A Dutch payment processing firm has signed the largest new downtown Chicago office lease of this year in Fulton Market, almost three years after announcing plans to create a technology hub in the city.
Adyen has leased almost 97,000 square feet in the 19-story tower at 333 N. Green St., making the property 100% leased, according to people familiar with the deal.
Not including renewals, expansions or pending deals, it is the largest office lease completed in the broader downtown Chicago market in 2024, according to CoStar data.
The Amsterdam-based company said in a statement back in February 2022 that it planned to open new tech hubs in Chicago and Madrid. Since then, Adyen has embarked on a lengthy search for long-term space in the city while operating out of a small WeWork space nearby at 167 N. Green.
Adyen’s lease could signify plans for a hiring spree in the city by the financial technology company, whose clients include Facebook parent Meta, Uber, Spotify, eBay and H&M.
The company recently signed an even larger lease, for almost 150,000 square feet, in San Francisco.
Adyen’s lease is a win for building owner Sterling Bay, the Chicago developer that has played a major role in the transformation of the former meatpacking neighborhood west of the Loop business district. Fulton Market has quickly grown as an office market in recent years, with new retail, restaurants, hotels and apartment towers also flooding the area.
Sterling Bay completed the 553,442-square-foot building at 333 N. Green in 2019, ahead of the global pandemic that dampened demand for office space starting in early 2020.
Sterling Bay declined to comment. Adyen did not respond to request for comment from CoStar News.
The Chicago developer previously looked to sell the building at 333 N. Green in 2022 before rising interest rates and other factors led to a major slowdown in transactions throughout the country, leading the developer and other potential sellers to pull properties off the for-sale market.
The largest tenant at 333 N. Green is advertising giant WPP, which is offering some of its space for sublease. Another financial tech firm, Chime Financial, leased space in the building about three years ago.
Sterling Bay developed the building with partner J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which has been selling off Chicago properties it owns with Sterling Bay and others.
That includes development sites in Fulton Market and near Sterling Bay’s stalled Lincoln Yards megadevelopment on the North Side. Sterling Bay has been seeking investors to replace J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Lone Star Funds to restart Lincoln Yards.
For the record
The tenant was represented by JLL brokers Derek Johnson, Scott Becker and Stefan Ivanisevic. The landlord was represented by Sterling Bay broker Russ Cora and Austin Lusson.