What will become the new Illinois State University College of Engineering began life as a grocery distribution warehouse. ISU will pay $54 million to buy and renovate the building on GE Road in Bloomington.
Country Financial bought the United Grocers building in the mid-1980s. The cooler area of the warehouse became the claims center. And Country Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Carl Bridges said the company added to it through several incarnations, including the second building in 1990.
“It doesn’t even remotely resemble a grocer anymore. We built this building out. We basically ripped it to the studs and built it back up to the top,” said Bridges.
Country has spent $20 million in renovations since 2015, according to its sales packet. Then COVID changed the way people work, and the company chose to go in a different direction. It is building a new center on Towanda Avenue.
“What we realize now about the way we work is people come in for collaboration and connection," said Bridges. "This workspace is built for the way we used to work. We’re building that workspace to accommodate more team space and 'we' space, and people can have collaborative environments when they come there.”
Country Financial had three or four other parties interested in the building, said Bridges, but the "most meaningful conversations happened with ISU," noting the other prospects wanted to re-purpose the buildings for mixed residential and retail use.
If it weren’t for specialty needs for ISU engineering labs, Bridges said this would be practically a turnkey sale.
“It was remodeled this last time in 2019 and is in fantastic condition. It is a very structurally sound building, and we have invested quite a bit of dollars into the infrastructure, all new mechanicals, all new electrical,” said Bridges.
From challenge to opportunity
The sale to ISU prevents a working building from falling vacant and deteriorating.
“This initiative is a perfect example of turning a challenge into an opportunity,” said Bloomington Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe. "When we were first made aware, we were worried that this space would remain vacant for a while because it is such a large footprint and buildings this large can be difficult to re-purpose. But ISU’s decision prevents that and breathes new life into the area.”
Mwilambwe said ISU's presence also may spark development of Country Financial’s remaining 26 vacant acres at GE and Hershey roads. That land is still for sale.
"They’re going to have a lot of students coming here. They’re going to have a lot of faculty and different activity at this location. That brings traffic. That brings customers. That brings people that need housing,” agreed City Manager Jeff Jurgens, adding the land on the west side of the College of Engineering is adaptable.
“It could be a number of things. It could be mixed house. It could be housing. It could be commercial,” said Jurgens. "This is a blank slate, which is what you like to see and it’s a lot of acreage.”
Mwilambwe said it may even spark interest on the old GE plant to the west of Country Financial's property.
“We already get some interest from time to time on that old GE Plant. I think this might put that over the edge,” said Jurgens.
Most of the tentative interest in the GE plant so far, he said, has been for commercial activities.
Meanwhile, ISU gets a lot more space than it had available in the previous designated site on campus. University president Aondover Tarhule said ISU was financing renovation of existing buildings that would have a capacity of about 520 students.
Tarhule said a College of Engineering should have about 1,500 students. But ISU could not afford space for more — until the Country Financial property became part of the conversation.
"We would have to wait until the government could come in and help us with another facility so the college could grow," said Tarhule.
And if the lengthy history of delayed state support for a new Fine Arts building at ISU is a guide, the wait for an engineering building that Tarhule said is estimated to cost another $150 million would be a long one. This purchase, he said, allows ISU to expand enrollment in the College of Engineering as soon it can attract students, without logistical delays.
“That is huge! That is huge," said Tarhule, who estimated the purchase saved $150 million to $200 million down the road.
He added it is hard to capture in words how excited he is about the project.