Construction on Evanston Labs, the city’s new high-rise office and lab complex dedicated to advancing life sciences research, has officially wrapped — and could signal a pivotal post-pandemic juncture for downtown.
With a grand opening slated for summer or early fall, the building promises to bolster the life science sector’s fledgling presence on the North Shore.
The building’s developer, Trammell Crow Company, announced in November that the space had secured its first tenant: COUR Pharmaceuticals. A former Northwestern startup, COUR will occupy the eighth and ninth floors of the building by the end of 2025.
“As COUR Pharmaceuticals continues to hit incredible milestones, Evanston Labs will provide a state-of-the-art space to support its rapid growth and enhance its ability to innovate and develop groundbreaking therapies,” Morgan Baer Blaska, vice president for the developer’s Midwest office, said in a statement to The Daily.
Downtown Evanston Executive Director Andy Vick said the addition of new office space is critical in addressing the losses faced by local businesses since 2020.
“Office workers are consumers of lunch, so having more office workers downtown has a direct correlation to how many people are around to eat in our restaurants and also shop retail and use our services,” Vick said.
The need for such spaces has become especially clear in the wake of the pandemic. Just a few blocks away from Evanston Labs’ 710 Clark St. location, Edzo’s Burger Shop recently shuttered its doors, with its former owner citing the lack of office workers in town as a “gaping hole” in his customer base.
Vick described the effort to fill office space as “challenging,” but noted that the problem was not unique to Evanston.
“Probably as leases come up in this post-COVID world, businesses are not needing as much office space, so I think that’s going to be a real challenge to get those office spaces filled,” Vick said.
He added that bioscience companies like COUR are an exciting exception to this trend, as the nature of their research requires employees to be physically present in the lab.
Baer Blaska touted Evanston’s vibrant business scene on Sherman Avenue and beyond as a key reason for the building’s appeal to prospective tenants.
“Evanston has the amenities of a big city, including nearly 100 eateries, boutiques, and established retailers within a 10-minute walk,” Baer Blaska said in an email to the Daily.
Earlier reports indicated that Etta, an Italian and wood-fired pizza restaurant, would lease the building’s ground-floor retail space. However, following the company’s bankruptcy filing in February 2024, other dining concepts are now being evaluated for the space.
Although Trammell Crow has not yet announced additional lab tenants, Baer Blaska added that the facility’s strong leasing momentum reflects how many companies view proximity to NU’s campus as a strategic advantage for their research.
COUR was originally founded at NU in 2013 as part of the work by Dr. Lonnie Shea and Dr. Stephen Miller, who were professors in the McCormick School of Engineering and Feinberg School of Medicine, respectively.
Miller, now a professor emeritus at Feinberg and an advisor with COUR, said one of the company’s greatest accomplishments has been its successful clinical trial related to celiac disease. COUR continues to help fund Miller’s lab and recently submitted a new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration at the end of 2024.
“Now that COUR is going to have lab space closer to the University, I would think there would be room for some students to do some training there,” Miller said.
Email: audreypachuta2027@u.northwestern.edu
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