Bell & Howell was incorporated in 1907 by Albert Howell, a film projector inventor, and Donald Bell, a movie projectionist working in northern Illinois. Bell & Howell made equipment used in the motion picture industry and served as a leading supplier to Hollywood. It introduced an innovative all-metal camera in 1912 and a home movie camera in the 1920’s, and it helped to make 35mm film the industry standard.  

Erected in 1929, the Bell & Howell building on Larchmont Avenue was designed by Pond and Pond architects, brothers who took on commissions for commercial projects in order to subsidize their other stream of work, creating settlement houses, including a few for Chicago’s landmark Hull House.

By 1930, Bell & Howell had about 500 employees at its Larchmont building, and annual sales had reached $1 million. During World War II, a workforce of 2,000 made gun cameras and other optical equipment for the military. After the war, the company expanded into microfilm equipment and other products; annual sales passed $50 million in 1957. In 1966, Bell & Howell took over the DeVry Technical Institute (which it would sell in 1987), a for-profit school that offered electronics education. During the mid-1970s, when the company’s annual sales approached $500 million, it employed about 4,000 people in the Chicago area. 

In 1995, the Bell & Howell building on Larchmont was converted into 57 unique loft condominiums. A rooftop deck with communal grill, outdoor furniture and a visitors restroom was added. In 2006, the tower clock was restored, with state-of-the-art time synchronization and LED lighting.