US Soccer has put the two buildings that served as its headquarters in Chicago up for sale. The historic venue, named Kimball House and Coleman House, is for sale for a combined value of $4.2 million.
The homes are located on Chicago’s South Loop, not far from Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Fire and the Chicago Bears.
Individually, houses differ in value, depending on the Chicago Tribune. The Kimball House, which measures 14,734 square feet, is available for $2.3 million. The 12,648-square-foot Coleman home costs $1.9 million. However, these houses should be sold together. Although they once served as residences, they served as offices for decades.
This includes US Soccer, which moved its headquarters from Colorado Springs to Chicago in 1991, rented both houses until purchasing them outright in 1996. Since then, all of US Soccer’s operations have been in Chicago. This trend will continue, despite the sale of the two houses.
US Soccer is moving its operational stronghold to downtown Chicago. His new home, at 303 E Wacker Drive, sits right on the Chicago River.
US Soccer and its Chicago headquarters
Keeping the headquarters in Chicago is a controversial topic for American soccer. Part of the federation’s policy is that all coaches must live in Chicago and be able to travel to both houses, which are now for sale. Earnie Stewart, the sporting director of US Soccer, says the reason is above all a question of cohesion.
“In my mind, it’s amazing that our coaches aren’t together all the time,” Stewart told Yahoo! Sports. “It’s one thing to have formal conversations with each other, and these days you can do everything by computer and WiFi, but we’ve seen it now with myself, Kate (Markgraf) and the coaches, when you go to the coffee machine – and I know it seems very simple: you are talking about football again.
Of course, it’s not so easy for coaches. Gregg Berhalter bought a house in Chicago in 2019 solely because of US Soccer’s politics. In other cases, politics has prevented other coaches from joining the federation.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Zuma on the wire
