riverfront were a gritty, underutilized industrial neighborhood. The adaptive reuse of 2017 North Mendell into a high-tech Class A office building is helping transform the area.
View Smart Windows are a really nice solution that tempers the light but leaves the views as open as possible. As the first ones in, we are setting a tone for the neighborhood, holding on to that industrial flavor but making it a cool tech office.
- Michael Semenzon
Principal, MRSA Architects & Planners
Baker Development selected View Smart Windows to make the building stand out as a high-tech, healthy and enjoyable place for entrepreneurs to work. The tenant spaces also have fiber optic cables, an air filtration system and redundant security systems. The building’s 25-foot-tall lobby doubles as an art gallery, it has a rooftop lounge, bicycle parking and dedicated food truck spots. Tenants can provide design input on turn-key spaces, enabling them to spend more time on their business. Best of all, View Smart Windows will allow people to be inspired by the unbeatable views of the city skyline without blinds or dealing with uncomfortable heat and glare or outside noise.
Established in 1985, Baker Development Corporation is an experienced, privately-owned real estate development company. Virtually integrated in every class of real estate, Baker is recognized for its many award-winning properties and diverse portfolio while creating high levels of engagement with the end-user.