Pinterest moving to West Loop office building, inks expanded lease

Pinterest is moving into new office space in the West Loop and expanding its Chicago footprint, the latest tech company to make a big move in the city.

The San Francisco-based social media sharing site has leased 30,000 square feet at 111 North Canal Street, moving from smaller offices at 320 West Ohio Street, according to Crain’s.

The company started with one employee in the River North location in 2014 and now has grown its local headcount to 115. A spokesperson told Crain’s that Pinterest has further expansion plans here.

Other Silicon Valley companies doubling down on Chicago include Facebook, which just signed a 263,000-square-foot lease in the John Buck Company’s recently completed CNA Center, its second large space in the city.

At the same time, Google is looking to add another 100,000 square feet of office space in Fulton Market, three years after debuting its more than 350,000-square-foot Midwest headquarters in the scorching neighborhood. It’s reportedly looking at several floors in the 12-story complex being built by Sterling Bay at 210 North Carpenter Street.

Sterling Bay in 2013 bought the 16-story building at 111 North Canal where Pinterest is moving, gaining in-flight wireless provider Gogo as a tenant. Other tenants include digital consulting firm Solstice, Uber Technologies, Twitter, software company SAP Fieldglass and online ticket reseller Vivid Seats.

Sterling Bay sold the building to JPMorgan Asset Management in 2015 for $304 million, but still manages and leases it. Michael Lirtzman of Sterling Bay represented the landlord in the lease negotiations, while Kyle Kamin and Dan Persa of CBRE represented Pinterest. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien