The namesake tenant in Chicago’s new Salesforce Tower skyscraper has completed one of the city’s largest office move-ins since the onset of COVID-19, providing a high-profile example of how office design and use have changed since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
Business software giant Salesforce celebrated the completion of its space in the 60-story skyscraper along the Chicago River on Tuesday. It was one of the few major office projects to go under construction anywhere in the country in the opening weeks of the health crisis.
Some collaborative space was doubled and there are lots of light spaces and plants that differentiate the work space from the home offices, dining room tables and other domestic spots where workers toiled as a result of lockdowns when construction first began.
Law firm Kirkland & Ellis leased most of the remaining space in the 1.2 million-square-foot tower during construction. Mayor Brandon Johnson joined the event tours of the portions of the 500,000-square-foot space that San Francisco-based Salesforce leased ahead of the pandemic, an anchor lease that allowed the tower’s developers — led by Hines and the Kennedy family — to break ground about three weeks into the pandemic in April 2020.
“This is a big moment for us,” the company’s head of real estate, Relina Bulchandani, said during a tour of the space on the Wolf Point site along the convergence of the north and south branches of the river.
“We’ve been working on this tower for six years, and for us our towers are not just real estate,” said Bulchandani, executive vice president of real estate and workplace services. “Our buildings are really our culture and values coming to life for all stakeholders: employees, the community, customers and our partners. It’s really our brand and our values. It’s really an expression of that.”
She describes the Chicago tower as the company’s ninth and most environmentally sustainable tower throughout the world, with all-electric mechanical systems.
The spaces are an example of how much offices have changed since most of the country began working remotely in March 2020, with lots of plants, light-filled floors and open, collaborative areas.
Social lounges, or large, flexible work areas, are on each of Salesforce’s floors. They were redesigned to become twice as large as initially planned, Bulchandani said.
Flexible Space
Rather than assigned seating, employees can move freely throughout the tower during the day. Entire teams can book “neighborhoods” to work together.
The layout includes home-like furnishings and comforts such as kitchens and coffee bar areas. Some areas can accommodate individual workers or small groups, while also being reconfigured for large gatherings.
“We know during the pandemic folks spent a lot of time in their homes,” Bulchandani said. “We really went to a residential, comfortable look and feel.”
She said Salesforce has been “incredibly focused” on learning throughout the pandemic about how employees want to work.
The full opening of Salesforce’s space brings together 2,200 Chicago employees who previously worked out of four nearby office buildings and one in west suburban Naperville, Illinois, the company said. About 800 employees are expected to work in the building on an average day, the company said, reflecting the remote and hybrid work schedules that have persisted in the aftermath of widespread office shutdowns in 2020.
In-person work is determined by team leaders.
Recent Completions
Some workers have been reporting to the new tower since as early as May, but some floors — including the so-called 'Ohana Floors on levels 56 and 57 — were only recently completed. “'Ohana” refers to “family” in Hawaiian.
The company said it has now built and occupies about 360,000 square feet.
CoStar News first reported in March that Salesforce was looking to sublease as much as 125,000 square feet in the tower. On Tuesday, the company said it continues to evaluate options for subleasing some of its floors to other tenants, but no deals have been completed.
Salesforce also is looking to sublease space in other cities, after early this year disclosing plans to shed real estate and reduce its employee count by 10%.
The ‘Ohana Floors, a feature atop Salesforce Tower properties in other cities, can be used by employees and clients during the day to meet and enjoy skyline views. They also can be used free of charge on nights and weekends by nonprofit organizations, a feature praised by Chicago’s new mayor when he spoke during the ceremony.
Hines’ recent completion of the trophy office building at 333 W. Wolf Point Plaza completed a three-tower development of the Wolf Point site, following two residential towers.
The Kennedy family has owned the site since 1945, when it was purchased by the patriarch, Joseph Kennedy. The project is now led by his grandson, Chris Kennedy. He is the son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and longtime U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy.