Investment research firm Morningstar is eyeing a headquarters move to the Thompson Center, the high-profile office building designed by Helmut Jahn that Google is redeveloping in Chicago.
Morningstar is in talks to lease almost 300,000 square feet on upper floors of the 17-story building at 100 W. Randolph St. in the heart of the Loop business district, according to people familiar with the situation. Negotiations to lease the space from Google aren't complete and could fall apart.
But if a lease is completed, it would give Mountain View, California-based tech giant Google an upstairs neighbor and rent-paying tenant as it prepares to move into the structure previously owned by the state of Illinois sometime next year.
It also would be one of the largest new office leases signed in Chicago in recent years, with Morningstar committing to a modest increase in its corporate space.
Keeping Morningstar near its current office at 22 W. Washington St. also would be a win for the central part of the Loop, which has been hit hard in recent years by defections of large tenants to new skyscrapers along the Chicago River and other parts of the city.
It would allow Google to collect rent on a piece of the approximately 1.2 million-square-foot building, offsetting some of its significant costs to redevelop and own the high-profile property, while still maintaining room for Google to continue growing. Google currently has large blocks of space in two Fulton Market neighborhood buildings.
Office space shift
It’s unclear whether Google plans to keep either of those spaces west of the Loop after it moves into the Thompson Center, a property known for its soaring atrium, sometime in 2027. Google didn't respond to requests to comment from CoStar News.
Morningstar signed a five-year renewal of its lease of about 263,000 square feet within the Block 37 complex at 22 W. Washington in 2022. That came after it considered a move to redeveloped upper floors of the Macy’s retail flagship building at 24 E. Washington, Crain’s Chicago Business reported at the time.
The company founded by Chicago billionaire Joe Mansueto later resumed its search for new office space in downtown Chicago, eventually zeroing in on the Thompson Center, one of the most closely watched redevelopments in the country — and in the city’s history.
Morningstar plans to move into the Thompson Center in 2029, when its Block 37 lease expires, according to people familiar with the situation.
In a statement to CoStar News, a Morningstar spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied talks to move to the Thompson Center.
“As responsible stewards of our business, Morningstar always undertakes a real estate evaluation process when we approach the end of an office lease term,” the statement said. “Our evaluation of office options — including our existing location — includes criteria we believe is essential to developing the Morningstar employee experience of the future. We will have more to share when the evaluation process is complete.”
Inside Google’s Thompson Center overhaul
CoStar News first reported Google’s deal to buy the Chicago building in 2022, and the tech company confirmed the agreement about a month later.
Two local developers, Mike Reschke’s Prime Group and Quintin Primo’s Capri Investment Group, are overseeing initial phases of the redevelopment, with Google set to then buy the property and take over final phases of construction.
The project has been closely watched in Chicago and nationally for several reasons, including Google’s involvement.
Critics of the building completed in 1985 viewed it as too quirky, with its former salmon and light blue exterior color scheme, and inefficient to operate. Proponents, who fought for several years to have the Thompson Center spared from demolition, see the building as an important example of the work of Jahn, the German-born, Chicago-based architect who died in 2021.
Google’s construction project has taken center stage in Chicago and beyond because of its central location in the nation’s third-largest city. The project also has been closely watched because of its complexity, with several Chicago Transit Authority train lines directly connected to the building.
Downtown office workers had a front-row seat as the building named for former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson was gutted, with the building shifting from a skeletal exterior to new walls of glass last year. Last month, Google created a website with updates on the project, saying at the time that it plans to move there sometime in 2027.
Since renovations that began in 2024, CBRE brokers representing Google have been showing upper floors to prospective office tenants. Google also plans restaurants and other retail uses on lower levels.
No office or retail leases have been announced.
For the record
CBRE brokers Jason Houze and Aaron Schuster have the Thompson Center leasing assignment. Morningstar is represented by CBRE brokers Jon Milonas, Peter Livaditis and Kyle Kamin.