Evolent adds to West Loop sublease listing

Evolent Health no longer wants to be one of the largest office tenants in a West Loop building.

The health care consulting firm tacked on 50,000 square feet to its sublease listing at 300 South Riverside Plaza, upping the total it has put on the secondary market to 122,000 as the company cut nearly 460 jobs, Crain’s reported. With the demand for office space decreasing, Evolent is looking to maintain just about 20,000 square feet at the 23-story structure.

The move comes a little over three years after the company, which provides services for health care providers, nearly doubled its occupancy in the building’s third, fourth and seventh floors. 

CBRE brokers Bill Sheehy and Lisa Konieczka are marketing the sublease space. Leases for the fourth and seventh floors run through March 2031, and the third floor lease ends in June 2025.

Evolent has already had some success finding tenants for the building, landing a deal with public relations firm Cision for about 25,000 square feet. Yet a struggling commercial real estate market, plagued by increased remote workers, rising interest rates and other economic uncertainties, is making it difficult for Evolent and many others to fill vacancies.

As of last week, a total of 7.6 million square feet of downtown office space is available to sublease, a record high and 1.6 million more than the previous year. The city’s largest sublease listing came last month when Publicis Groupe put 350,000 square feet up for rent at 35 West Wacker Drive. Other big subleases have been offered in recent months by Tyson Foods, which is looking for a subtenant to take over 233,000 square feet in another West Loop building at 400 South Jefferson Street, as well as marketing software firm ActiveCampaign, which listed its entire office of 101,000 square feet at 1 North Dearborn Street in the Loop last year on the secondary market.

Only the most premium space is appealing to tenants, who have hopes that the amenities in high-end buildings will lure workers back to the office.

— Quinn Donoghue