Berlin Packaging Moves HQ to Vornado’s Merchandise Mart

Berlin Packaging is joining the stampede to the Mart.

The firm is relocating its global headquarters to the Merchandise Mart with a new 38,600-square-foot lease, Crain’s reported. It’s one of a series of leasing wins for Vornado Realty Trust’s heavily renovated River North landmark while another setback for the tenant’s current West Loop home.

Berlin, a packaging giant, is taking space on the Mart’s fourth floor, where it will move from Tishman Speyer’s 525 West Monroe Street. The tenant’s current lease for 34,000 square feet runs through August 2026. Berlin confirmed the move in an email to the outlet following a social media announcement but did not disclose lease terms.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Andy Heymann brokered the lease for Berlin. Stream Realty’s Andrea Saewitz, Wendy Katz and Ben Cleveland handle leasing at the Mart.

The deal is the latest in a string of tenant wins for the 3.7 million-square-foot Merchandise Mart since Vornado completed an extensive capital improvement program. The overhaul included a $40 million upgrade a few years ago and a subsequent round of renovations to the first two floors finished last year.

Companies are chasing updated space that lures employees back to the office, and Vornado’s strategy appears to be paying off. Medline Industries last year tripled its Mart footprint to 161,000 square feet. Highdive, a fast-growing ad agency, signed on for a new headquarters in the building in December. Grubhub and Kin Insurance also moved into the Mart via subleases last year.

Meanwhile, Berlin’s upcoming departure compounds challenges at 525 West Monroe, a 25-story Tishman Speyer–owned built in 1983. The property is roughly 67 percent leased — below the downtown average — despite a recent $15 million lobby renovation and two anchor tenant renewals last year from law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman and insurer Chubb, both of which downsized.

Tishman refinanced the building in 2021 with a $256 million loan from a Blackstone affiliate. A spokesperson for the landlord declined to comment on Berlin’s pending exit.

Berlin Packaging was founded in 1988 and has since scaled to nearly $2.5 billion in annual revenue. It was acquired by Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2014 and recapitalized in 2021 with backing from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

— Judah Duke