Sol Goldberg, a businessman who envisioned a strong and vital community in Logan Square, originally built the building in 1930. Goldberg made his fortune in the early 1900s by manufacturing and marketing hairpins. The shape of the company’s unique, three-pronged hairpin inspired the camel insignia on the Hump Hairpin Manufacturing Company’s logo and a recurring camel motif on the building’s facade and the lobby floor. Goldberg’s company maintained offices in the mixed-use retail and office building until 1947 when the Morris B. Sachs Department Store moved in and it became known as the Morris B. Sachs building.

In more recent times, after years of neglect, the City of Chicago bought the building for redevelopment with emphasis on historic preservation, environmental sustainability, and neighborhood revitalization. The building was skillfully and accurately restored from the exterior façade to the interior where marble and terrazzo flooring were refinished and original design elements restored. The result is the LEED certified, eco-friendly, mixed-use development now known as Hairpin Lofts. Today, it hosts affordable rental housing and ground floor retail, and Hairpin Arts Center “lives” on the second floor, serving as a cultural hub for the community.