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Wicker's Public Transit, Construction Boom Lured A River North Firm Here

By Alisa Hauser | September 18, 2017 9:37am
 D'Escoto will be renting the sixth floor of this building anchored by a CVS.
D'Escoto will be renting the sixth floor of this building anchored by a CVS.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

WICKER PARK — Construction and civil engineering firm d'Escoto will leave its longtime River North headquarters next month and move to a landmarked building in Wicker Park.

Designed by architects Vitzthum, Karl, and Co., the stately six-story Home Bank & Trust Company Building at 1200 N. Ashland Ave. was designated a Chicago landmark in 2008. Other tenants in the building include CVS, MB Financial Bank, GAINSystems and Redfin.

Set to open in mid-October, the new Wicker Park headquarters will house 25 workers from d'Escoto's administration, design and civil engineering departments, according to second-generation owner and CEO Federico d'Escoto.

"We see all the new construction going on here — it's exciting, it's great. I like the good energy you feel walking around," d'Escoto said.

After 29 years at 420 N. Wabash in River North, the firm had outgrown the office d'Escoto's father selected in the early 1990's after starting the company in Aurora in 1972. 

Prior to River North, D'Escoto — one of the largest Hispanic-owned program management, construction management and civil engineering firms in the Midwest — was based in the South Loop's Monadnock building.

Easy access to public transportation played a role in the search for new headquarters that lasted almost a year, exploring sites west of the Kennedy Expressway.

"We all take the CTA, myself included, and there are major bus lines and the CTA Blue Line right outside the door. We can be Downtown in 20 minutes. Our Metra riders get off at Clybourn. The public transportation is so good here. We wanted to be near arterial streets, we have a handful of employees that bike to work and Milwaukee Avenue is a well traveled bike lane," d'Escoto said.

The 53-year-old D'Escoto said a lot of his younger staff live in the area and they are excited to be working closer to home.

Andrea Miller and Nicole Plecas, brokers with Miller Chicago Real Estate, leased the 10,000 square-foot former law office penthouse to d’Escoto, Inc.

"For several years, Wicker Park has been experiencing a trend in increased commercial leasing activity, with larger and more established businesses opening offices here, in step with the influx of national retailers’ outposts in the neighborhood," Miller said.

Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) welcomed d'Escoto's relocation to the top floor of the Home Bank & Trust Company building, located across from the Polish Triangle and the underground CTA Blue Line Division "L" station.

"Our neighborhoods are attracting residents, restaurants and other non retail businesses. This is a great announcement and reflects that non retail businesses want to call our ward home," Moreno said.