The diocesan headquarters at 65 E. Huron Street in downtown Chicago was listed for sale today with commercial real estate broker CBRE, the diocese’s Bishop and Trustees (B&T) have announced.
The primary goal of the sale is to assure the long-term financial viability of the diocese, trustee Lonn Myers said last year. Most of the proceeds from the sale will be placed in a fund that will function like an endowment and be governed by B&T.
“B&T has been working toward this day for nearly two years,” Mike Mattson, second vice president of B&T, said. “65 E. Huron is the diocese’s largest asset, and offering it for sale brings us one step closer to creating a fund that will support the entire diocese’s mission. All of our parishes and missions will benefit from this move.”
B&T is also committed to investing a meaningful portion of the sale’s proceeds in affordable housing, continuing the diocese’s long-term commitment to that issue. In addition, the sale will include financial and other accommodations for St. James Cathedral, which sits next to the building being offered for sale. Cathedral and diocesan officials have been in discussion about the sale since early 2021, Mattson said.
No decision has been made about where the bishop’s staff will work once the building has been sold, but Bishop-elect Paula Clark and B&T are expected to begin considering the question later this year. When the proposed sale of the building was first announced in 2020 by Bishop Lee, he wrote that, “In recent years, as the reconfigured bishop’s staff has spent more time out among congregations, a large centralized office has become unnecessary. What office space the bishop’s staff and Episcopal Charities do need is available at many locations in the diocese, and nearly all provide easier access and more plentiful parking.”
