CHICAGO | 725 W Randolph | 700 FT | 45 FLOORS

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by BruceP

Are y'all ignoring the fact that this proposed building will contribute to the hollowing out of not only a Class A office building barely 20 years old, but The Loop as a whole?

If Sidley were moving their HQ from another city - or even from the 'burbs - I'd be all for it, but not under these circumstances.

This is what these big law firms do. . . anchor a new building every ten or fifteen years or so, rinse and repeat. . .

. . .

[twister244]

I'll also echo the sentiment that I think 1S Dearborn will be fine. I go to the WeWork there from time to time, and it's a nice building. It's a great location that has a Blue Line stop literally right in front of the building, along with being super close to a ton of stuff on State St.

[BruceP]

Originally Posted by left of center

We do not have control of what individual companies choose to do. Firms like Sidley are always seeking out top quality Class A office space. Chicago has not built new trophy office space since Covid. It would be great to keep them in the Loop proper, but it's certainly better that they are moving to the border of Fulton Market/West Loop Gate than having them transfer much/all of their operations for the suburbs or another market entirely due to a lack of the type of space that they are looking for. They will still very much be a part of the downtown ecosystem.

Uh...where did I write that private companies don't have that right? I'm just not doing cartwheels for a shinier new Class A building to hollow out an existing Class A office by 544,000 sf. That's 54% of 1 S Dearborn that's not gonna be easy to fill.

[BruceP]

[QUOTE=sentinel;10637445]

Originally Posted by BruceP

?

What you see as "hollowing out" of the Loop I see as potential to transform old Class B/C office space into residential units, which is already happening. That's a good thing, as well as new construction office buildings being built outside of the Loop confines...which was traditionally defined as the primary business core because of natural constraints like the river and Lake Michigan. But why abide by those constraints anymore? Old parameters limit growth and expansion, which are vital to Chicago (or any city's) ability to thrive.

First off, 1 S Dearborn IS a Class A building, not a B or C. As for conversions to residential, that works for pre-war office buildings with small floorplates or with towers like the Clark Adams Bldg or 135 S LaSalle or the Palmolive Bldg - and even then the lower lot-line to lot-line floors don't work for residential. 1 S Dearborn has floorplates of 26,500 sf. How does that work out for residential highrises with typical floorplates of 7-15,000 sf? OK, I guess, if you don't want windows. I've seen the plan for 30 N LaSalle and, except for the corner units, they 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[Chicago Shawn]

1 South Dearborn will be fine. Class A and Prime has steadily outperformed other office classes since the pandemic as a true flight to quality trend took hold and companies are upgrading space while shrinking footprints. There is demand for new Class A and we should be building it as tenants sign on. The West Loop is the logical place for us to be constructing dense new office buildings to make the most use of the remaining opportunity sites in close proximity to the busiest rail stations.

In the near term, I'm willing to bet JPMorganChase will look at taking some space there as they continue to renovate the existing building across the street and may have to shift some space around. If not them, someone else will eventually take the space, and it's not like Sidley is completely vacating soon, this is going to be minimum 3 years out from today. Plenty of lead time to shop the space around...

[left of center]

Originally Posted by BruceP

Uh...where did I write that private companies don't have that right? I'm just not doing cartwheels for a shinier new Class A building to hollow out an existing Class A office by 544,000 sf. That's 54% of 1 S Dearborn that's not gonna be easy to fill.

Preventing new construction doesn't mean Sidley stays put. If they want newer trophy space and Chicago isn't providing it, they have other options, including the suburbs or shifting more operations to another market entirely. No one here is celebrating vacancy, but suppressing new office supply is not a viable strategy for the downtown office market.

1 S. Dearborn will be fine. It's much newer than many competing office buildings and should be well positioned to attract new tenants, especially as RTO slowly but steadily continues and more obsolete space in older buildings is converted to residential.