UPDATE, May 5, 2022, 12:10 p.m.: WeWork is expanding in Fulton Market after all.
The co-working company leased its second new location in Chicago this year at 167 North Green Street, with 93,500-square-feet in the city’s hottest office district, the Chicago Business Journal reported earlier. The deal comes after the company originally eyed nearby buildings at 1155 and 1114 West Fulton Market and then scrapped the leases there in 2020 when it pulled back on some of its rapid expansion plans. That was the first time a lease WeWork previously announced in Chicago fell through, Crain’s reported at the time.
The lease is the latest win for Shapack Partners and Focus, the developers of the 167 Green Street project led by Jeff Shapack, who is responsible for much of Fulton Market’s transformation over the past seven years into one of the hottest commercial real estate markets in the nation from a former meatpacking district of low-rise industrial buildings. He also developed the hotels in the neighborhood branded by SoHo House and Hoxton.
WeWork’s move into 167 North Green comes after it opened 62,000 square feet at 448 North LaSalle Street in River North earlier this year. The Green Street spot is WeWork’s third in Fulton Market, with the others at 220 North Green and 1115 West Fulton Market, and its 11th in the city.
“Chicago is a thriving city with a supportive business community, strong talent and a clear demand for workplace flexibility,” WeWork’s Robin Cardoso said in a statement. “Chicago is continually embracing flexibility, and we’re excited to continue to grow here.”
WeWork is looking to capitalize on the rise of hybrid schedules with employees working from home one or two days a week and in their offices the rest. Since its founding in 2010, it has offered small companies and self-employed workers options to sign leases for portions of the company’s overall space, often in open floor plan environments.
The 17-story, 750,000-square-foot office building on Green, completed in 2020, has been one of Chicago’s most successful during the pandemic, with a streak of recent leases landed, including commercial real estate service Cresa over 21,000 square feet. Tenants have become increasingly attracted to high-quality amenities, like the full-length basketball court, a gym with locker rooms and outdoor terraces included in 167 North Green and other new developments in Fulton Market.
[CBJ] – Sam Lounsberry
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CORRECT: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said WeWork had previously rejected the Green Street building. It had considered other Fulton Market buildings.