CHICAGO, IL — The building was completed in 1971 after John H. Johnson established Ebony and Jet as premiere magazines highlighting Black life and culture in America.
Johnson borrowed $500 against his mothers’ furniture to start his media empire. For decades the magazines sat on millions of coffee tables in Black households across the country
The vacant Johnson Publishing Company headquarters, once the home of Ebony and Jet magazines on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, has been sold for $10 million to developer 3L Real Estate, the Rosemont-based firm announced on Nov. 20 and are planning on converting this property to newly-minted landmark apartments.