Citadel Slashes Chicago Space as Griffin Era Unwinds

Citadel is quietly pulling back further from Chicago, downsizing its remaining local operations and vacating the downtown tower that once bore its name.

The hedge fund is relocating what’s left of its Chicago staff into roughly 50,000 square feet north of the Chicago River to 353 North Clark Street, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The new office amounts to about 10 percent of the space Citadel occupied in 2020, when it was the main tenant at the 37-story Citadel Center at 131 South Dearborn Street. The Loop tower is now on the market and no longer carries the firm’s branding.

The move highlights how thoroughly billionaire founder Ken Griffin has unwound Citadel’s Chicago presence since decamping to Florida. Citadel shifted its headquarters to Miami in 2022 and has steadily relocated staff to Miami and New York. The firm once employed roughly 1,100 people in Chicago. That number has dropped to about 200, according to the publication.

Griffin’s high-profile exit, driven by public complaints over taxes, crime and governance, has become a touchstone in Chicago’s ongoing debate over its business climate. Mayor Brandon Johnson is now pushing a revived version of the city’s controversial “head tax,” proposing a $33-per-employee levy on companies with at least 500 workers to fund public safety. Business groups and much of the City Council oppose the idea. Former mayor Rahm Emanuel once dubbed the tax a “job killer.”

Citadel’s pullback adds to a list of corporate departures that includes Boeing, Caterpillar and Tyson Foods. But Griffin’s move carries outsized symbolic and economic weight, stripping the city of some of its highest-paid finance jobs and a major philanthropic benefactor. The outlet reported that Griffin donated more than $600 million to Chicago institutions, including a $125 million gift to the city’s science museum, now named for him. Since relocating, he has directed hundreds of millions of dollars to Florida causes.

The retrenchment has rippled through real estate as well. Griffin reportedly took a roughly $30 million loss unloading six luxury condos in the Gold Coast. His final Chicago property went under contract this month, but has not yet closed.

Chicago’s finance sector has also felt the sting. State data show finance employment in Illinois is down nearly 3 percent since Griffin left, a blow to a city that helped invent the modern futures market and remains home to CME Group and Cboe Global Markets.

City Hall has pushed back on the narrative that Chicago is hostile to business. A spokesperson for Johnson told Bloomberg that Griffin left for political reasons, not economic ones, and pointed to recent large downtown leases as evidence of resilience. Still, Johnson’s approval ratings have sagged, voters rejected his proposed hike to the real estate transfer tax on high-end sales, and Governor JB Pritzker vowed to veto a financial transaction tax.

— Eric Weilbacher