CHICAGO-North American Co. for Life and Health Insurance has agreed to lease 41,600 square feet at Congress Center, at 525 W. Van Buren, for its headquarters. The company cut its former occupancy in half for the new 10-year deal.

Cal Wessman, EVP with CB Richard Ellis, says it took about a year to negotiate the aggressive agreement at the 522,000-square-foot building. He was joined by Scott Brandwein and Jon Milonas in putting together the deal, while Mark Parrish and Sara Spicklemire with Grubb & Ellis represented the group of investors that own the property.

The deal reportedly allows the tenant to consolidate its space to one and a half floors. Tenant-favoring leases are still popular, Wessman tells GlobeSt.com, because of the still-slow economy. “Landlords are eager to get any new tenants out there, and are really motivated to keep existing tenants, like in this case,” he says.

Congress Center is mostly know n for its leases to government users, such as the GSA’s occupancy of about 185,000 square feet for the IRS, ATF and Secret Service. Other tenants in the 520,000-square-foot office structure include Amtrak and Azko Nobel. Amenities at the building include a two-story lobby, 24-hour monitored security and a heated underground parking garage.

Wessman would not comment on the lease rate, though a Grubb & Ellis Realty Advisors Web site listing shows asking rents at $17-$23 per square foot at the building. He did say there has been a slight uptick in activity, but not enough to yet affect building rates. It will stay a tenant’s market, he says. “I haven’t seen a lot of expansion, it’s more renewals or even decreases in space, keeping the market soft. There will probably be more absorption in 2011, but not to a point where it’s going to get substantially tighter, we’re probably a couple years away from that,” Wessman says.

 

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