A NEW HOME 

 for lAA 



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MODERN 12-STORY OFFICE BUILDING PURCHASED 

 TO HOUSE EXPANDING SERVICES OF lAA AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES 



TO 124,000 ILLINOIS FARMERS t 



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A CHICAGO office building has been 

 purchased for cash by the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association for a new 

 home. 



Known as the American Bankers 

 Building, the 12-story structure stands 

 at the corner of East Ohio Street and 

 Wabash Avenue, a few blocks north of 

 the Loop across the Chicago river. 



The purchase was approved by the 

 lAA board of directors and the voting 

 delegates representing the Farm Bureau 

 members. Delegates approved the pur- 

 chase by a unanimous vote at a special 

 meeting in Springfield, March 22. 



The building is now fully occupied 

 and is subject to leases contracted by the 

 former owners. The I A A, therefore, is 

 not expected to move into the building 

 for possibly two years. 



lAA leaders have for several years 

 discussed the advisability of the organ- 

 ization occupying a building of its own, 

 but because rentals for the present quar- 

 ters at 608 South Dearborn Street were 

 quite reasonable, very little was done 

 ibout it. 



The picture has changed, however. As 

 the war progressed, Chicago oflfice rents, 

 unrestricted by OPA price ceilings, sky- 

 rocketed and are continuing to do so. 



After some months of consideration 

 ind study, officials of the lAA reported 

 that the American Bankers Building was 



most reasonable m price and most suit- 

 able to needs of the lAA and Associated 

 Companies. The structure was built in 

 1929-30. 



The new home has 82,000 square feet 

 of rentable floor space. It has about 12 

 average-size offices on each of the 11 

 floors above the ground floor which is 

 occupied by eight shops, including a 

 restaurant. 



Except for brick on the alley side, the 

 building exterior is of Indiana limestone 

 with a granite base. 



The building is of fire- proof construc- 

 tion, and is serviced by four high-speed 

 elevators with enclosed fire-proof shafts. 

 Situated on a corner lot, it is well-lighted 

 and has a light court at the rear, above the 

 first three floors. 



The move to acquire new office quar- 

 ters also had been accentuated during the 

 past few years by the steady growth of 

 the lAA and Associated Companies. In 

 1921, the lAA leased 5050 square feet 

 of office space in the Transportation 

 Building, its present quarters. 



Twenty years later, office and storage 

 space rented by the lAA and Associated 

 Companies had increased ten fold. To- 

 day, the lAA and Associated Companies 

 occupy 56,190 square feet of office space 

 and 7,665 square feet of storage space, 

 or more than 1^ acres. Employees in 

 1920 numbered 54. Today, approxi- 



mately 425 persons are employed in the 

 Chicago offices of the lAA and Asso- 

 ciated Companies. 



The new location lies 12 blocks north 

 of the Transportation Building in a 

 business district one block off Michi- 

 gan Avenue. 



The heart of the Loop can be reached 

 in three minutes by subway from the near- 

 by Grand Avenue subway station. 



The lAA and associated companies oc- 

 cupy space on the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 

 10th, nth, 12th, 13th, I4th, 15th, l6th 

 and 23rd floors of the Transportation 

 Building. 



Illinois Farm Supply Company oc- 

 cupies most of the 15th floor except for 

 the Illinois Grain Corporation office. 

 Country Mutual Casualty Company is 

 spreading out into the I4th floor from the 

 13th floor, half of which it occupies. 



The 12th floor is held by the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association, except for in- 

 dividual offices of Illinois Agricultural 

 Auditing Association, Prairie Farms 

 Creameries, Illinois Farm_ Bureau Serum 

 Company, and Illinois Wool Marketing 

 Company. 



Country Life Insurance Company takes 

 all of the nth floor and one-third of 

 the 10th floor is taken over by the Coun- 

 try Mutual Fire Company. Prairie Farms 

 Creameries laboratory is on the 8th floor 

 The rest of the space is used for storage. 



APRIL. 1946 



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