JLL is in early talks to move its global headquarters to Boeing’s former corporate home in a deal that would give the world’s second-largest commercial real estate services firm space overlooking the Chicago River.
The company is considering a lease on upper floors of the 36-story tower at 100 N. Riverside Plaza, according to people familiar with the situation.
The exact size of the deal is unclear, but it is expected to be smaller than the 201,628 square feet that JLL now leases across the Loop business district at the 83-story Aon Center.
Chicago-based JLL’s talks to move to 100 N. Riverside are preliminary, and the firm is exploring other options in an office leasing market that has been challenging in recent years.
If a deal is completed, it would represent a big change of scenery for JLL, a company that has occupied the city’s fourth-largest skyscraper. JLL’s longtime offices overlook Millennium Park at the eastern edge of the Loop about a mile from the river.
A signed lease with a large, publicly traded company also would be an important step in the redevelopment of the building by Houston-based Hines and New York-based Stahl Organization.
Those firms teamed up to buy the leasehold interest in the building from the aerospace giant for $22 million last year. Stahl already owned the land beneath the tower as part of a ground lease that runs through 2084.
Since the purchase, Hines and Stahl have been working on yet-to-be-unveiled plans to upgrade the 36-year-old tower and bring in new tenants.
Hines declined to comment. JLL and Stahl did not respond to requests for comment from CoStar News.
Boeing sold the Chicago tower after moving its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia, in 2022. Boeing agreed to lease back 70,440 square feet on floors 27 through 29 as part of the sale in November 2025.
Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago from Seattle in 2001, initially signing a 15-year lease before later buying the property for $165.2 million in 2005.
The top seven floors, or about 162,000 square feet, are available as a contiguous block, according to CoStar data.
Although the tower is decades old and in need of extensive renovations, industry professionals consider it to be one of the highest-quality properties along the river with a large block of available space. The lack of big, high-quality spaces follows years of limited new construction.
Headquarters decision gains urgency
JLL has been looking to refresh its space in recent years, particularly after moves by rivals to new spaces with river views. The world’s largest brokerage, CBRE, recently opened a new office in the 60-story tower at 300 N. LaSalle St. Newmark recently moved into never-used space in the new, 60-story Salesforce Tower.
The world’s third-largest brokerage, Cushman & Wakefield, has its headquarters in the tower at 225 W. Wacker Drive overlooking the river.
JLL’s ongoing evaluation of its headquarters space took on added significance when the Aon Center’s owner, New York-based 601W, recently struck a deal for Newmark to take over property management duties previously held by JLL. That was part of a new contract covering property and project management for more than 21 million square feet throughout the country.
JLL’s lease at the Aon Center expires in May 2032, according to CoStar data. A termination option would allow JLL to leave sooner, according to people familiar with the situation.
The loss of a major tenant would be a new challenge for 601W, which is in negotiations to extend the maturity date of a commercial mortgage-backed securities loan on the property after a plunge in value in recent years.
JLL put 61,281 square feet of its Aon Center space on the sublease market in 2023, but no deals were struck to give up the excess space.
For the record
The tenant is represented by JLL broker Meredith O’Connor. The landlord is represented by Hines broker Brian Atkinson.