Willard Jones Real Estate

It is a building that epitomizes Chicago: innovative with a touch of charm, yet tough, solid, resilient and built to last. Constructed in 1874 right after the Great Chicago Fire, the Washington Block building a t 40 North Wells Street is an architectural gem that oozes creativity with its soaring ceilings, bank vaults, fireplaces and an impressive hardwood spiral staircase with a skylight above that floods the common corridors with natural light.

Furthermore, public transportation is literally at the front doorstep and a healthy supply of pigeons call the cast iron fire escape which blankets the limestone facade their home, while the strategically placed fake owls incessantly tries to scare them all away.

To an individual walking down Washington Street on the way to City Hall or standing on the Washington/Wells L platform waiting for the Brown Line to arrive, the adjacent 40 North Wells building is an old, nondescript and slightly worn down low rise office building with a bar and 7-Eleven on the ground floor. However, diving deeper into the history of the Washington Block, one learns of its documented significance in Chicago history, which then leads to wonderment of what else really happened here during its 142 year history.

Designed by Frederick and Edward Baumann, 40 North Wells was designated as a Chicago Landmark in 1997. At the time of construction, this 5-story edifice was one of the tallest buildings in the city and is a rare example of isolated pier foundation, which uses several separate foundations at each load-bearing point underground to create a more permanent and robust foundation. This base allowed it to be erected on soft, compressible soil, instead of solid bedrock previously seen as a prerequisite. This technique played a key role in the subsequent creation of skyscrapers in Chicago and throughout the country.

Washington Block was originally created for prestigious companies wanting to office near the rapidly emerging LaSalle Street financial district. However, once the L was placed next to the building, the upscale tenants found the building undesirable and more budget-minded firms occupied the property from that point forward.

In a building of this vintage in such a vibrant location, there is no telling what has transpired over the years at Washington Block.

The saying, “if these walls could talk” had to be created for this very building. For example, is it really far-fetched to picture some of the legendary Chicago mobsters maintaining offices in the building? Given the vaults on each floor, maybe 40 North Wells is where Al Capone’s secret tombs were once located.

Under the guise of an insurance company, maybe John Dillinger and his gang of renegades developed their plan here for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. With the proximity to City Hall and other government offices, it is all too easy to envision an endless number of politicians negotiating secret deals in their cavernous offices, both of the legal and illegal variety. Brilliant ideas might have been created that led to millions of dollars of profit, while others not quite as successful which may have ruined careers. Lifelong friendships may have ensued, while eternal feuds might have been developed. Lives may have been consummated, while some may have come to an end in this very building. The possibilities are truly endless.

One of the grand things about Chicago is that no matter how big or small, every building has a story to tell. The many secrets of 40 North Wells may never come out, and that is okay. Sometimes, it is more fun to leave things to the imagination. One thing I know for sure is that when my firm shows space at our newest listing, we will have no shortage of tales to pass on to prospective tenants, who will hopefully buy into the aura that is the Washington Block.

So much of Chicago’s history is centered around folklore. Tales such as Ms. O’Leary’s cow causing the Great Chicago Fire, the famed Billy Goat curse being responsible for the Cubs’ decades of futility and Al Capone’s secret vaults are cited so frequently that many have come to take these as fact. Of course, no one knows what is and is not the truth, but these anecdotes are certainly fun to share.

Personally, my favorite Chicago legend is that of the Cow Path located in the 100 West Monroe Building. To get the entire history of how this came to be, one must go back to the year 1833.

Still nearly four years away from officially being chartered as a city, Chicago consisted of a sparsely populated rural territory with approximately 350 inhabitants. Fresh off a stint as a carpenter involved in the construction of the Erie Canal, one of the region’s early settlers, Willard Jones, migrated from New York and decided to set down roots. For a mere $200, he purchased several plots of land in the area that today comprises the Central Loop business district of downtown Chicago. Willard proceeded to construct a farm and successfully operated it on this terrain for a number of years.

Chicago was incorporated as a city on March 4, 1837. As the population started to grow and early industry emerged, real estate began to gain in value as early developers looked for ways to utilize land in ways more profitable than agriculture. In response to this phenomena, Willard Jones began selling off parcels of his terrain in 1844 in the surrounding vicinity of what today encompasses Clark Street on the east, LaSalle Street on the west, Monroe Street on the south and Washington Street on the north. On this land, some of the original commercial properties in downtown Chicago were eventually erected and this ultimately planted the seeds for the birth of the Loop business district.

Willard Jones continued to operate a smaller version of his farm in the vicinity of the present day intersection of Clark and Monroe. Amidst the new developments, he needed to maintain a dedicated path for his cows to access a nearby pasture. Therefore, when he sold off these plots of land, he included in the sales deed an easement for cow access. No construction was permitted which would obstruct this “cow path” in any way. As downtown Chicago began to develop over the upcoming decades, the easement was held legally binding by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1925.

When the 22-story office tower known as 100 West Monroe was built on this landsite in 1927, architect Frank Chase had to create an 18-foot high tunnel at the base of the western end of the building, which would be more than adequate in size for cows and any other farm animals who might be strolling through the Loop at any given moment.

In 1937, to celebrate this unique attribute, Mayor Edward Kelly affixed a plaque on this portion of the building which read as follows: “Historic Cow Path: This areaway 10 x 177 x 18 feet is reserved forever as a cow path by the terms of the deed of Willard Jones in 1844, when he sold portions of the surrounding property. Erected by Chicago’s Charter Jubilee and Authenticated by the Chicago Historical Society, 1937.”

While the plaque is long gone and unaccounted for, this unique bit of Chicago history still exists today. However, in 1969 when the Two First National Plaza Building was erected at 20 South Clark, it blocked off the northern end of the cow path. The Chicago Historical Society and Chicago Title and Trust ruled this as being legal and no one ever challenged it in court.

I liked this tale so much that I decided to name my company after it, Willard Jones Real Estate. Given Willard’s role as one of the pioneers and founding fathers of downtown Chicago commercial real, it seemed like an appropriate tribute. Is the story really true? I will leave that for others to determine.