The new owner of the Beidelman building in downtown Naperville is seeking retail and restaurant tenants and will restore the second- and third-floor windows as part of the improvements being planned.
Ellsworth Partners closed on the $3.75 million purchase of the 17,750-square-foot property at 235-239 S. Washington St. in mid-May, according to Matt Calvo, co-founder and partner with the commercial real estate firm.
“We are definitely pumped about it,” Calvo said. “This is definitely kind of the crown jewel of our portfolio now so we’re super excited about it. We’re Naperville people so we want to see uses go in there that the community is going to applaud us for.”
Calvo and his father, Jim, started their company 10 years ago. They’re primarily focused on long-term ownership of multi-tenant office properties, such as those at 552 S. Washington St. and 1891 Bay Scott Circle in Naperville, and also oversee property leasing and management for other building owners, he said.
“I’ve lived here basically my whole life,” Calvo said. “… I live here now with my wife and two kids, so we really like Naperville and we keep an eye on any commercial property that becomes available in Naperville. So when (the Beidelman buiding) came up for sale, we were obviously very familiar with it and we acted quickly, because we did not want to let this one, you know, pass us by.”
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The Beidelman family announced in April that their building at Washington Street and Jackson Avenue was being sold and they were closing their furniture business after 165 years. At the time, co-owner Lana Heitmanek said multiple factors contributed to the decision, including the ages of family members and increasing competition from online shopping outlets.
Calvo said his company is focusing on retail and restaurant tenants to occupy the three-story building, and they are not currently considering any residential uses. Who occupies the space depends to a certain extent on who expresses an interest in it, he said.
“As far as who might move in there next, we’re as curious as anybody else at this point,” he said. “We’re starting to have some preliminary discussions with interested parties, but we’re interested to see who ends up stepping up here.”
All three floors of the building at 239 S. Washington St. are likely to be used for retail businesses or restaurants, with a possibility that offices may occupy the third floor. Standard Goods, which currently rents space at 235 S. Washington St., will remain in its current location.
Retail use is also planned for a workshop located between JoJo’s Shake Bar and the Beidelman building. That space, where the famed furniture company Kroehler Manufacturing Co. got its start, used to be part of the original wooden Beidelman Furniture store before it was replaced by the brick building.
While Ellsworth properties have been used for offices up until now, Calvo said his father has experience working with retail tenants. He was a preferred developer for Walgreens drugstores in the Chicago area from the early- to late-2000s, developing about 20 Walgreens locations.
The company plans on making improvements to the building and is currently in the process of hiring an architect to help with that work, he said.
The 239 S. Washington St. property and the workshop space facing Jackson Avenue were designated in 2024 as city landmarks, which mean that any exterior changes on the street-facing facades must be in keeping with its original history.
“We do intend to reinstall the windows to provide some natural light up on the second- and third-floor,” Calvo said of the openings previously bricked-over by then-owner Owen Beidelman.
“We haven’t talked to the (city’s) Historic Preservation (Commission) yet … but we don’t expect to have too many issues there because we don’t want to do anything too crazy there. We’re going to respect the original intent with whatever we design.”
The company intends to pursue state and federal historic tax credits for any qualified rehabilitation expenditures, including the reinstallation of the windows, he said. They will also seek applicable real estate tax benefits through DuPage County.
Other planned improvements include “general refurbishing of the mechanicals,” including work on HVAC units and adding fire suppression, Calvo said. Plumbing work will also be necessary because there are no restrooms on the second and third floors.
Any additional interior work, such as painting and flooring, will largely depend on the tenants that move into the space, he said.
At the very least, they will likely be expending at least $1.5 million to “update the mechanicals and (just) get it to a vanilla box,” he said. That number could increase depending on the deals the company secures with new tenants, Calvo said.