A data and analytics consulting firm is more than doubling its headquarters space in a move within Chicago’s Loop business district, bucking the trend of companies shedding real estate nationwide.

Analytics8 has leased 13,000 square feet in the office tower at 55 E. Monroe St., where the firm plans to move in October, the company said. The firm now occupies 6,000 square feet nearby at 150 N. Michigan Ave.

The deal, though relatively small, is a rare example of a company significantly increasing its space since the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020. Because of remote-work trends and corporate layoffs, many companies are slashing their footprint as leases expire or putting blocks of space on the sublease market.

Analtyics8, on the other hand, is expanding its space as it looks to hire dozens of employees in Chicago, CEO David Fussichen said. The firm also wants to create more reason for workers to come to the office, he said.

“We bust at the seams when we have everyone here in the office,” Fussichen told CoStar News. “Chicago is our headquarters, and we want to make it a significant hub both for our workers and for entertaining clients.”

Analytics8 has 67 employees in the Chicago area, with plans to grow to as many as 150 by 2025, Fussichen said. The firm currently has 200 employees in cities throughout the country and offices in London and Sofia, Bulgaria.

New space in Chicago will provide a bigger mix of spaces for days when a large percentage of employees are in the office, Fussichen said. It will include about 30 unassigned workstations, some offices for company leadership, huddle rooms, small and large conference rooms, a cafe and a marketing lab, he said.

“We want to build out the space for where we’re going as a company. We’re kind of looking for our forever home for our headquarters,” he said.

Analytics8 will be moving within the eastern area of the Loop, remaining near attractions such as Millennium Park and Michigan Avenue shopping.

The company helps clients such as Anheuser-Busch, Crocs, Sonos, Milo’s Tea, GlaxoSmithKline and Thoma Bravo make data-driven decisions. Analytics8’s services include data engineering, data management, analytics and artificial intelligence.

Its 29th-floor lease is among 90,000 square feet of new leases and renewals signed at 55 E. Monroe St. in the past seven months, according to Colliers International, the brokerage that represents building owner PGIM Real Estate in leasing. PGIM is part of Prudential Financial.

New Jersey-based PGIM bought the office portion of the 49-story tower for $367.3 million in 2015. The top nine floors are separately owned residential condominiums.

The nearly 1.25 million-square-foot office property is 81.3% leased, Colliers broker Michael Lirtzman said. The largest tenant is engineering firm Sargent & Lundy, with 347,224 square feet.

At a time when tenants have increasingly worried about the financial condition of their building’s owner, a building with a longtime owner and no debt stands out, Lirtzman said. Upcoming plans to invest millions of dollars on upgrading amenities also helps at a time when many landlords face financial difficulties, he said.

“Questions tenants used to ask first were how the space looks, where it’s located and what the views and amenities are like,” Lirtzman said. “The financials are becoming one of those initial questions. They want to know the person they’re shaking hands with is going to continue to be their landlord.”

The building Analytics8 is leaving, for example, is expected to sell to Chicago developer R2 for about $70 million, or less than the value of the debt on a 41-story tower at 150 N. Michigan that last sold for almost $121 million in 2017.

Expansions such as Analytics8 aren’t completely unheard of, as digital parking reservations company SpotHero showed with a deal to move to 32,930 square feet at 125 S. Clark St. — up from 28,000 square feet it currently occupies elsewhere in the building.

But most leases since the onset of COVID-19 have more closely resembled the recent deal by beer giant Molson Coors to move to 83,848 square feet of brand-new space at BMO Tower at 320 S. Canal St. It is leaving behind about 167,000 square feet across the river at 250 S. Wacker Drive.

The tenant was represented by Bespoke Commercial Real Estate broker Victor Sanmiguel. The landlord was represented by Colliers International brokers Lirtzman, Marina Zelenkova and Michelle Levy.

This story was updated July 25 to correct the description of Sargent & Lundy from law firm to engineering firm.