The world’s largest commercial real estate services firm has moved its Chicago office just a few hundred feet down the street.
Lower in elevation from its previous environs in the nation’s third-largest city, the new riverfront space reflects the ways CBRE has evolved in the past decade.
Last week, CBRE moved into a 54,961-square-foot office in the 60-story tower at 300 N. LaSalle St., completed in 2009. The location embraces many of the broader workforce trends that the firm advises clients on throughout the globe every day, such as the need to provide interesting physical spaces that will coax remote workers back to the office.
CBRE has leased the sixth and seventh floors, featuring high ceilings and a sprawling outdoor perch overlooking the Chicago River. The office gives a different vantage point than the brokerage’s previous, slightly larger space at the top of the 35-story tower nearby at 321 N. Clark St. in River North.
Dallas-based CBRE’s new layout features beefed-up technology and a greater variety of work areas than its previous Chicago home since 2014.
“We did an exhaustive search” of the broader downtown area, said Kevin Collins, managing executive director at CBRE and head of the firm’s Chicago office. “Some of the things reaffirmed that River North was a well-liked area. This is a good area to get anywhere, including the suburbs, and there’s comfort with the neighborhood.
“It did come down to the economics, too, as we considered options including staying in place at 321 [N. Clark]. I think at the end of the day, this gave us the most opportunity to represent what we want to be as a brand while keeping all the other great elements of being in this submarket.”
CoStar News first reported the firm's plans to move to 300 N. LaSalle in late 2024, and CBRE confirmed the deal in April.
CBRE’s lease is part of widespread changes at the 1.3 million-square-foot tower, owned by Newport Beach, California-based Irvine Co.
Major tenants Kirkland & Ellis and Boston Consulting Group have moved to new buildings. The law firm is down the river at the 60-story Salesforce Tower, while the consultant moved to 360 N. Green St. in Fulton Market.
Since then, Irvine has paid off its $475 million loan on the property and announced plans for $30 million in upgrades, including new outdoor spaces along the river and an expansion of the popular steakhouse Chicago Cut.
Other newly signed tenants include law firm Winston & Strawn and real estate investment trust Ventas.
CBRE’s new space, previously the conference center within Kirkland & Ellis’ sprawling office, features ceilings as high as 22 feet.
After this winter, CBRE plans to add furniture and coverings on a huge, private outdoor terrace on the sixth floor. It provides a perspective of the city that is above street level and below its former high-rise space.
“There are pretty good views considering the floors that we’re on, but the outdoor space on the river, fully dedicated to CBRE, you really can’t find that anywhere else,” Collins said. “The day we moved in the temperature was like 1 degree, yet there were still people out there checking it out.”
Meeting areas include a boardroom with a sprawling table, high-backed chairs and large video screens as well as conference rooms of varying sizes.
“When we were evaluating what we could and couldn’t do in our previous space, technology stood out,” Collins said. “A lot of what we do in Chicago is multimarket and global in nature. We’re constantly working with professionals in other cities and other countries. If you don’t have the right technology, that is very cumbersome.”
The Chicago layout follows CBRE’s universal Workplace 360 model with Chicago touches such as local art.
Workstations are unassigned, but they are separated by “neighborhoods” for specific practice groups. There also are enclosed, private areas for sensitive phone calls and small meetings.
The office also includes a mix of gathering areas such as lounges, cafes and den-like enclaves.
“There’s a template,” Collins said. “We want you to know you’re in a CBRE office when you come into it. That said, there are a lot of opportunities with art and other things to create some local flair that is representative of where you are. We want you to know that you’re in a CBRE office, but also that you’re in a CBRE office in Chicago.”