CHICAGO-Accesso Partners LLC has just completed a 'pocket park' with seating for 50 between its 200 and 230 W. Monroe office towers, newly renamed Monroe Plaza. The company has begun the second phase of upgrades to the 1.2 million square foot property, and the new park is a good example of the kinds of amenities CBD landlords now use to attract discerning tenants.

The non-smoking park, also called Monroe Plaza, is just off the sidewalk and open to tenant employees and the public “to relax, meet, have lunch and perhaps collaborate on new ideas,” says Ariel Bentata, Accesso's co-founder and managing partner-investments. “We've been able to bring a 3000 square foot dead space between the buildings back to life, beautify a portion of West Monroe and make a contribution to the cityscape.”

“There is a lot of underutilized public space in Chicago,” says Michael M. Edwards, president and chief executive officer of Chicago Loop Alliance. “In fact, there are 2000 miles of alleys in the Loop, sometimes referred to as cow paths, spaces between buildings that were originally mandated by law for storing trash and the reason downtown Chicago looks so pristine today.”

“With Monroe Plaza, Accesso Partners is on the leading edge of a trend where property owners are utilizing that space to bring together people to have a rich urban experience,” he adds. And Chicago is using these different privately-owned spaces in the Loop as a once-a-month, after work music, art, beer and wine celebration called Activate.

In the past few years, Accesso has become an extremely active player in the region. It has bought or invested in seven class A office properties in Chicagoland covering 3.4 million square feet.

Separately, Accesso has named Cushman & Wakefield as leasing brokers for 23-story 200 W. Monroe and 29-story 230 W. Monroe. In phase two, the two buildings will receive further enhancements to the lobbies, entrances, corridors and common areas of both buildings.

Monroe Plaza already has a full suite of amenities, including a fully-equipped fitness center, and an AV equipped conference and boardroom with adjacent game room. A Chipotle restaurant, Cosi Deli, Freshi, Jersey Mike's Subs, UPS dropbox and JP Morgan Chase Bank are on the premises.

Andrea Saewitz, executive managing director, heads Cushman & Wakefield's Accesso leasing team, which also includes Ben Cleveland, director and Mark Baby, managing director of agency leasing.

Accesso recently built 12 rent-ready spec suites, six in each tower, ranging from 1500 to 15,000 square feet. Paul Gaines, Accesso's asset manager for Chicago properties, tells GlobeSt.com that Monroe Plaza is “80% leased overall.” New tenants this year include TmaxSoft, an enterprise software firm that leased 16,207 square feet, Aprimo, marketing operations consultants that took 13,868 square feet, and Placester, real estate technology consultants, with 8,668 square feet.

Accesso plans to look for new acquisitions in the Chicago CBD due to its strong fundamentals, says Brian Rosen, managing director-acquisitions. “We have funds from our discretionary capital as well as co-investor capital to deploy in Chicago in 2017.”

In the past few years, Accesso has become an extremely active player in the region. It has bought or invested in seven class A office properties in Chicagoland covering 3.4 million square feet.

Instant Insights /

CBD Getting New Park Spaces

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