Mansueto Moves Chicago Fire FC Office to Wrigley Building

Chicago Fire FC is setting up shop a few blocks north from its current offices as it pushes ahead with a new South Loop stadium.

The Major League Soccer team signed a lease for about 29,000 square feet at the Wrigley Building, 400–410 North Michigan Avenue, Crain’s reported. The Fire will relocate its headquarters to the 14th floor of the landmark tower in the coming months — a move into a property owned by Fire’s billionaire owner and Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto.

The new lease means the Fire is leaving behind more than 52,000 square feet at 1 North Dearborn Street when its lease expires early next year.

The relocation cuts the team’s office footprint nearly in half, extending a post-pandemic trend of tenant rightsizing. The Fire didn’t comment on the downsizing, but the outlet reported sources said the team didn’t need all the space it leased on Dearborn, a full floor originally built out for floral delivery firm FTD before its 2019 bankruptcy.

The new address keeps the club close to home. Mansueto purchased the Wrigley Building for $255 million in 2018. The lease helps push occupancy at the two-tower property, with the Fire’s office set to span both with a link by enclosed walkway, to roughly 90 percent, according to CoStar. Perkins & Will remains the building’s largest tenant, with about 65,000 square feet.

The Fire’s shift north comes as Mansueto and Related Midwest prepare to break ground on a $750 million, 22,000-seat stadium at The 78, Related’s 62-acre megadevelopment site along the Chicago River just south of Roosevelt Road. The Chicago City Council signed off on the plan last month, paving the way for the club to leave Soldier Field by the 2028 season.

While the Wrigley lease shores up Mansueto’s downtown real estate, it creates a new challenge for the owners of 1 North Dearborn. The 938,000-square-foot Loop tower, held by Beacon Capital Partners and MetLife, has weathered a wave of tenant churn better than most. Despite Salesforce vacating 38,000 square feet last year, the landlords quickly filled the gap with a long-term deal from early education nonprofit Start Early. The building remains 93 percent leased, bolstered by Chicago Public Schools’ headquarters.

The Fire’s new digs may be smaller, but the move anchors the team in a Mansueto-owned trophy.

— Eric Weilbacher