Tishman Speyer Scores Freight Broker’s Chicago Lease Expansion

At a time when many downtown office tenants are downsizing, one logistics player is making the most of Chicago’s centrality and doing the opposite.

Austin, Texas-based Arrive Logistics, a major freight brokerage connecting shippers with trucking carriers, signed a lease for 77,700 square feet across three floors at 30 South Wacker Drive, expanding its space by 21,000 square feet, according to property owner Tishman Speyer and first reported by Crain’s. Located at the CME Center in the West Loop, the firm plans on bringing 100 new jobs to Chicago next year.

The deal extended Arrive’s commitment to the two-tower complex through 2037. It’s the third expansion for Arrive since the firm set up shop there a decade ago. Terry Herlihy of NAI Hiffman represented Arrive in the deal. Ellen May and Isabella Rapken negotiated for the landlord.

The move bucks the broader trend of contraction across the Loop, where downtown office users have collectively shed more than 2 million square feet over the past two years, according to CBRE.

Many firms are rethinking their office space needs amid hybrid work patterns, leaving landlords scrambling to fill gaps.

But transportation logistics firms — long anchored in Chicago — have proved an exception. Companies such as MoLo Solutions, Loadsmart and Total Quality Logistics have all grown their downtown presence since 2020, riding a post-pandemic surge in e-commerce and supply chain demand.

Arrive has about 470 employees in its Chicago office, and its headcount is expected to top 570 next year. The company’s fast growth — projected to lift this year’s revenue 35 percent year-over-year to $2.5 billion — drove the need for more space. The firm also touted Chicago’s talent pool.

Arrive’s employees are largely in the office full-time, and the lease will consolidate its offices within CME Center in a contiguous space. The buildout will be phased through next year, with completion slated for October.

New York-based Tishman Speyer recently modernized the CME Center lobby and retained other key tenants — including BP, which earlier this year renewed its 240,000-square-foot lease through 2032. The 2.3 million-square-foot complex is about 85 percent leased, per CoStar.

— Eric Weilbacher