BP Extends Lease at Tishman Speyer’s Chicago Office Building

BP is staying put amid an exodus of office workers from the Loop.

The oil and gas giant extended its 240,000-square-foot lease at Tishman Speyer’s renovated CME Center at 20-30 South Wacker Drive.

Under the extension, the firm will stay in its office on the 7th through 10th floors through 2032. BP has held office space in the CME Center since 2009.

Many office tenants downsized, relocated or went fully remote after the pandemic disrupted in-person work. The re-shuffling pushed landlords to scale up amenities to entice tenants.

Tishman has renovated the property’s lobby, façade and entrances while adding amenities such as a 24-hour fitness facility, 175-seat conference room, lounge and library.

The complex spans two 40-story towers totaling 2.3 million square feet. Other tenants include the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Wells Fargo, law firm Reed Smith and accounting services firm RSM.

The move was a win from the Loop, which has seen a flow of office tenants to the West Loop and Fulton Market seeking modern offices and loft style buildings converted from warehouse space over the past decade. Since the pandemic, the loop’s office vacancy rate has been stuck around 30 percent.

Fulton Market is the only submarket in downtown Chicago with vacancy under 20 percent, and it also has the highest asking rents, averaging over $61 per square foot for Class A space. In the Central Loop, the vacancy rate is close to 28 percent, and average asking rents for Class A is under $50 per square foot.

It was also another boost for Tishman Speyer, which was on the brokerage side of a recent lease expansion at 222 North La Salle. The firm represented the landlord, Henry Crown and Company, in a 15,700 square foot office expansion for fintech firm NinjaTrader.