Interactive Brokers Group Sheds Space in Move to West Loop

Interactive Brokers Group is set to depart Chicago’s historic LaSalle Street for a smaller, more modern workspace along the Chicago River.

The electronic trading firm, led by president and CEO Milan Galik, is in advanced talks to lease nearly 55,000 square feet in the 23-story 300 South Riverside Plaza, Crain’s reported. CBRE’s Mark Cassata and Bill Sheeh are representing Interactive Brokers in lease negotiations.

The 1.2 million-square-foot building, owned by Florida-based Third Millennium Group, is about 90 percent leased, according to CoStar.

The potential deal would mark a consolidation of the company’s local footprint, bringing together operations currently spread across two buildings — 209 South LaSalle Street, where the firm leases 60,000 square feet, and 300 South Riverside, where it subleases a 40,000 square feet.

The move aligns with the recent wave of companies looking to downsize their office spaces as remote work becomes more prominent. With businesses rethinking the necessity of large footprints and aiming for more modern spaces, older properties in Chicago’s LaSalle Street corridor are increasingly seeing tenants migrate to newer buildings elsewhere.

Interactive Brokers, a publicly traded company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, would follow in the footsteps of other high-profile departures from LaSalle Street, such as Bank of America, BMO Harris, and more recently, Blue Owl Capital, James Hardie and Chicago Title Insurance.

The shift away from LaSalle Street poses a challenge for Bankhaus Metzler. The German bank’s real estate affiliate owns 209 South LaSalle Street, known as The Rookery, which it purchased for $73 million in 2007.

The historic structure, designed by Daniel Burnham and John Root, has a significant place in Chicago’s architectural history. However, with demand for vintage office space dwindling, Metzler now faces the daunting task of finding tenants in a market that favors modern amenities.

The 317,000-square-foot Rookery is currently 91 percent leased, but Interactive Brokers’ departure will leave a significant gap. While some developers in the LaSalle Street area have turned to converting vintage office buildings into residential units, the building’s historic designation complicates such efforts.

Interactive Brokers reported $4.3 billion in revenue in 2022 and has seen rapid growth, including a 4 percent increase in its global workforce to over 2,900 employees. Despite this expansion, the company appears to be reducing its Chicago office footprint, a move reflective of broader trends in the financial sector.

— Andrew Terrell