One of downtown Chicago’s biggest tenants plans to stay in place for the next decade.
PwC has secured a 10-year lease renewal for its 280,000-square-foot space in the Irvine Company-owned 1 North Wacker Drive, Crain’s reported. CBRE represented PwC, while Irvine was represented by in-house brokers.
The extension marks one of the largest downtown renewals in recent years. The decision was influenced by high employee office attendance and the company’s commitment to in-office culture for its roughly 4,000 local employees, according to Laura Thonn, managing partner of the London-based accounting firm’s Chicago office.
“We really have so many people coming in that we need that space to continue to support our people,” Thonn said.
Irvine, led by CEO Donald Bren, acquired the 50-story, 1.75 million-square-foot tower in 2015. Since then, it has invested $10 million to enhance the building’s amenity floor, expanding the fitness center and adding a 4,600-square-foot conference area and a coffee bar lounge. The building is 91 percent leased and a critical property in Irvine’s Chicago portfolio.
The 10-year agreement with PwC follows Irvine’s recent lease extension with Indianapolis-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg, which expanded its space in the tower to 96,000 square feet, reclaiming a floor previously subleased to BakerHostetler.
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The deals with PwC and Barnes & Thornburg followed major tenant UBS slashing its footprint in the tower.
Since 2020, Chicago’s office market occupancy has decreased by 1.8 million square feet, setting vacancy records for 10 of the last 11 quarters.
— Andrew Terrell