i m shamed as a human...... Projects like this destroy the world. USA sucks. Best wishes from Germany. No hate you see the true. Only politicians and the industry sucks
Just think of all the $ they are saving not having to have that HUUUGE building? LOL... Plus think about all the BORING meetings held in that auditorium :D
it was weird when they closed the HE office (ages ago.) it was there for ages! i fucking hated working at allstate. i could have been dead in my chair for two weeks before someone noticed
I enjoyed this. I worked for Allstate In PA and AZ for 27 years and was only there in Northbrook once as a trainee back in 1990. Some thoughts: Yes the size is immense. But remember, this building was built in 1967. Allstate was still owned by Sears which was still a mammoth of a business. Sears poured a ton of money into this probably. Although really large I would say this place was far from opulent. Visit a Google campus sometime. Part of the size of this place is due to paper. There were no computers or very few. Everything was on paper and had to be stored and filed. Large desk space was needed (no cubicles with a laptop). A woman I worked with in Arizona was from Allstate Northbrook and she told me a story about a very elaborate and ornate bar on the 8th floor for executives. She said that it was unreal and extreme expensive. This was back in the 70's though and times were different. The bar was long gone by the 90s when Jerry Choate and Tom Wilson came in. No doubt that parking garage was exclusive for executives. Very interesting to me as elevators took them from undergound to 8th floor without them having to interact with the home office peasants. I had no idea that there was an in house pharmacy. That's crazy. The "Little Hands" building was a daycare. I remember Home Office being really proud of it by sending company wide emails about it....and all of us in the field hating Home Office even more because of the perks that no one else in the company got. Anyway, I really enjoyed this vid. Well done and thanks.
For those that don't know or aren't "local" - this is all gone now. They're already starting on the new warehouses. I agree with most that repurposing alot of it would've been nice, but yhe unfortunate truth is that post-pandemic - its just easier to have employees work from home. Add to the fact that there are soooo many people now shopping on the internet, that warehousing is needed so much. I personally do very little shopping on line (especially for clothes/shoes) but then again, Ive always been a "brick & mortar" type shopper - I want to hold it, see if it fits, see the quality, etc... first hand.
I used to stay at the Hilton in Northbrook down the street for work and people don't realize how massive this building is/was. It got so busy when the Allstate employee's shift ended that a police man was propped there daily to control traffic on Sanders and Allstate Parkway. The Hilton is beautiful BTW with the breakfast/eating area facing the Des Plaines river.
Shopping online? Sure... that's a small part of the warehouse boom... but it is the data storage and AI infrastructure that's the real culprit. Most of these new warehouses are filled with servers. Sucking electricity and creating massive amounts of heat.
I really enjoy the walk walk-through, as it gives to fond memories. This is remarkably humbling. I spent 30 years in corporate America, and have now been working from home for the last four or five. While the shift in paradigm has been nice; not having to deal with the pre-dawn commutes, it is still bitter sweet. I miss coming into the office and working directly with people. I miss a sense of belonging. I have spent more than a third of my life inside one of this office buildings, and I am sad to see those days gone.
I was fortunate enough to work from home for about 3 years prior to Covid. It's something I had been advocating for for many years after I got a taste of it in my mid 20's. I was stunned by how much more productive I was without all the interruptions. The improvement in my quality of life from not having to spend 4 hours per day getting ready, commuting, and being stuck for an extra hour at lunch was life changing. It was an extra 20 hours per week I could spend with my family! I was hoping that the one good thing that would come out of Covid would be that companies would realize how much happier and productive their employees were and that between the improved employee morale and the enormous cost savings, they would no longer force employees into the office. The cost savings associated with no longer needing to lease/rent/purchase and furnish and pay the utilities for these corporate offices is enough to pay everyone a living wage! Or put fat bonuses in some executives pockets. Alas, there still seems to be quite a lot of boomer mentality in the corporate world so one by one, so many corporations are forcing people back into the office. I'm not completely against it for everyone. I understand that some folks thrive in the corporate office environment. But many of us find it downright depressing. It can suck the life right out of you. People should have a choice. There could be smaller offices for those few who prefer going in, and for meetings. That would be a win-win because they would still save an enormous amount of money using a smaller space, and employees would be happy because they would have a choice. I've decided that after 25-ish years in corporate offices, I would rather be homeless than ever have to go back. I pray every day that I can continue to work from home until I retire, which will likely be when I am 80 since it took 30 years to pay off my student loans as a single mom. Working from home for the last 6 years has been such a blessing. Not just for my mental health and wellbeing, but also for my daughter who barely got to see me the first 9 years of her life.
@@LilyBecca I see both sides of the argument and I agree with you. Workers should have a choice. As an aside, that "boomer mentality" remark was a little unnecessarily scathing. There's a lot of negative things that could be said about every generation, because at the end of the day, people are just people.
Chicago has some of the coolest architecture in the world. An amazing building that definitely should be repurposed vs demolished. My favorite was the silver, spiral staircase! Thanks, guys! The tour was very interesting 🎉
Sounds like the Sears family tree. The state subsidized them to move in to Hoffman Estates in the 90s, that development was never finished before the major layoffs started in the EARLY 2000s, and soon that will all be demolished too. Now ironically that Chinese front Gotion is looking at the ex Kmart warehouse in Manteno, more subsidies of course.
This is one of the ugliest corporate buildings ever. You should go into the world and see how more companies operate. This is about the worst design I’ve ever seen. Disjointed, a maze, no cohesion and boxed separate areas. Not a collaborative environment. It promotes islands and separation. No wonder Allstate is a failure.
@@muzaaaaak ohh a lot of companies are corrupted and living if making a better world, but and even though I’ve been jntot he world sicne my preteen years BUT I’d believe in repurposing building and making a companies for. Serious poeple with their values and values of centuries before,to now and to come and even to altering internal arcecture + external solar and wind farms etc too and I’d pay myself lasts ith smallest amount while employees get the first and biggest amount, a long shot but a free speech means of hope
does it really amaze you? What exactly was the point of going in to this office everyday? What if anything do you think is lost by simply having meetings on Zoom? (technology like Zoom was available in the mid 2000's mind you, they just didn't use it till the 2020's). I can think of a few things lost without face to face human interactions but not a ton.
Is Allstate building sky scrapers? Building road ways? Is Allstate constructing ANYTHING? Didn't think so... So please explain to me your amazement that insurance requires in office attendance....
@@I_Am_Your_Problem working for any large company , you learn a lot from those around you. Especially in old legacy systems. Those new to the company working remote are really at a educational dis advantage. The property was sold and is being turned into logistics campus. A couple warehouses are already built …
This is an amazing video that you had. I would’ve given anything to be with you as security. I worked at that building for eight years and knew every corner of that building from top to bottom right to left. I even knew about a tunnel that most people didn’t know that went from C building to Willow building. I would’ve given anything to be able to walk with you guys through that building one more time before to document everything. The way you guys did I would’ve shown you some really cool shots.
@@dronepro7316 I installed cameras and card access for another company, but I work there almost every day installing stuff for eight years I was working for a third-party security company
@@dodge33445 at the cost of literal millions to get it up to code requires so much money to modify the building heavily that in most cases its not worth the squeeze
Correct. 2' X 2' squares, with a rubber backing equivalent of a car tire. Costs about $30.00 a piece. High quality glue, laid down in a grid pattern, as opposed to a full float/coverage, to make them removable. Used to be a place in La Grange Georgia (Intec, I think) that made them. Almost definitely gone/farmed out to China, Vietnam, Korea, I'd bet.
So much of that headquarters can be recycled and repurposed. It's really a shame that it's going to be demolished and trashed. A lot of the remaining items are high-quality commercial grade.
A friend's dad was their Head Groundskeeper , he'd told us they kept the ponds on the property stocked with fish for some of the execs and we would sneak in and try to catch a few bass and bluegills late on weekend nights.
Allstate did something similar ~ 8-10 years to their big building out in South Barrington. It was cheaper to demolish it and leave it barren than to continue to pay maintenance and real estate taxes.
I drive by that every day and always wondered how it looked inside. I watched that whole demolition and it was sad to see. Lived around the area for 30+ yrs and always saw that.
@@hotshower695 Think of it like any other elevator. As long as they are in good condition and are maintained properly, then it would be rare for someone to get stuck in an elevator. As for the elevators in the building that they were in, since the buildings weren't abandoned for very long, the elevators look like they're in pretty good condition, so I don't think it would be very likely for someone to get stuck in one of them. BUT, if someone DOES just-so-happen to get stuck in one of them, then all you have to do is use the emergency phone, and if that doesn't work for some reason, then just call 911.
When I worked in building H in the early 80's there was beautiful woodwork everywhere and in the basement a massive battery room that was loud AF, louder than that power room in the video. The spiral staircase if thats the one I remember used to be all expensive darkwood. The lunchroom was insane (for 1983 anyway) and the habitrail between buildings hadn't been built yet. Worst company I ever worked for, RIP massive complex.
How sad it's such a waste. They put down carpet square down in large spaces for 2 reasons, their easy to replace if something gets spilled on them or they wear out. Also it's hard to piece and match large rolls of carpeting
I worked here a couple times over the years as an IT contractor and live close by. This is all completely gone now, replaced by large warehouses. Allstate still has an office building across the street they use that is newer and a lot smaller. Last I heard all IT works remote now. I work remote also but for a different insurance company.
It would make a great habitat for the asylum seekers! Maybe, just thinking outside the box, we could make it a call center and move those Indian jobs back to the ‘ol US!
This was in Northbrook IL. I passed by this building every day along I-294. Seen construction equipment slowly chip away into just rubble. I always wondered what that long hallway above the parking lot looked like from inside lol. Now it’s completely gone, you can’t tell this building even existed there. Now there’s giant hideous buildings for logistics. Must be terrible for the locals living nearby, having to have more truck traffic. Good things it’s just right off 294. At 12:51 , they had these classic cars parked inside there for show, you can just barely see them from I-294, there was only like 2-3 cars.
The Water Softener is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as everything you walked through to get to it. Hell, those hood vents you passed under cost tens of thousands of dollars each. That kitchen along had hundreds of thousands of dollars put into it, not even including the cost of the building itself.
Insurance just prints money. I think most big companies like this find it more cost-effective to sell the lot than the building or build a new building. I do see that building costs them a lot to operate, and just having people work from home saves a lot of money. most people would rather work from home, and it opens up a lot of jobs to people who can't move to a big city or want to.
It's completely gone now...a RUclips drone channel has the footage. Seems like none of the abandoned explorers ever managed to capture the executive rooms, boardrooms.
Oh, the building by I-294 on Willow Rd exit. It's already gone unfortunately. My cousin had some coaching/training there in 2019 for All State, he was becoming an agent for them. He flew all the way from Atlanta and I live like 15 minutes from this site so we took him to our house instead of the hotel they booked for him lol. It was such a monstrosity, huge complex. I always looked at it while I was driving home from work or when I was driving to work and thought to myself that it was such a waste to leave this building empty. Well, what they build now is worse than that imo. There's already one warehouse, or even too in that place as I still enter highway on Willow Rd sometimes. What I know being in the trucking industry - these warehouses are gonna be empty for a long time! It didn't make much sense to do that but I'm not the one to decide after all. There's another warehouse that was built recently, I believe they finished it last year, up on the Lake Cook Rd exit and it's still empty to this day. They also demolished a huge office complex, not as big as this one but also rather large. This trend of bulldozing the buldings and building warehouses in that space should end, it doesn't bring any good to surrounding areas...
Thanks for this chronicle. Many years ago I worked for an armored car co. and my route included several deposit pick-ups throughout this Willow Road complex of offices. I recall being so impressed by the landscape, the details, the sheer size of it. Cant imagine the poor decision making which couldn't repurpose this sprawling complex.
I was also thinking this. The amount of waste in our country is staggering. No wonder, we feel as though we are in steep decline. Threw all our hard work and resources away on projects that have only 50 year lifespans. Seems so unappreciative.
When you wonder why your insurance premiums are so high... just watch this video. As if they need that kind of opulence paid for by the hardworking people that pay their hefty premiums. What a disgrace.
Don't ever think insurance companies are not getting rich off us... now that they don't have to build and maintain buildings like this they will get even more rich... they certainly are not going to offer us cheaper insurance now that their costs have gone down.
At the 37:00 mark the lower right corner of the white board is a map of the buildings on the Allstate property. They were named letters of the alphabet. The zigzag line was an enclosed elevated walkway across the parking lot between the two clusters of buildings. “294” is the Interstate bordering the east side of the property. (I worked there for 9 years in the late 90’s early 2000’s.)
I’m an interior architect. This is a nice building! Not many nice buildings are left in the US. Many people would love to work in nice buildings. I work in a remote office and id rather work in this! Well built, except for the leaks. What a waste!
Wen I was a kid my mom worked there , I went to a car show they held in that very garage they had many classic cars of the 30s I think I still have the show catalog
I worked here for about 6 years. It was a fantastic place to work. It's so sad to see the main lobby in particular like that, it was gorgeous. Really sad to see it like this.
The plug in the ground in the see through office wasn’t for statues but for electricity for computers. Also telecom equipment. Probably a conference room.
to answer your question on the square tiles, its beause they're easy to replace. Someone is bound to drop something, drink, food, damage etc. The ease of replacing is why they do tiles
There’s an abandon steel mill here in Denver about 3.5 miles from my house I’ve been wanting to check out. I found out about it several years ago, I used to do ride share and took a guy that worked for the company that owns the building now verified it’s still empty.
Allstate also had a building across from this one on Sanders Road. Much smaller, more modern/glass building. Should see what's there if they left that one too.
Running gas water & electrical plus dividing it up wouldn't make much economic sense especially with the ceiling height x sq footage it'd be simply unfeasible for the average person to afford would have obvious design flaws & not worth the investment.
There are too many reasons to get into here. The list would scroll off the screen. Commercial never makes good residential except in fringe cases like hipster industrial lofts and such.
Insane that places like this can be torn down. The millions and millions put into this. Literally a fully functional building. And they just tore it down and probably tossed everything.
It gets recycled. Concrete separated, crushed reused. Steel separated and recycled. They may be required to capture and remove synthetics. Glass is a problem though.
@@I_Am_Your_ProblemStill the labor involved to make and install those mechanicals is expensive…..and wasted when you demolish a building in the middle of its useful life. I guess everything is considered disposable now. Also, how much in labor to demolish and rebuild? I guess they get to write it all off, so the majority is paid by the taxpayers. Still, the amount of money being invested than discarded is shocking. How does corporate America survive with such poor planning and waste?
@@kld70 This is nothing new... so don't think you can pull this "day and age" bullshit with me. Show me how many 1920 commercial buildings are still standing...
19:11 - As an elevator enthusiast/elevator nerd, I appreciate you riding the elevator! As long as it works, I would ride it! As for the elevators at 12:43 in the video, it appears that only one of them was working, as the other 2 were flashing "OS" on the indicators, which means "out of service". So you could've possible rode that one. I would've tried pressing the call button.
You guys should use your phones to check for wifi signals before going in. If you get a signal there's a strong probability that there are live feed security cameras.
@decayingmidwest Great vid. Your vids remind me of good times. As a past explorer of the offlimits, can I offers some tips. Always carry rubber gloves, face masks, a first aid kit, something for protection & power bank for ur fone. When exploring businesses, check the handle on the other side of doors before you enter them. Some will need a key or access card to let you back through, so find or carry something on you to wedge them open so ypu don't get trapped. If there is a sign saying theres an atm, always check it out. They will always have taken/emptied the cash boxes, but cash often drops into the bottom of these machines during use (the machines aren't perfect). Twice we have found money in them. First time was $150, 2nd time was $400. So it's always worth a look. Happy Exploring 👍
Shows you how much insurance is a rip off. To be able to waste millions of dollars because the company is saving millions of dollars by shutting down facilities all over the world explains just how much money they are making.
I watch a few young ppl exploring on yt, here in the UK. And I have to admit you are more respectful to properties you explore and don't act 6 years old and not every word is a swear word.Unlike the potty mouth young ones over here. Credit to you
Fully decked out and decorated like a children’s hospital. Totally wasteful. That stainless steel spiral staircase alone probably cost a million dollars.
the “footsteps” are the echos of a thousand employees running in circles with a never quite correct spreadsheet” SHAME ON YOU for the PTSD you’ve wrought upon me.
COVID was the final nail in the coffin but they'd been emptying out the building of people for years. The land was worth more than the building. The sad part is the negative impact the loss of Allstate has had on Northbrook. On the bright side, the traffic situation is much better there.
Worked there for over 23 years, the whole campus went through a pretty extensive remodel the last few years before covid. Which is why everything looks relatively newish. Sad to see it destroyed. Oh, that tire wallpaper on the wall was when sears sold tires using the Allstate branding. 😂😂😂
Yeah. After they let a lot of call center agent work from home, the flight attendant training and network operations moved to the building over by the airport. Kinda miss going to WHQ and fishing in the pond when my dad still worked there.
Considering the business, I suspect half the people there main work product was phone calls that are monitored, you still could monitor a phone call from their home. If they are not doing the job right or not at all you have the same record of it. The size of the facility is proportional to the upkeep cost, they can have a smaller facility or move downtown. Any non-call center activity still come into work because the group environment works and there is no record of a lot of activity, why isn't this getting done because it is hard, or no one is working.
I wonder do they allow or promote salvaging as much of the items and materials used in making this building? I have seen recessed can lights that are professional grade/designer units that cost $90=140 a piece. Water coolers, fine wood paneling, imported marble and heavy duty thick glass wall units. All these things would cost a fortune if you were building this building. These items could be salvaged and sold to people who might use them in their own business or homes as accent pieces or replace similar items they have that are getting old. NO need to just run a bulldozer over it !
Wreckers know materials and do salvage if they are given the time. It can reduce the demolition cost. Depends on labor required to remove things without damage.
How long ago? Definitely not recent. I explored it at night alone and filmed it April of last year. They'd just started bringing in construction crews. No lights and more beat up. Great exploring through.
Sure WWI 116,000 WWII 405,000 DJT 1st term 1.2 million Sure keep things open. If the brilliant CEO's ever listened in school they would know how the virus spreads.
This building isn’t in good hands.
Just like their clients...
As an allstate employee this was such a waste.
i m shamed as a human...... Projects like this destroy the world. USA sucks. Best wishes from Germany. No hate you see the true. Only politicians and the industry sucks
Just think of all the $ they are saving not having to have that HUUUGE building? LOL... Plus think about all the BORING meetings held in that auditorium :D
@@dodge33445 they'd still have boring meetings, just its now on the computer
@@trashyspeeds266 True... LoL. :D
it was weird when they closed the HE office (ages ago.) it was there for ages!
i fucking hated working at allstate. i could have been dead in my chair for two weeks before someone noticed
I enjoyed this.
I worked for Allstate In PA and AZ for 27 years and was only there in Northbrook once as a trainee back in 1990.
Some thoughts:
Yes the size is immense. But remember, this building was built in 1967. Allstate was still owned by Sears which was still a mammoth of a business. Sears poured a ton of money into this probably. Although really large I would say this place was far from opulent.
Visit a Google campus sometime.
Part of the size of this place is due to paper. There were no computers or very few. Everything was on paper and had to be stored and filed. Large desk space was needed (no cubicles with a laptop).
A woman I worked with in Arizona was from Allstate Northbrook and she told me a story about a very elaborate and ornate bar on the 8th floor for executives. She said that it was unreal and extreme expensive. This was back in the 70's though and times were different.
The bar was long gone by the 90s when Jerry Choate and Tom Wilson came in.
No doubt that parking garage was exclusive for executives. Very interesting to me as elevators took them from undergound to 8th floor without them having to interact with the home office peasants.
I had no idea that there was an in house pharmacy. That's crazy.
The "Little Hands" building was a daycare. I remember Home Office being really proud of it by sending company wide emails about it....and all of us in the field hating Home Office even more because of the perks that no one else in the company got.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this vid. Well done and thanks.
Thank you for the background information. Very interesting stuff.💯
It's a prime example why everything costs so much. Wasteful corporations that pass the buck onto the consumer and never taking responsibility.
Of course they need a reason to charge us more
@@robertsmith4150 truest words spoken
Beancounters… they only care about quarterly returns… not the business, employees or customers.
For those that don't know or aren't "local" - this is all gone now. They're already starting on the new warehouses.
I agree with most that repurposing alot of it would've been nice, but yhe unfortunate truth is that post-pandemic - its just easier to have employees work from home. Add to the fact that there are soooo many people now shopping on the internet, that warehousing is needed so much. I personally do very little shopping on line (especially for clothes/shoes) but then again, Ive always been a "brick & mortar" type shopper - I want to hold it, see if it fits, see the quality, etc... first hand.
I used to stay at the Hilton in Northbrook down the street for work and people don't realize how massive this building is/was. It got so busy when the Allstate employee's shift ended that a police man was propped there daily to control traffic on Sanders and Allstate Parkway. The Hilton is beautiful BTW with the breakfast/eating area facing the Des Plaines river.
Shopping online? Sure... that's a small part of the warehouse boom... but it is the data storage and AI infrastructure that's the real culprit. Most of these new warehouses are filled with servers. Sucking electricity and creating massive amounts of heat.
@@bl4558 Ahhhh ha! Now we know what's *really* responsible for global warming! I'm not kidding!
I really enjoy the walk walk-through, as it gives to fond memories. This is remarkably humbling. I spent 30 years in corporate America, and have now been working from home for the last four or five. While the shift in paradigm has been nice; not having to deal with the pre-dawn commutes, it is still bitter sweet. I miss coming into the office and working directly with people. I miss a sense of belonging. I have spent more than a third of my life inside one of this office buildings, and I am sad to see those days gone.
I was fortunate enough to work from home for about 3 years prior to Covid. It's something I had been advocating for for many years after I got a taste of it in my mid 20's. I was stunned by how much more productive I was without all the interruptions. The improvement in my quality of life from not having to spend 4 hours per day getting ready, commuting, and being stuck for an extra hour at lunch was life changing. It was an extra 20 hours per week I could spend with my family! I was hoping that the one good thing that would come out of Covid would be that companies would realize how much happier and productive their employees were and that between the improved employee morale and the enormous cost savings, they would no longer force employees into the office. The cost savings associated with no longer needing to lease/rent/purchase and furnish and pay the utilities for these corporate offices is enough to pay everyone a living wage! Or put fat bonuses in some executives pockets. Alas, there still seems to be quite a lot of boomer mentality in the corporate world so one by one, so many corporations are forcing people back into the office.
I'm not completely against it for everyone. I understand that some folks thrive in the corporate office environment. But many of us find it downright depressing. It can suck the life right out of you. People should have a choice. There could be smaller offices for those few who prefer going in, and for meetings. That would be a win-win because they would still save an enormous amount of money using a smaller space, and employees would be happy because they would have a choice. I've decided that after 25-ish years in corporate offices, I would rather be homeless than ever have to go back. I pray every day that I can continue to work from home until I retire, which will likely be when I am 80 since it took 30 years to pay off my student loans as a single mom. Working from home for the last 6 years has been such a blessing. Not just for my mental health and wellbeing, but also for my daughter who barely got to see me the first 9 years of her life.
@@LilyBecca I see both sides of the argument and I agree with you. Workers should have a choice.
As an aside, that "boomer mentality" remark was a little unnecessarily scathing. There's a lot of negative things that could be said about every generation, because at the end of the day, people are just people.
Those things you miss were directly targeted during covid and the aim was to isolate people and it worked fantastically.
Drive by there all the time on 294- boy that thing came down fast!
yeah drove by it and they had a wrecking ball on a crane just taking the tall part down vertically, bit by bit, eating it away from the side.
Chicago has some of the coolest architecture in the world. An amazing building that definitely should be repurposed vs demolished. My favorite was the silver, spiral staircase! Thanks, guys! The tour was very interesting 🎉
Sounds like the Sears family tree. The state subsidized them to move in to Hoffman Estates in the 90s, that development was never finished before the major layoffs started in the EARLY 2000s, and soon that will all be demolished too. Now ironically that Chinese front Gotion is looking at the ex Kmart warehouse in Manteno, more subsidies of course.
@@franken-pattern I agree even as repurposment has more advantages and overall good point you made!!
This is one of the ugliest corporate buildings ever. You should go into the world and see how more companies operate. This is about the worst design I’ve ever seen. Disjointed, a maze, no cohesion and boxed separate areas. Not a collaborative environment. It promotes islands and separation. No wonder Allstate is a failure.
@@muzaaaaak ohh a lot of companies are corrupted and living if making a better world, but and even though I’ve been jntot he world sicne my preteen years BUT I’d believe in repurposing building and making a companies for. Serious poeple with their values and values of centuries before,to now and to come and even to altering internal arcecture + external solar and wind farms etc too and I’d pay myself lasts ith smallest amount while employees get the first and biggest amount, a long shot but a free speech means of hope
@@mikeohawk95 can i get that in english? i am lost with your post above.
Awesome explore my friend! This was definitely one of the all time largest buildings i think weve been to!
Was a great vid! As a buissness owner, definetly need those blueprints for when i get big in the future lol
worked there for 14 yrs - sad to see it disappear . How the business still operates with 100% from home amazes me
does it really amaze you? What exactly was the point of going in to this office everyday? What if anything do you think is lost by simply having meetings on Zoom? (technology like Zoom was available in the mid 2000's mind you, they just didn't use it till the 2020's).
I can think of a few things lost without face to face human interactions but not a ton.
Is Allstate building sky scrapers? Building road ways? Is Allstate constructing ANYTHING? Didn't think so... So please explain to me your amazement that insurance requires in office attendance....
@@I_Am_Your_Problem working for any large company , you learn a lot from those around you. Especially in old legacy systems. Those new to the company working remote are really at a educational dis advantage. The property was sold and is being turned into logistics campus. A couple warehouses are already built …
This place is so nice! I drove past it so often and wondered what it looked like inside! It’s gone now though. Thanks guys!
This is an amazing video that you had. I would’ve given anything to be with you as security. I worked at that building for eight years and knew every corner of that building from top to bottom right to left. I even knew about a tunnel that most people didn’t know that went from C building to Willow building. I would’ve given anything to be able to walk with you guys through that building one more time before to document everything. The way you guys did I would’ve shown you some really cool shots.
@@ccroson7935 what was your role at Allstate?
@@dronepro7316 I installed cameras and card access for another company, but I work there almost every day installing stuff for eight years I was working for a third-party security company
It's a crying shame that they are going to tear this big building down 😔
They should turn it into affordable living!!
@@dodge33445 you definitely got that right @dodge33445👍✌️
LMAO....YEAH 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@his_tory_debunk5338 I wanna ride around it with a fast E scooter !
@@dodge33445 at the cost of literal millions to get it up to code requires so much money to modify the building heavily that in most cases its not worth the squeeze
Carpet tiles are used because if one tile is stained or damaged it can be replaced easily.
Correct. 2' X 2' squares, with a rubber backing equivalent of a car tire. Costs about $30.00 a piece. High quality glue, laid down in a grid pattern, as opposed to a full float/coverage, to make them removable. Used to be a place in La Grange Georgia (Intec, I think) that made them. Almost definitely gone/farmed out to China, Vietnam, Korea, I'd bet.
@tuck6464 actually, Shaw is near Dolton, GA and most of the office carpet is still made in the USA.
Georgia is still a carpet powerhouse, the famous Williams Street TV studio was once a carpet factory.
So much of that headquarters can be recycled and repurposed. It's really a shame that it's going to be demolished and trashed. A lot of the remaining items are high-quality commercial grade.
Yeah, that staircase would look beautiful in my house... If I ever own one 🥲
Agree! Some of that kitchen equipment is reusable!
@@633Runner not only that but doors, railings, glass dividers, etc
A friend's dad was their Head Groundskeeper , he'd told us they kept the ponds on the property stocked with fish for some of the execs and we would sneak in and try to catch a few bass and bluegills late on weekend nights.
What a beautiful building - shame to see it go.
Allstate did something similar ~ 8-10 years to their big building out in South Barrington. It was cheaper to demolish it and leave it barren than to continue to pay maintenance and real estate taxes.
I drive by that every day and always wondered how it looked inside. I watched that whole demolition and it was sad to see. Lived around the area for 30+ yrs and always saw that.
Imagine turning this into a combination apartment complex and mall. It could be like that building in Whittier, Alaska.
I wouldn't get in any elevator in a derelict building.
As an elevator enthusiast/elevator nerd, I would! As long as it works, there's nothing wrong with riding it.
@@MrEngineer20051 Really? What if it gets stuck or something?
@@hotshower695 Think of it like any other elevator. As long as they are in good condition and are maintained properly, then it would be rare for someone to get stuck in an elevator. As for the elevators in the building that they were in, since the buildings weren't abandoned for very long, the elevators look like they're in pretty good condition, so I don't think it would be very likely for someone to get stuck in one of them. BUT, if someone DOES just-so-happen to get stuck in one of them, then all you have to do is use the emergency phone, and if that doesn't work for some reason, then just call 911.
I dont like ANY of them. I got stuck in one for 4 hours.. Claustrophobia sets in! big time... Knowing there is nothing you can DO to help yourself.
@@hotshower695I'd be more worried about it crashing down than getting stuck.
When I worked in building H in the early 80's there was beautiful woodwork everywhere and in the basement a massive battery room that was loud AF, louder than that power room in the video. The spiral staircase if thats the one I remember used to be all expensive darkwood. The lunchroom was insane (for 1983 anyway) and the habitrail between buildings hadn't been built yet. Worst company I ever worked for, RIP massive complex.
How sad it's such a waste. They put down carpet square down in large spaces for 2 reasons, their easy to replace if something gets spilled on them or they wear out. Also it's hard to piece and match large rolls of carpeting
I worked here a couple times over the years as an IT contractor and live close by. This is all completely gone now, replaced by large warehouses. Allstate still has an office building across the street they use that is newer and a lot smaller. Last I heard all IT works remote now. I work remote also but for a different insurance company.
This could be a whole hospital 🤦🏾♂️or a school a community center something beneficial god damn it 🤦🏾♂️
Yeah, right, because a hospital or a school or warehouse or corporate office building are all just 4 walls ceiling and a floor. SMH
It would make a great habitat for the asylum seekers! Maybe, just thinking outside the box, we could make it a call center and move those Indian jobs back to the ‘ol US!
Glenbrook hospital is right across the street.
This was in Northbrook IL. I passed by this building every day along I-294. Seen construction equipment slowly chip away into just rubble. I always wondered what that long hallway above the parking lot looked like from inside lol. Now it’s completely gone, you can’t tell this building even existed there. Now there’s giant hideous buildings for logistics. Must be terrible for the locals living nearby, having to have more truck traffic. Good things it’s just right off 294. At 12:51 , they had these classic cars parked inside there for show, you can just barely see them from I-294, there was only like 2-3 cars.
The Water Softener is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as everything you walked through to get to it. Hell, those hood vents you passed under cost tens of thousands of dollars each. That kitchen along had hundreds of thousands of dollars put into it, not even including the cost of the building itself.
Insurance just prints money. I think most big companies like this find it more cost-effective to sell the lot than the building or build a new building. I do see that building costs them a lot to operate, and just having people work from home saves a lot of money. most people would rather work from home, and it opens up a lot of jobs to people who can't move to a big city or want to.
That's why 90% of TV commercials are for insurance companies
It's completely gone now...a RUclips drone channel has the footage. Seems like none of the abandoned explorers ever managed to capture the executive rooms, boardrooms.
And they say that insurance companies are hurting. Imagine what that cost to build.
Very fiscally responsible huh
@@zzoinks Ice coffee is making you poor. Let's go to waste.
Oh, the building by I-294 on Willow Rd exit. It's already gone unfortunately. My cousin had some coaching/training there in 2019 for All State, he was becoming an agent for them. He flew all the way from Atlanta and I live like 15 minutes from this site so we took him to our house instead of the hotel they booked for him lol. It was such a monstrosity, huge complex. I always looked at it while I was driving home from work or when I was driving to work and thought to myself that it was such a waste to leave this building empty. Well, what they build now is worse than that imo. There's already one warehouse, or even too in that place as I still enter highway on Willow Rd sometimes. What I know being in the trucking industry - these warehouses are gonna be empty for a long time! It didn't make much sense to do that but I'm not the one to decide after all. There's another warehouse that was built recently, I believe they finished it last year, up on the Lake Cook Rd exit and it's still empty to this day. They also demolished a huge office complex, not as big as this one but also rather large. This trend of bulldozing the buldings and building warehouses in that space should end, it doesn't bring any good to surrounding areas...
Wow that's so Sad.🤔🤔 Such a Huge Beautiful Building. 👍🏻👍🏻
some "backrooms" vibes happening there lol
100%. The only thing that's off is how modern it is
Maybe they have never seen a parking garage before. Or carpet tiles. Or a water softener.
Great video!
Thanks for this chronicle.
Many years ago I worked for an armored car co. and my route included several deposit pick-ups throughout this Willow Road complex of offices. I recall being so impressed by the landscape, the details, the sheer size of it.
Cant imagine the poor decision making which couldn't repurpose this sprawling complex.
As a former employee of this horrid company this building brings back many traumatic memories!! They treated most people like dogs!!
But they will cry that they need to increase rates. Yet they waste money like this 🤦♂️
I was also thinking this. The amount of waste in our country is staggering. No wonder, we feel as though we are in steep decline. Threw all our hard work and resources away on projects that have only 50 year lifespans. Seems so unappreciative.
I worked in that building. During early morning and evening there were so many cars going into the parking lot the police would be directing traffic.
What a beautiful monument to human greed.
Sort of…..
When you wonder why your insurance premiums are so high... just watch this video. As if they need that kind of opulence paid for by the hardworking people that pay their hefty premiums. What a disgrace.
Don't ever think insurance companies are not getting rich off us... now that they don't have to build and maintain buildings like this they will get even more rich... they certainly are not going to offer us cheaper insurance now that their costs have gone down.
So how come you haven't started your own insurance company and became rich?
@@davidwheeler7503 Why do you think I am not rich?
@kl0wnkiller912 because I wouldn't want to think that you're a hypocrite.
Market entry legal barriers are high. Just the way existing companies and their political benefactors like it.
Now you know why insurance rates are so high.
The studios were because they produced a lot of their commercials and other media in-house.
That’s so cool!
I’m from NWI- your content is awesome!
At the 37:00 mark the lower right corner of the white board is a map of the buildings on the Allstate property. They were named letters of the alphabet. The zigzag line was an enclosed elevated walkway across the parking lot between the two clusters of buildings. “294” is the Interstate bordering the east side of the property. (I worked there for 9 years in the late 90’s early 2000’s.)
I’m an interior architect. This is a nice building! Not many nice buildings are left in the US. Many people would love to work in nice buildings. I work in a remote office and id rather work in this! Well built, except for the leaks. What a waste!
This is why your home and car insurance costs so much.
I passed by this building every day on my work commute. It was crazy watching it being torn down.
Wen I was a kid my mom worked there , I went to a car show they held in that very garage they had many classic cars of the 30s I think I still have the show catalog
200K glass staircase. What a waste.
I worked here for about 6 years. It was a fantastic place to work. It's so sad to see the main lobby in particular like that, it was gorgeous. Really sad to see it like this.
The plug in the ground in the see through office wasn’t for statues but for electricity for computers. Also telecom equipment. Probably a conference room.
to answer your question on the square tiles, its beause they're easy to replace. Someone is bound to drop something, drink, food, damage etc. The ease of replacing is why they do tiles
Also it was a raised floor, all of the cables and whips were underneath (along with the mice)
There’s an abandon steel mill here in Denver about 3.5 miles from my house I’ve been wanting to check out. I found out about it several years ago, I used to do ride share and took a guy that worked for the company that owns the building now verified it’s still empty.
My dad used to work there and I used to go to school on that property 😢 sad to see that it’s been demolished and the new building is ugly asf
8:38 Literally the Backrooms Hum-Buzz
I wanted to visit this build so bad once I saw it was abandoned. I'm happy to see someone got to enjoy it one more time before it was torn down.
Allstate also had a building across from this one on Sanders Road. Much smaller, more modern/glass building. Should see what's there if they left that one too.
Why not repurpose it for residential housing or something instead of demolishing it?
Seems kind of wasteful 😢
Its beacuse it is
Most of it was just big open warehouse looking spaces.
Bcz the gvt wouldn't gt paid
Running gas water & electrical plus dividing it up wouldn't make much economic sense especially with the ceiling height x sq footage it'd be simply unfeasible for the average person to afford would have obvious design flaws & not worth the investment.
There are too many reasons to get into here. The list would scroll off the screen. Commercial never makes good residential except in fringe cases like hipster industrial lofts and such.
Insane that places like this can be torn down. The millions and millions put into this. Literally a fully functional building. And they just tore it down and probably tossed everything.
It gets recycled. Concrete separated, crushed reused. Steel separated and recycled. They may be required to capture and remove synthetics. Glass is a problem though.
@@I_Am_Your_ProblemStill the labor involved to make and install those mechanicals is expensive…..and wasted when you demolish a building in the middle of its useful life. I guess everything is considered disposable now.
Also, how much in labor to demolish and rebuild? I guess they get to write it all off, so the majority is paid by the taxpayers. Still, the amount of money being invested than discarded is shocking. How does corporate America survive with such poor planning and waste?
@@kld70 This is nothing new... so don't think you can pull this "day and age" bullshit with me. Show me how many 1920 commercial buildings are still standing...
Nice building… it’s ridiculous to demolish.
the sign with letters missing that you wondered what it said - “We are the Good Hands. We help people realize their hopes and dreams”
19:11 - As an elevator enthusiast/elevator nerd, I appreciate you riding the elevator! As long as it works, I would ride it! As for the elevators at 12:43 in the video, it appears that only one of them was working, as the other 2 were flashing "OS" on the indicators, which means "out of service". So you could've possible rode that one. I would've tried pressing the call button.
The cafeteria was beautiful when I was there! The food was excellent & not too expensive!!
You guys should use your phones to check for wifi signals before going in. If you get a signal there's a strong probability that there are live feed security cameras.
Sometimes the network SSID doesn't make it clear that it's the network for that building.
@decayingmidwest Great vid. Your vids remind me of good times. As a past explorer of the offlimits, can I offers some tips.
Always carry rubber gloves, face masks, a first aid kit, something for protection & power bank for ur fone.
When exploring businesses, check the handle on the other side of doors before you enter them. Some will need a key or access card to let you back through, so find or carry something on you to wedge them open so ypu don't get trapped.
If there is a sign saying theres an atm, always check it out. They will always have taken/emptied the cash boxes, but cash often drops into the bottom of these machines during use (the machines aren't perfect). Twice we have found money in them. First time was $150, 2nd time was $400. So it's always worth a look.
Happy Exploring 👍
I used to love going there for Allstate day every year when I was a kid, it was awesome, my mom worked their for 30 years 😂
Looks like the Allstate Mayhem guy was still inside the office
You can easily replace a single carpet tile for stains and traffic areas. We use those in the hospital.
the building is all demolished now... what a waste of a building. can't believe they couldn't repurpose the building
Shows you how much insurance is a rip off. To be able to waste millions of dollars because the company is saving millions of dollars by shutting down facilities all over the world explains just how much money they are making.
I watch a few young ppl exploring on yt, here in the UK. And I have to admit you are more respectful to properties you explore and don't act 6 years old and not every word is a swear word.Unlike the potty mouth young ones over here. Credit to you
Fully decked out and decorated like a children’s hospital. Totally wasteful. That stainless steel spiral staircase alone probably cost a million dollars.
It wasn't in Chicago..it's already been demolished..
the “footsteps” are the echos of a thousand employees running in circles with a never quite correct spreadsheet” SHAME ON YOU for the PTSD you’ve wrought upon me.
I'm strongly reminded of the office headquarters chapters in FEAR.
COVID was the final nail in the coffin but they'd been emptying out the building of people for years. The land was worth more than the building. The sad part is the negative impact the loss of Allstate has had on Northbrook. On the bright side, the traffic situation is much better there.
Worked there for over 23 years, the whole campus went through a pretty extensive remodel the last few years before covid. Which is why everything looks relatively newish. Sad to see it destroyed. Oh, that tire wallpaper on the wall was when sears sold tires using the Allstate branding. 😂😂😂
Hey, i drive by this area all the time. Its no more now.
It’s all gone now. The site is cleared. These functionally obsolete buildings and complex are no more.
Wow crazy they just demo a building this huge
The United airlines HQ in Elk Grove Village suffered the same fate when it was moved to the Sears Tower
Yeah. After they let a lot of call center agent work from home, the flight attendant training and network operations moved to the building over by the airport. Kinda miss going to WHQ and fishing in the pond when my dad still worked there.
Considering the business, I suspect half the people there main work product was phone calls that are monitored, you still could monitor a phone call from their home. If they are not doing the job right or not at all you have the same record of it. The size of the facility is proportional to the upkeep cost, they can have a smaller facility or move downtown. Any non-call center activity still come into work because the group environment works and there is no record of a lot of activity, why isn't this getting done because it is hard, or no one is working.
Total waste of human resources demolishing this, really irritating!
real backroom looks cool! and excite to visit with avoid security guard haha
I worked here and always imagined how creepy and liminal the place would be once it was abandoned. Didn't think it would be so soon!
There's something inherently terrifying about building cubicles literally as far as you can see
Be glad you don't buy their insurance 😂
I wonder do they allow or promote salvaging as much of the items and materials used in making this building? I have seen recessed can lights that are professional grade/designer units that cost $90=140 a piece. Water coolers, fine wood paneling, imported marble and heavy duty thick glass wall units. All these things would cost a fortune if you were building this building. These items could be salvaged and sold to people who might use them in their own business or homes as accent pieces or replace similar items they have that are getting old. NO need to just run a bulldozer over it !
Wreckers know materials and do salvage if they are given the time. It can reduce the demolition cost. Depends on labor required to remove things without damage.
DUDE im inspired by you to go and explore abandoned places now 🔥🔥
I can’t believe there demolishing the building when there nothing wrong with it,Chicago could used the building for so many things
This was like a pos apocalyptic movie after the disease killed everyone off... All the posters about covid and social distancing..
How long ago? Definitely not recent. I explored it at night alone and filmed it April of last year. They'd just started bringing in construction crews. No lights and more beat up. Great exploring through.
That's a complete waste, knocking down a decently nice office complex for no real reason, it's just plain odd.
They should preserve it so a thousand years from now people will know what it was like to not work remotely.
Crazy how much property 232M buys you in the US. That building would probably be well in excess of a billion to build here.
"You're In Good Hands With Allstate."
"social distancing" in a non-vented area. Our governor and other key players really killed our state and country
Sure
WWI 116,000
WWII 405,000
DJT 1st term 1.2 million
Sure keep things open. If the brilliant CEO's ever listened in school they would know how the virus spreads.
The title says "In Chicago" but the introduction says "outside of Chicago".
imagine in the distance. "HEY!"
"oh they have a water softener"
"what's that do?"
"it softens your water so it's not hard."
Alrighty then lol.