Consulting firm takes office lease in Loop, expecting part-time employees

A consulting firm that’s been on a hiring spree leased space in Chicago’s Loop that doubles its office space, an encouraging sign for landlords in an area that absorbed the brunt of tenant losses during the pandemic.

Inspire11 is taking 23,000 square feet at 1 North Dearborn, moving from the 12,000 feet it leases at 1 East Wacker Drive, Crain’s reported.

While the move marks a loss for the Wacker building’s owner AmTrust Realty, the firm’s choice should offer some solace: like Wacker, the Dearborn spot is also a vintage Loop building that underwent extensive renovations a few years ago to add amenities tenants increasingly expect, such as a lounge with a bar, a rooftop terrace and a new conference facility. It’s almost fully leased after the Inspire11 deal, and AmTrust plans to spend $100 million to upgrade most of its Loop buildings.

Local officials are prodding investors and Loop landlords, especially on LaSalle Street, where older buildings have struggled with vacancy in recent years, to make similar commitments to update and potentially convert parts of some properties to uses like student housing.

Amenity space at 1 North Dearborn will be needed by Inspire11 employees to work in on some days. Its new offices could get crowded if there are days when many of its local employees, which could soon total 400 after a hiring push this year, head into the office.

“We were willing to take the bet that on those days, people would go (work) in more general areas of the building,” company CEO Alban Mehmeti told Crain’s.

[Crain’s] – Sam Lounsberry

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