National Louis, Kendall deal done Culinary and hospitality program deal approved
By Robert Channick Chicago Tribune
The mother of all college transfers is officially on the books.
National Louis University closed Monday on its acquisition of Kendall College’s acclaimed culinary and hospitality programs, a deal that also transfers Kendall’s entire student body to National Louis..
Most Kendall students won’t be moving from their Goose Island campus this year, however, as National Louis builds out new facilities at its South Michigan Avenue campus to accommodate the transfers... for-profit Kendall’s five degree programs and 800 students into the broader academic offerings at National Louis..
While Kendall moves under a new banner — the Kendall College of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management at NLU — most of its students will spend one more year on their old Goose Island campus before relocating to newly renovated facilities on National Louis’ flagship Chicago campus.
National Louis owns five floors in the 107-year-old, Daniel Burnham-designed Peoples Gas Building at 122 S. Michigan Ave.
The school is hoping to add a sixth floor to its historic digs for the Kendall programs, Megahed said.
“We’ve been doing a lot of careful planning around what we need to build,” Megahed said. “We are essentially constructing kitchens, a dining room, cafeteria, classrooms, a wine room — a full floor that has all the program requirements for culinary and hospitality.”
If National Louis is unable to add a sixth floor at its current campus, the school will explore a nearby location, Megahed said.
“Our intent is to stay in this vibrant corridor where there’s restaurants and hospitality services and tourism and hotels because that’s what we’re preparing students to do, to enter that sector,” she said.
Commercial real estate services firm Savills Studley said it has been hired by Laureate to sublease the 170,000-square-foot Kendall building on Goose Island as office space.....
In January, the company said it would “embark on a process” to consider options for the property after Kendall students vacate.
The addition of Kendall’s culinary and hospitality programs creates a fourth college for National Louis, which has more than 7,400 students on six campuses in Illinois and Florida.
[email protected]
Twitter @RobertChannick
Prev
Linear Mode
