By james art One of downtown Chicago’s largest tenants plans to stay put for the next decade.
PwC has secured a 10-year lease renewal for its 280,000-square-foot space at Irvine Company-owned 1 North Wacker Drive, Crain’s reports. CBRE represented PwC, while Irvine was represented by in-house brokers.
The expansion marks one of the biggest renovations to the center in recent years. The decision was influenced by high employee attendance at the office and the company’s commitment to office culture for its roughly 4,000 local employees, according to Laura Ton, managing partner of the London-based accounting firm’s Chicago office.
“We really have so many people coming in that we need this space to continue to support our people,” Thon said.
Irvine, led by CEO Donald Brenn, acquired the 50-story, 1.75 million-square-foot tower in 2015. Since then, it has invested $10 million to improve the building’s floors, expanding the fitness center and adding 4,600 square feet of conference space. leg area and coffee bar lounge. The building is 91 percent leased and is a critical property in Irvine’s Chicago portfolio.
The 10-year agreement with PwC follows the recent extension of Irvine’s lease with Indianapolis-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg, which expanded its space in the tower to 96,000 square feet, reclaiming a floor previously subleased to BakerHostetler.
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The PwC and Barnes & Thornburg deals followed anchor tenant UBS reducing its footprint in the tower.
Since 2020, occupancy in the Chicago office market has declined by 1.8 million square feet, setting vacancy records for 10 of the last 11 quarters.
— Andrew Terrell