The American Board of Radiology is looking to unload its new offices in the Chicagoland suburbs just months after inking a long-term lease.
ABR had signed a rental agreement for the 71,000-square-foot space around the start of the pandemic and was set to remain there through May 2032. But the Tucson, Arizona-based doc certification group no longer plans to occupy the offices and is seeking to sublease, Crain’s Chicago Business reported Tuesday.
"As a result of the pandemic, the ABR is changing its certification testing models to a remote platform that will be implemented in 2021 and continue indefinitely. This significantly reduces the amount of space we anticipate needing in the Chicago area," Executive Director Brent Wagner told the news outlet.
The nonprofit had originally planned to relocate its Chicago exam facilities to Oak Brook, Illinois, from the previous location near O’Hare International Airport. However, ABR was never able to make the move, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re slated to start new remote test offerings in 2021, first announcing the move back in June.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.