In the News - 320 South Canal Adds Three Tenants
New 52-Story Office Tower Near Chicago’s Union Station Adds Three Tenants
Law Firm Skadden Is the Largest of the New Occupiers at BMO Tower, Which Opened Earlier This Year
By Ryan Ori
CoStar News
July 6, 2022 | 4:41 P.M.
A 52-story office tower that recently opened alongside Chicago’s Union Station has added three tenants that will lease about 153,000 square feet combined, helping fill some high-end space that went under construction just before the onset of COVID-19.
The new leases come just a few months after the opening of BMO Tower, the early stages of which Chicago firms Riverside Investment & Development and Convexity Properties built while downtown was virtually shut down because of the health crisis.
The largest of the new leases is an 89,100-square-foot deal by law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the developers said in a statement.
In the other deals, the National Futures Association, a group that oversees futures trading, has leased 55,364 square feet for its headquarters, and insurer Ullico is taking 8,445 square feet.
“This most recent activity is a testament to not only the quality of the building, but also the desirability of the West Loop,” Rafael Carreira, a Riverside executive vice president, said in the statement. “These leases prove that companies are ready to make long-term commitments to office space with an eye on a robust return to work for their employees.”
About 40% of the nearly 1.5 million square feet of space remains available, according to the developers.
The largest tenants in the building are BMO Financial, which received naming rights and signage atop the tower with its 500,000-square-foot lease, and two other law firms: Chapman & Cutler with 97,101 square feet and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath with 80,819.
BMO Tower’s developers are looking to fill the remaining space during a challenging time for office landlords, with many companies scaling back their space or putting off long-term decisions as many employees work remotely.
There is 96.9 million square feet of available office space in the Chicago area, or 19% of the entire inventory, according to CoStar data.
Despite those challenges, new high-end office towers near the Chicago River have outperformed the overall downtown market in recent years, including the 55-story Bank of America Tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive that Riverside and Howard Hughes Corp. completed early in the pandemic. The sale of a controlling interest in the tower recently valued that building at more than $1 billion.
Riverside, founded in 2010 by John O’Donnell, also developed the 54-story office tower at 150 N. Riverside Plaza along the river.
Less than a block west of BMO Tower, Riverside also plans a 14-story apartment tower at 566 W. Van Buren St., the firm’s first residential development in Chicago.
Riverside also is building a 32-story office tower in Denver and plans a three-tower residential and office development in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Crain’s Chicago Business earlier reported talks by Skadden and the National Futures Association to lease space in BMO Tower.
Those two tenants are decreasing space in the relocations, adding to overall vacancy in the market.
Skadden now leases 167,874 square feet at 155 N. Wacker Drive, and the National Futures Association leases 71,125 square feet at 300 S. Riverside Plaza, according to CoStar data.
The project, designed by Goettsch Partners, includes a 1.5-acre park and an underground walkway connecting directly to commuter train lines in Union Station.
For the Record
Skadden Arps was represented by JLL brokers Dan McCarthy and Bill Rogers. The National Futures Association was represented by CBRE brokers Mark Keebler and Brad Serot. Ullico was represented by CBRE brokers Brady Wolfe and Bill Sheehy. The building owners were represented in the deals by Riverside’s Christy Domin and Drew Nieman.