I originally thought there was not good access to the back of that lot, but it does appear there is an alleyway extending north off 7th. Now if they were concerned about the speed of people firing off the IDL onto 7th and that’s why they put the parking on Elgin, that might be one thing. There is a restricted right turn onto Frankfurt on 7th as well at least during peak business hours (i.e. forbidden).
TimJ808 explained the reasons why "they" arranged the parking with some spaces in the front of the building -- that's the way
he (the property owner and paying client) wanted
his company's parking lot to be laid out for the convenience of
his clients and
his employees.
According to TimJ808, there are to be some parking spaces behind the building, with access from the alley. I haven't seen the Jackson Technical site plan, but I've designed parking lots. Having a row of parking spaces along an alley is very, very efficient use of space, in terms of getting the most parking on the least amount of land. I think the designers have crammed as many spaces as possible behind the building, along the alley.
By shifting the building about 9 feet closer to Elgin (or the approximate width of a parking space), it would be very easy to fit an extra space on the alley side. But in doing so, 3 spaces would be lost on the front side of the building.
In other words, shift the building 9 feet closer to Elgin and lose 3 parking spaces in the front of the building (and with a net loss of 2 spaces on the site).
Shift the building 18 feet closer to Elgin and gain 2 spaces behind, but lose 6 spaces in front (for a net loss of 4 spaces on the site).
TimJ808's goal was to maximize on-site parking. Also, he stated that he prefers the setback from Elgin. It makes him feel comfortable, with the buildings giving him a hug.