Ellsworth Building, Terminals Building
Life Span: 1892-Present
Location: 537 S. Dearborn St.
Architect: John M. Van Osdel
- Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Ellsworth Bldg.—353 to 357 Dearborn.
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Ellsworth Bldg.—537 S. Dearborn.
Inter Ocean, October 18, 1891
MR. ELLSWORTH’S BUILDING.
J. M. Van Osdel & Co. are preparing plans for the fourteen-story building J. W. Ellsworth proposes to erect on hie property, 75 feet front, running through to Third avenue, Dearborn street, 60 feet north of Harrison etreet. The building will cost about $250,000. It will contain 150 offices. Work will commence as soon as possible.
Rand McNally Bird’s Eye Views 1893
⑧ The Ellsworth Building.
At 353-359 Dearborn Street, extends through to Plymouth Place, with frontages on both streets of 71 feet, and a depth of 60 feet. The building, of steel, with exterior of brick and terra cotta, was erected in 1892. It is 170 feet high, in 14 stories and basement. There are 4 stores, 200 offices, and 3 elevators. The tenants are manufacturers’ agents, publishers, and printers
Printing-house Row, from Van Buren Street.
Print (above) portrays faithfully the extraordinary double row of high buildings which lines Dearborn Street between Van Buren and Harrison streets. This is Printing-house Row so called from the large number of printing-offices included within its limits. Among the high structures of this group, described elsewhere, are the ① Old Colony, the ② Girard, the ③ Manhattan, the ④ Monon, the ⑤ Como, the ⑥ Caxton, the ⑦ Pontiac, and the ⑧ Ellsworth.
- Ellsworth Building
1898
1908 Chicago Central Business and Office Directory
The Ellsworth Building is a modern office building situated at 353, 355 and 357 Dearborn street. Has a frontage of 75 feet on Dearborn and the same on Plymouth Place, and is fourteen stories high. The construction is absolutely fireproof-and first class in every particular. The finish is of the finest. The halls and corridors are of marble. The building is as complete in every detail as any office building in the city, and the management of same is of the highest grade in every respect.
The Ellsworth Building caters to a high grade class of tenants only at moderate prices and is the home of many of the largest trade periodicals located in the west.
For information and space apply to
E. SPENCER STURGES, Agent for the Building.
Chicago Tribune, November 30, 1986
Near South apartments 55% full.
The landmark Terminals Building is now 55 percent occupied after a $5 million conversion into 52 new one- and two-bedroom apartments, reports Edward N. Cox, senior vice president and director of the marketing development division of Baird & Warner, exclusive leasing and management agent for the building.
The 15-story building at 537 S. Dearborn St. was rehabilitated by Community Resources Corp., a group of real estate developers and architects that created the Printing House Row renaissance and helped trigger redevelopment of the Near South Side section of Burnham Park.
Russ Fleagle, building manager and leasing agent, outlined the following tenant profile since the building was opened in May:
- • Some 54 percent of the new residents earn annual incomes of $51,000 or more; another 34 percent earn between $31,000 and $50,000; and the remaining 12 percent earn between $20,000 and $30,000.
• About 80 percent of the tenants are between 26 and 45 years of age; 13 percent are aged between 19 and 25; and the remaining 7 percent are 46 and older.
•The proportion of males and females is about even, with 51 percent women and 49 percent men.
• Some 46 percent of the new tenants are roommates; another 31 percent are married; and the remaining 23 percent are single.
• A breakout of occupations shows 13 percent in sales, 10 percent in financial services, 10 percent in miscellaneous manage-ment, 10 percent in the medical professions, 8 percent executives, 8 percent students, 5 percent each in art, food service and law, and 3 percent each computer operators, government employees, postal workers, secretaries and Another 13 percent are in other occupations.
• About one-fourth of the new tenants (24 percent) moved to the Terminals Building from other-states; another 23 percent formerly lived on the South Side; 21: percent had lived on the North Side; 13 percent lived in the north suburbs; and 5 percent each lived on the West Side, in the Loop or in the northwest suburbs.
Erected in 1892, the Terminals Building was designed by architect John Mills Van Osdel.
The renovation preserved the original exterior but fitted the building with a new interior, said Cox. Included are new mechanical systems with individual heating/cooling controls in each residence, new insulated energy-efficient windows and all-new bathrooms and kitchens.
Two elevators serve the apart-ments. Because of the four-apart-ments-per-floor configuration, most tenants have Chicago school of architecture-style bay windows in their living rooms.
Four plans are being offered, ranging from 690 square feet to 1,121 square feet. Monthly rents range from $660 to $1,023.
The building also contains 2,800 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, anchored by the recently opened Close Up Piano Bar.
- Ellsworth Building
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
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