Brokers on both sides of the table say current conditions was a factor in the long-term planning and a decision made nearly 10 years in advance. "It was based upon the rental rate we were able to negotiate and the fact that they're a good-credit tenant who has expanded four times in the last four years," says Tom Garrity of Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based Anvan Midwest Realty, who represented property owner 1 Congress Center LLC along with Tom Sloan.

Lease rates at 401 S. State St. range from $14 per sf to $16 per sf net, Garrity tells GlobeSt.com, but a confidentiality agreement with the school prevents him from revealing how much Robert Morris College will pay.

The deal gives Robert Morris College the right to expand further, according to Julien J. Studley, Inc., which represented the private school that staked out a position in the city's "education district" in 1998, two years after State Street was reopened to traffic. The area is home to institutions of higher learning such as Columbia College, DePaul University, Roosevelt University as well as the Art Institute's school.