Pinnacle Financial's New Building Downtown Doubles as Art Gallery

The good thing about old offices in the “Wilson building” at 915 55^th St.—one of the good things, anyway—was the collection of works from two local artists that adorned every wall. The bad thing: zero room for the burgeoning business to expand, with no real conference room and a partner stuck working from home.

And the win-win solution: Pinnacle’s new building at 823 Burlington Ave. in the heart of downtown Western Springs. Spacious and modern, it not only offers a calming environment for money management, but also a permanent commercial art gallery for artists Gary Schuyler Young and Gordon France, both of La Grange.

The unique combination—financial group office and art gallery, situated in a Village downtown—suits the office’s partners perfectly, they say. They now have multiple conference rooms, a kitchen, a lounge and even several extra offices, all alongside a corridor decorated with art for the average enthusiast to stop by, check out and/or buy.

“We liked having art in our office; our clients enjoyed it as well, and so when we were going to build out this space we mentioned to the architect that we would like to be able to [have a gallery],” said Larry Uitermarkt, one of Pinnacle’s three partners. “They built out the space the way they did purposely to display art.”

“We kind of pinch ourselves all the time,” added fellow partner Jim Stork. “It’s a gorgeous space to come to. The artwork is beautiful, the location is wonderful, it’s very visible, it’s easy for our clients to get to—we just tell people we’re right next to Kirshbaum’s and everybody knows where we’re at instantly… I love everything about it.”

The new Pinnacle office, which opened in May and saw an official ribbon-cutting last Thursday, fills the spots once held by two retail stores: The Creative Door and Robin’s Egg Blue. It’s even a bit too big for Pinnacle alone at this point; the group, which bought and now owns the building, is looking for a tenant or tenants for the 1,000 sq. ft. of currently unoccupied offices in the rear of the building.

Also in the rear of the building: a complete kitchen and lounge area, which Uitermarkt said Pinnacle has found to be, surprisingly, “the best use of our money.”

“What we’ve found, now that we’ve moved in, is that’s our most productive space because nobody goes out for lunch anymore!” Uitermarkt said. “Before, we didn’t have that, and we all scattered every day at lunch. Now we all just go back there and eat our lunches and talk business.”

Pinnacle Financial Group is an independent company that has provided fee-based financial planning and investment management to Western Springs and the western suburbs for over a decade and a half. It partners all have connections to the Village: Uitermarkt is a resident, while Stork and third partner Lisa Tang are former residents. (Executive assistant Karen O’Donnell also lives in town, and office manager Jeanne Nortier is originally from Countryside.)

The art on display ranges in price from $350 to $5000 (for a “Celebrate! Chicago Blackhawks 2012 Stanley Cup Champions 48” x 36” acrylic.) Visitors are welcome whether or not they have business with Pinnacle.

The gallery is exclusively for Young and France, and will remain so. “You could have Vincent van Gogh knocking at the door, and he could even cut off his other ear, and we’d tell him, you’re going to have to find another gallery,” Uitermarkt joked.

“They’re both very good artists, and I like their respective styles. One is completely different from the other in style, but they both capture the emotions, the smells… the senses of being in an environment. They capture those things really well.”

If all goes well, both financial group and art gallery are on Burlington to stay for the long term.

“We are not looking to become a huge firm, but we do anticipate that we will continue to grow modestly, and this building will meet our needs for many years to come,” said Stork. “We expect to be here for quite a while.”