Mark Whiting

President, Telos Group

Whiting’s Telos Group became Chicago’s go-to leasing firm for bigtime office landlords in 2012, challenging the traditional methods of major brokerages in marketing downtown office buildings. 

But Whiting has been a behind-the-scenes force for decades, reshaping some of Chicago’s most visible office assets, including Willis Tower, the Old Post Office and Prudential Plaza — projects that prioritized narrative, design and tenant experience just as much as rent.

Whiting built his reputation by focusing obsessively on the office user at a time when much of the industry still treated leasing as a commodity. Before founding Telos, he was a senior vice president for office leasing specialist J.F. McKinney & Associates.

That perspective carried over to Telos, which has carved out a role advising owners on how to rebrand, reposition and reprogram large, complex buildings competing for tenants in an increasingly selective market. The firm now provides leasing and strategic consulting services across roughly 26 million square feet of high-profile office space in Chicago and Minneapolis, working with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to global investors.

Launching Telos meant going head-to-head with global brokerage giants, and Whiting leaned into specialization rather than scale. Telos has helped landlords defend value as office demand softens, through emphasizing creative marketing, flexible space concepts and long-term tenant alignment over volume-driven leasing.

Whiting’s career has reflected the evolution of the office business, where success is now less about square footage leased, and more about whether a building can tell a compelling story in a market that no longer forgives complacency.