Perkins Coie Subleases 110 North Wacker Space

A major office tenant is trimming its Chicago footprint, throwing more space onto the already saturated market in another obstacle for the commercial property sector as it tries to rev up a comeback.

Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie listed 46,000 square feet of space for sublease at 110 North Wacker Drive, Crain’s reported, citing a marketing flyer from Cushman & Wakefield.

The offering covers two floors: a fully built-out 29,000-square-foot office on the 36th floor and 17,000 square feet of raw space on the 37th floor that Perkins Coie leased but never finished. Cushman brokers Scott Goldman, Dan Fisk and Andy Heymann are marketing the space.

The firm signed a 100,000-square-foot lease for three floors at the riverfront property, known as the Bank of America Tower, in 2019, moving from its former central Loop offices at the time. Perkins Coie’s current lease runs through June 2036. A spokesman for the firm did not comment on the reasons for the sublease.

Since then, a joint venture between real estate investor Tim Callahan and New York’s Oak Hill Advisors bought a $210 million controlling equity stake in Bank of America tower from Houston developer Howard Hughes, in 2022. Howard Hughes partnered with John O’Donnell’s Chicago-based firm Riverside Investment & Development to build 110 North Wacker.

The law firm’s move undercuts the narrative of a mounting comeback in the commercial office sector, which has been troubled since the pandemic slashed the need for downtown workspace. Demand has lately concentrated in the newest, most highly-amenitized buildings, such as 110 North Wacker, meaning that Perkins Coie’s listing opens a small hole in a top-tier property.

Downtown Chicago’s office market posted positive net absorption in the first quarter — the first time in nearly two years, according to CBRE. But companies are still recalibrating their space needs post-pandemic. Sublease inventory has dropped from its pandemic peak but remains elevated at 5.6 million square feet across downtown as of March.

Perkins Coie’s sublease offering joins a wave of secondary listings from firms like VTS and Toast, both of which recently listed newly built or lightly used spaces in Fulton Market for sublease after expansion plans fizzled.

The 36th-floor Perkins Coie space includes 76 offices, 22 workstations, four conference rooms and two kitchens, offering move-in ready options attractive to cost-conscious tenants wary of new construction and rising tariffs on imported building materials. The firm still occupies the 34th and 35th floors.

The listing also comes amid a turbulent political backdrop.

Perkins Coie has been in the national spotlight since March, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring the firm from federal contracts, citing its ties to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Perkins Coie sued to block the order, winning a temporary injunction, and Trump subsequently vowed to sue the firm personally on his Truth Social platform.

Subleases like Perkins Coie’s could appeal to tenants looking to avoid lengthy buildout processes, brokers say. Still, it’s another headache for landlords, forcing them to compete against secondhand space usually offered at meaningful discounts from space still on a property owner’s hands.

— Judah Duke