Allstate In Agreement To Sell Chicago-Area Campus For $232M

The sale to Dermody Properties, a Nevada-based industrial developer that specializes in e-commerce and logistics sites, encompasses the majority of the sprawling campus along I-294 in an unincorporated area of the northern suburb. The transaction is expected to close next year.

“Allstate is selling the property as employees have more choice about where they work and many are choosing to work from home,” the company said in a news release.

Dermody did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Allstate has been a Northbrook corporate fixture since 1967, when it moved its offices from Skokie to a six-building complex on a 122-acre campus. The company said it plans to keep a “significant presence” in the Chicago area, including its existing Chicago office space at River Point and the Merchandise Mart.

The sale to Dermody is for 232 acres in unincorporated Cook County, including the original headquarters and adjacent property acquired by Allstate.

Northbrook will remain Allstate’s corporate headquarters “for now” and the company will “move out gradually over the coming months,” the company said in an email.

The sale of Allstate’s headquarters comes as more major employers push back a return to the office until 2022 amid the ongoing pandemic, with many adopting a hybrid approach that will include work-from-home as a long-term option. In its 2020 annual report, Allstate said 95% of its employees were working remotely “while maintaining internal controls and productivity” throughout the year.

Beyond real estate, the company is also shedding its life insurance and annuity businesses as it focuses on auto and homeowners insurance products. Life insurance sales have been declining at Allstate since 2018 and annuity sales were discontinued in 2014.

In June, Allstate agreed to buy low-cost auto insurance provider SafeAuto for $300 million, expanding its state-minimum auto coverage offerings.

Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Allstate remains one of the nation’s largest publicly held personal insurers.

Allstate had 7,892 employees in Illinois and more than 44,000 across the U.S. as of October, according to its website.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

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