The owner of a 51-story office tower overlooking the Chicago River has signed Capital One to a long-term lease extension and is close to a 370,000-square-foot deal for engineering firm Sargent & Lundy that would be the largest new deal downtown in three years.
Capital One on Thursday confirmed in a statement that it has extended its lease at 77 W. Wacker Drive.
“This extension will continue the more than decade-long presence at 77 W. Wacker and Capital One’s ongoing investment in the experience of our Chicago associates,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The statement did not say how much space the extension is for, but people familiar with the deal say it is about 150,000 square feet. The company currently leases 186,014 square feet, according to CoStar data.
While Capital One is cutting some space, Sargent & Lundy is set to expand significantly in a relocation of its headquarters, according to people familiar with its plans. The firm is in advanced negotiations to move to about 370,000 square feet in the 32-year-old tower.
If the Sargent & Lundy deal is completed as expected, it would be the largest new office lease in Chicago’s downtown office market since Kirkland & Ellis signed on for 662,400 square feet in 60-story Salesforce Tower in 2021, when that trophy tower was still under construction.
The leases at 77 W. Wacker, earlier reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, come after years of increasing vacancy in the tower, including moves or pending moves by law firms Jones Day, Morgan Lewis & Bockius and Greenberg Traurig.
Those firms’ deals to move to new towers have been part of a broader reshuffling of tenants throughout Chicago and other larger cities, with many tenants cutting space as they relocate amid persisting remote and hybrid work trends.
Before the new deals, 77 W. Wacker was just 64% leased, according to CoStar data.
Sargent & Lundy and the tower’s longtime owner, the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CoStar News.
Designed by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, the tower is known for being topped by a Greek-style pediment. Bofill died in 2022.
For the record
Sargent & Lundy is represented by Savills brokers Joe Learner and Robert Sevim. Capital One is represented by JLL brokers Kyle Harding and Deanna Becker. The landlord is represented by CBRE brokers Mike Kazmierczak, Kelsey Scheive and Aaron Schuster.