CBD Owners Working Hard to Get Tech Cos.

CHICAGO—High-tech firms increasingly look to the CBD when searching for new space, and downtown landlords have begun making extra efforts to sign them up as tenants. One North Interactive, a digital agency at 1 N. Dearborn, for example, has just decided to relocate its headquarters to more than 17,000 square feet on the 15th floor of 222 North LaSalle St., a decision made easy by the landlord's plan to design and build out a suite for the company.

“Tech companies typically want to move quickly,” Savills Studley executive managing director Lisa Davidson tells GlobeSt.com. “They don't want to be the ones to go out and hire an architect. The answer to that has usually been occupying spec suites, but this is more customized and appealing.”

Davidson and Savills Studley senior managing director Tiffany Winne negotiated the lease for One North. Joseph Gordon of Tishman Speyer represented the landlord.

One North has about 75 employees, but plans to expand its workforce to nearly double that number, Davidson adds. It could have rebuilt its present space, but company officials felt this would have disrupted operations. And its new office, which it will occupy by June, will accommodate the workforce expansion on roughly the same footprint. “It's not just a functional space, but a space which is branded specifically for them.”

The landlord “really made an aggressive offer since they want to get tech companies in their building,” Davidson says. And by paying for the build-out, the landlord was able to use its size to accomplish much more for a lower price than One North could have done on its own.

“222 North LaSalle is the ideal location for One North Interactive; it offers stellar amenities, creative space for improved collaboration among teams and with clients, and a high-energy central Loop location that will help us attract top-notch talent,” says One North Interactive co-founder and chief operating officer Jeff Hirner.

The building is a historic redevelopment project that now features indoor parking, a fitness center and river views with easy access to expressways, trains and bus lines. The building also earned a LEED-Silver certification from the US Green Building Council.

“One North certainly preferred older-type buildings,” Davidson adds, especially ones like 222 LaSalle that also offer modern office space. “I feel like the owner of every older building in the Loop is spending millions of dollars to attract tech companies.”