CHICAGO-Horwood Marcus & Berk is moving into 29,000 squarefeet at 500 W. Madison by December. In another example of mid-sizedprofessional firms taking advantage of a tenant’s market, the lawfirm is relocating and expanding from its 22,000 square feet at 180N. LaSalle.

Rick Schuham, EVP and director with the Chicago office ofStudley, says Horwood signed a lease for cheaper than the localcomparable asking rate of $18 to $19 per square foot. “The buildingthey were in only had a floorplate of 22,000 square feet, and theyneeded more space, but didn’t want to be on multiple floors,”Schuham tells GlobeSt.com. “The deal, for more than 10 years butless than 15 years, was done significantly lower than the askingprice.”

The 1.4-million-square-foot 500 W. Madison building has about276,000 square feet available, Horwood says. That figure is similarto the vacancy for the entire downtown office market, at about17.5%. The city is now overbuilt, Schuham says. “If you’re a50,000-square-foot tenant and you’re not concerned about location,there are more than 40 options right now in the CBD,” he says. Hesays one attribute tenants are looking for is finished space, whichcan be turned around cheaper than paying for a raw build-out.