John Marshall Expands, Plans New Entrance

CHICAGO-The John Marshall Law School in the South Loop recently announced plans to expand by 50,000 square feet. The additions include the recently-purchased 38,000-square-foot retail and office property adjacent to the school on Jackson, and a new $6 million new entrance in place of a current Walgreens store on State Street.  

The three-story 19 W. Jackson property, which is anchored by the Dollar Daze Store, is between buildings already owned by the law school. John Corkery, dean of the school, tells GlobeSt.com that the tenants will remain until their leases expire.

The new space joins nine floors of faculty office space the school bought 15 years ago at 321 S. Plymouth Ct., as well as the main campus at 315 S. Plymouth and Fair Housing Clinic space at 55 W. Jackson. The entire campus is about 255,000 square feet. “It’s taken us awhile to fill up the 321 building, we still have some space there. This new purchase gives us space to expand to in the future,” Corkery says.

Until then, the school will focus on a new entrance on 304 S. State St., replacing the Walgreens in space John Marshall owns. Construction will begin in April to remove the drugstore, and the entryway should be complete in 2012. The project includes $2 million for a new lobby, $1.5 million for a new student commons and $1 million for a bookstore and student lounge. The new entryway will open up the 111-year-old law school to pedestrian traffic, Corkery says.

The school had considered construction of a new building , or moving to another area of the city, he says. “We investigated, and projected what the costs might be. However, we started right about the time of the economic downturn, and we realized those plans would be a pretty big stretch to undertake. Then this opportunity presented itself,” Corkery says.

With 1,600 students, the school is one of the vibrant suppliers of the residents and customers for local condo, apartment and retail stores, and joins a few downtown colleges that help fuel activity in the downtown. A few of the other downtown colleges, including Columbia, DePaul and Roosevelt, also have expansion plans.