Ropes & Gray is doubling down on Wacker Drive, handing a win to landlords Manulife and Allianz.
The Boston-based law firm renewed its lease at 191 North Wacker Drive and expanded by more than 26,000 square feet, bringing its total to nearly 105,000 at the 37-story office tower, according to an announcement of the deal by commercial real estate brokerage Transwestern.
The transaction marks a departure from the recent norm of downsizing in a Chicago office market still reeling from the pandemic, where many tenants are slashing space and landlords are dangling costly concessions to keep them in place and reel in new ones.
Vacancy in the central business district has notched record highs this year, fueled by remote and hybrid work patterns and rising sublease inventory, with the rate rising to 27 percent in July, according to CBRE. Against that backdrop, a blue-chip tenant adding space is a notable win for 734,000-square-foot Wacker Drive tower’s landlord, a joint venture of Manulife and Allianz.
The deal comes after it lured investment firm Neuberger Berman into a 52,000-square-foot lease in a relocation from 190 South LaSalle Street as well as another law firm, Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum, into an expanded 43,000-square-foot space. Goldman previously rented about 22,000 square feet at 200 South Wacker, which sold earlier this year out of financial distress to investor Patrick Halloran and Chicago-based Glenstar.
At the time of Neuberger’s lease, 191 North Wacker was 72 percent occupied, meaning the relocations and Ropes & Gray’s expansion have boosted the property to well above downtown Chicago’s average.
The law firm didn’t immediately return requests for additional details about the lease expansion, such as the length of its term.
Its growth comes as 191 North Wacker is set to unveil a 26,000-square-foot amenity center later this year, the kind of asset that tenants insist on having access to in today’s market as corporate leaders try convincing workers that commuting into offices is worthwhile. The addition will include a tenant lounge, flexible conference facilities, a wellness center and a presentation theater, part of a broader push by landlords to make Class A buildings more competitive as tenants demand high-end perks from their offices.
Ropes & Gray has been a tenant at 191 North Wacker since 2013 and has had a Chicago presence since 2008, when it started with three local partners and rapidly grew its headcount in the city. It began with a sublease of 38,000 square feet in the building 12 years ago.
CBRE’s Matthew Dobry and Geoffrey Euston represented Ropes & Gray in the recent negotiations, while the landlord’s leasing team included Transwestern’s Katie Steele, Kathleen Bertrand and Eric Myers.
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