CoinFlip has inked a long-term lease at 601W Companies’ Old Post Office, pushing the occupancy at the cavernous complex to over 90 percent at a time when available office space downtown is soaring.
Bitcoin ATM operator will take 44,000 square feet at the 2.8 million-square-foot building, doubling its space from its Skokie headquarters, and upping its workforce by more than a quarter. The fintech has been expanding since it launched in 2015, and now has about 2,500 ATMs in 47 states, it said. It plans to add 500 ATMs by the end of the year.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker held a late morning news conference to announce the deal, with his office calling it the largest lease by a cryptocurrency company in city history.
It was a touch of good news in a crushing office market. Downtown Chicago office vacancy reached a record 19.4 percent in the second quarter, according to CBRE, with more to come. There is over 3.7 million square feet of office space under construction, including the BMO Tower and Salesforce Tower Chicago, each at more than 1 million square feet.
The Old Post Office is coming off an $800 million redevelopment by 601W. Other tenants include Cboe Global Markets and Cisco.
Uber has the largest lease at 462,000 square feet, but has put a big chunk of that on the sublease market and is expected to add more this year.