Omni Celebrates Milestone with New HQ in Bronzeville
Despite the hardships that 2020 brought, Omni Ecosystems is grateful to have celebrated a significant company milestone with the relocation of our corporate headquarters. We are honored to plant our roots on Chicago’s South Side and call the vibrant community of Bronzeville our home for years to come.
How We Got Here
After experiencing rapid growth at our former headquarters in the West Loop, Omni sought a space that would accommodate this growth while meeting the dynamic needs of our multidisciplinary team, ultimately allowing us to fulfill our mission with a community-driven focus.
The industrial structure located at 4131 S State Street in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, which originally housed the historic Bowman Dairy Company bottling factory, was a perfect fit. The unique adaptive reuse includes:
Warehouse and yard space for Omni Construction and Omni Stewardship;
A research and development laboratories for Omni Innovation;
An inspiring design studio for our landscape architecture team, Omni Workshop;
An enormous flat roof for an advanced Omni Green Roof installation showcasing Omni Products;
Innovative green technology highlighted both inside and outside the building; and
Collaborative spaces, which are at the core of our interdisciplinary office-wide work and community-based engagement.
In July 2019, Omni’s CEO purchased the entire 2.5-acre block on S State St, which consists of 65,000 SF of connected buildings, ½-acre of yard space with loading docks, and 1-acre of contaminated vacant land. The City approved building permits in October of that year, and demolition started in November and construction commenced soon thereafter in December 2019. Every member of Omni’s staff was involved in the design process, from architecture and construction, to interiors and landscape architecture. Construction continued through the pandemic until Occupancy permits were issued in Summer 2020, when we officially moved into the building.
What We’ve Been Up To
Omni intentionally relocated its headquarters in an effort to help reverse the historic levels of disinvestment and decades of neglect experienced by the greater Bronzeville community.
We are currently introducing ourselves to the community by meeting and supporting our new neighborhood in various ways, including:
Hiring local talent for the HQ renovation and for ongoing facilities management, and for Omni staff positions;
Holding socially distanced building tours with local leaders and community groups;
Providing space for other community-centric tenants to join Omni at 4131 S State St building;
Providing space for a community nonprofit to distribute free food and toys to the community;
Providing free floral bouquets from our rooftop harvests to area elder care and hospice groups;
Making philanthropic donations to vital Bronzeville and other South Side nonprofit organizations; and
Completing additional outreach efforts.
Atop our new headquarters is an 11,000 SF green roof with flexible four-season showcase space. Diverse and verdant plants and 32 adult trees live in the roof’s conifer and birch woodland grove, maple stand, manicured lawn, secret garden with apple trees and rose bushes, and expansive wildflower meadow. In addition to its aesthetic beauty and stormwater benefit, the green roof is a place for experimentation, innovation, and urban agriculture. Its first crop was a mix of meadow flowers, buckwheat, and sugar beets, which was harvested by Omni staff. The flowers were donated to local businesses and organizations, and the buckwheat and beet harvest will be distilled into alcohol to make hand sanitizer.
Where We’re Headed
Our master plan for the site includes converting the 1-acre contaminated vacant lot into publicly accessible open space with an immersive nature preserve. Over 150 trees will be planted on the 2.5 acre property, and Omni will continue to find opportunities to involve the local community in our work and to support them in their varied efforts and initiatives.
Although Omni staff continues to work remotely as of January 2021, we are still hosting socially distanced building tours of our new space, with masks required. If you are interested in setting up a building tour, email info@omniecosystems.com.
