CHICAGO—Accesso Partners, LLC has been one of the most active of the many investors in office properties that have swooped into the Chicago region over the past several years. It has bought seven downtown Loop and suburban Chicago office buildings covering 3.4 million square feet, and officials of the Hallandale Beach, FL-based firm say the upgrades it instituted at the properties are bringing some that were class B into the top-tier.

20 N. Clark St., for example, a 35-story office tower recently bought by the company, has just signed 17 new and existing tenants to leases totaling about 70,000 square feet.

The building has recently undergone complete lobby renovation and added a tenant amenity floor including a fitness center, conference center and Wi-Fi lounge.

"We are now at about 82% occupancy and about to go to 85%," Paul Gaines, Accesso's asset manager for Chicago, tells GlobeSt.com. Although the occupancy was around 79% when it bought the building, the tenant roster has undergone big changes. "We have had a considerable number of tenants that have vacated and we have replaced them." Furthermore, "we have been replacing them with higher-paying tenants that are hitting the market rents."

New tenants include Brennan Garvey LLC, health care and litigation law firm; Kitch, Drutchas, Wagner, Valitutti & Sherbrook, a 45-year-old regional law firm; WK & Associates, LLC, managing consulting firm; Computing Source of Illinois, legal technology consultants and Regas Frezados & Dallas, LLP, Chicago business attorneys.

Three tenants expanded their offices: ADR Systems, mediators and arbitrators; Sudekum, Cassidy & Shulruff, Chtd., trial lawyers, and The Hanover Insurance Group.

Renewal leases were signed by Charity & Associates, PC, law firm; S. David Goldberg, insurance brokers; ICI Staffing, human resources search and staffing; Flamm, Teibloom & Stanko, Ltd., business and real estate law firm; Dresner Partners, investment bankers and Todd Feiwell, attorney at law.

The new sixth floor fitness center was designed by LifeStart Wellness Network, Inc. of Chicago. It has locker rooms, showers, towel service, Stairmasters and a weight room, and tenants can access it 24/7. A new conference center with state-of-the-art audio and video capabilities and seating for up to 75 is also located on the sixth floor along with a Wi-Fi Lounge open to all employees in the building. Accesso also gave the building's lobby a contemporary look, a new granite reception desk and a brighter color scheme.

In addition to renovating and refreshing the building, Accesso has launched a "Spec Suite" program that offers designed and built-out offices for tenants needing quick occupancy. “We design and build out a suite without a tenant in various sizes and space plans prior to identifying a specific tenant,” says Gaines. “Some spec suites are open space plans, some have individual offices but all are available for very quick occupancy for either newly-formed firms or for tenants who might want to expand." Currently, six tenants have moved into spec suites.

In the past few months, Gaines says, many tenants and brokers who previously may not have considered 20 N. Clark St. "have rediscovered the building. I think we will get to a stable occupancy of more than 90% in the next twelve months."

As reported in GlobeSt.com, in the last five months, Accesso Partners has also leased 149,780 square feet to new and existing tenants in its adjacent office towers at 200 and 230 W. Monroe in Chicago's West Loop.

Currently, the company's general goal "is to hold properties for five to ten years and then sell. But in this market you sometimes get approached."