Old public health offices to be converted for Estate Sale
CHAMPAIGN – What could be a more appropriate home than a French estate for a business called The Estate Sale?
That’s what Bob Grossman says the former Champaign-Urbana Public Health District headquarters will look like, once the building at 710 N. Neil St. has been renovated.
Grossman plans to move The Estate Sale, his antiques and decor store, there from its current location at 219 N. Neil St. in downtown Champaign. The move will likely take place in the late summer or fall, he said.
Also moving to the new site will be his software business, Grossman & Associates, currently in Savoy.
Grossman said the former public health offices are being gutted now, and the building’s facade will be given a “French estate look” with roof peaks and dormers. Windows will line the front of the building, and a wrought iron fence will surround the property. Grossman said he’s been working with Architectural Spectrum on the project.
The Estate Sale will occupy the front 9,000 square feet of the building, with the software business taking 3,000 square feet in back.
Grossman said several aspects of the property appealed to him.
“Looking around, I was not able to find anything downtown that had the right amount of room,” he said.
But the old public health district offices had plenty of space, plus parking availability and two-direction traffic on Neil Street.
“One of the big advantages is the 50 parking places out front,” he said.
As it does downtown, The Estate Sale will display items purchased from people’s estates in room settings.
Grossman said he’ll keep the same entrance, but it will be built out with a grand foyer. Inside will be a massive fireplace and built-in display counters for estate jewelry. Offices toward the front of the building will be turned into display rooms, he added.
The building was constructed in the late 1950s as an Eisner grocery store, and the public health district offices moved its offices there in 1982.
Grossman said he has two software companies, one in Savoy and one in Oakbrook Terrace, that provide software for grain and commodity companies and banks. The Savoy office caters to small and medium-sized firms, while the Oakbrook Terrace office serves larger clients.
Altogether, the business employs about 30, said Grossman, the company’s president and chief executive officer.