RSM takes 150K sf in West Loop tower; moves to new headquarters

The financial services firm is moving across Wacker Drive into CME Center

RSM CEO Joe Adams and CME Center at 30 South Wacker Drive (Credit: RSM and CME Center)
RSM CEO Joe Adams and CME Center at 30 South Wacker Drive (Credit: RSM and CME Center)

RSM is moving its headquarters across Wacker Drive, signing a lease in Tishman Speyer’s CME Center at 30 South Wacker Drive.

The financial services firm will take 150,000 square feet at the new location, where it plans to move next year, according to Crain’s.

Its five-floor lease comes with an option to add 30,000 square feet on a sixth floor, Crain’s reported.

RSM is now headquartered at 1 South Wacker Drive, where it leases 160,000 square feet.

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The firm’s defection is a blow for 601W Companies, which bought the 40-story building at 1 South Wacker from Manulife John Hancock in December for $310 million.

New York-based 601W plans a more than $90 million overhaul of the tower. The biggest and most expensive part will be replacing the tinted glass that is part of the Helmut Jahn-designed facade, and which principal Mark Karasick told The Real Deal in December would likely be unpopular with potential tenants.

Even before RSM announced its intention to leave, the 26-year-old building was nearly 25 percent vacant, well above the average vacancy rate for Downtown, and up from nearly 15 percent when Manulife bought it in 2015. RSM has called the building home for nearly two decades, according to Crain’s. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien