Vizient Expands Lease at 601W’s Old Post Office in Chicago

Healthcare consultancy Vizient has expanded its footprint in the historic Old Post Office.

The Texas-based company has inked a deal that adds 50,000 square feet to its lease at 433 West Van Buren Street, Crain’s reported, citing people familiar with the transaction.

Vizient assumed Uber’s eighth-floor space but is leasing it directly from the building’s owner, New York-based 601W. Savills brokers Robert Sevim and Joe Learner facilitated the deal on Vizient’s behalf; CBRE’s Paul Reaumond represented Uber; and Telos Group’s Matt Whipple represented the landlord.

This is the second time Vizient has increased its footprint since moving to the Old Post Office in 2022. The company, headed by president and CEO Byron Jobe, first leased just over 110,000 square feet at the site, intending to consolidate its local operations from Wacker Drive and suburban Skokie.

Vizient now occupies close to 190,000 square feet, placing it on par with PepsiCo and Cboe Global Markets in the 2.3 million-square-foot landmark.

Vizient’s expansion goes against the broader trend of office downsizing. The rise of remote work has led to an exodus of tenants from downtown Chicago, with nearly 2 million square feet of space vacated over the past 18 months,

Office vacancy hit 25.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 23.7 percent during the same period last year.

The expansion coincides with Vizient’s recent acquisition of Chicago-based Kaufman Hall, a healthcare advisory firm in which Vizient previously held a minority stake. As part of its Chicago office strategy, Vizient established hybrid work to offer employees flexibility, hoping the centrally located, high-amenity office would support recruitment and retention efforts.

Uber remains the Old Post Office’s largest tenant, with a 463,000-square-foot lease signed in 2019 for its Uber Freight division. Despite putting parts of its space up for sublease before and after the pandemic, Uber still holds 364,000 square feet under a lease that extends through June 2030.

— Andrew Terrell