McDonald’s vendor nears deal to move HQ to Fulton Market

A McDonald’s vendor is nearing a deal to move its headquarters to Chicago’s Fulton Market from the suburbs.

Havi Group, a supply chain manager that started by delivering to McDonald’s in Chicago, is in talks to lease about 100,000 square feet in an eleven-story building developed by Sterling Bay at 345 N Morgan Street, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. Once the deal is completed, Havi would move its headquarters from a 150,000-square-foot location it has leased on Lacey Road in Downers Grove.

Havi, which employs about 500 people locally, would be the latest company to relocate downtown from the suburbs. Others include Calamos Investments and Medline. It could lead other McDonald’s vendors to move closer to Fulton Market, and is positive news for local landlords who have been forced to offer multiple concessions to lure tenants downtown.

McDonald’s moved to a nine-story downtown building from Oak Brook in 2018. Its long-term lease of 85 percent of the building runs through July 2033.
Work began on Sterling Bay’s 200,000-square-foot office building in August, after the developer got $100 million of construction financing. It’s expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.

Havi would leave behind the space it leases in the recently renovated Downers Grove building, dubbed Esplanade II. While Havi’s lease runs through April 2025, the property began formally marketing the four floors it leases as available beginning in September 2022.
Esplanade II traded hands in 2019, when KORE Investments bought the property from BentallGreenOak for almost $129 million.

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[Crain’s] — Victoria Pruitt