Cool. I've always meant to take a photo of this building. Now I have more reason to - I think this is a great idea.
Green light goes on at old Cooper lamp factory | Crain's Chicago Business : A Chicago real estate developer aims to turn the former Frederick Cooper Lamp Co. factory in Logan Square into a green Merchandise Mart, with showrooms featuring eco-friendly products and services.(H/T)
After churning out lamps for 35 years, the 250,000-square-foot building alongside the Kennedy Expressway would become the Green Exchange, housing a building supply business, a furniture maker, a printing company and other environmentally conscious businesses, says developer David Baum, who bought the property with his brother Douglas last year. The companies will have greater marketing power under one roof than they would apart, he says.
“If you're a customer that wants to buy paint that has no toxins, you may also have interest in using a green architect and investing in a socially responsible mutual fund,” David Baum says. “I think we're hitting a tipping point in environmentalism and it's becoming mainstream.” ... He says he won't seek city subsidies for the project. Several businesses have signed non-binding “letters of interest” to lease space in the building, including Consolidated Printing Co., which uses an environmentally sustainable printing process, and Greenmaker Supply, which sells eco-friendly building supplies.
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