A Canadian developer overhauling a vacant, 33-story office tower in Chicago’s Loop business district has signed a law firm to a 90,000-square-foot lease that is one of the city’s largest deals of the year.
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg has finalized the lease at 225 W. Randolph St., according to the Telos Group, the leasing agency that represents property owner Onni Group.
In the works for several months, the agreement was completed at a time when real estate deals have slowed throughout the country because of rising interest rates, corporate cutbacks and other economic worries.
Not including renewals, there have been just four larger office leases in downtown Chicago this year, according to CoStar data, led by law firm Winston & Strawn’s approximately 150,000-square-foot deal to move to 300 N. LaSalle St.
The other two are in buildings under construction in the Fulton Market district directly west of Onni’s building on Randolph Street. Harrison Street Real Estate Capital has leased 112,004 square feet in a project that recently broke ground at 919 W. Fulton and law firm Greenberg Traurig is taking 91,644 square feet at 360 N. Green St.
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg is the first tenant to sign with Vancouver-based Onni since it bought the tower for more than $160 million in December 2021, according to CoStar data, with plans to invest another $140 million to add modern features including a rooftop deck.
The building is now branded The Bell, in a nod to its origins as the Illinois Bell Building when it opened in 1966. Designed by architecture firm Holabird & Root, it was designated a Chicago landmark in 2021.
Onni bought the tower at a steep discount to the building’s previous sale price.
Before the 2021 sale, the building had been owned for nearly a decade and a half by Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump.
Kushner bought the tower for almost $276 million in a sale-leaseback deal with AT&T in 2007. AT&T’s lease for the building expired last year, and more recently scaffolding has been around the tower at Randolph and Franklin streets as it undergoes major construction work.
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg is moving from 118,715 square feet at 2 N. LaSalle St., where its lease expires in May 2025, according to CoStar data.
The firm was founded in 1986, and its only office is in Chicago, making it one of the largest single-location law firms in the country, according to its website.
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg and Onni did not respond to requests for comment from CoStar News.
The law firm’s lease negotiations at the building previously were reported by The Real Deal Chicago.
Onni’s other investments in Chicago include other Loop office buildings at 200 N. LaSalle St. and 550 W. Van Buren St., several projects north of the Loop and west of it in Fulton Market, and plans to build thousands of apartments on and around Goose Island.
For the Record
The tenant was represented by CBRE brokers Todd Lippman and Kyle Kamin. The landlord was represented by Telos Group brokers Jack O’Brien and Matt Whipple.