Facebook is looking to lease more than 200,000 square feet of space in the freshly-built 35-story office tower at 151 North Franklin Street, signaling a sharp expansion of its stake in the city’s booming tech sector.
The Loop office tower, built by developer John Buck, has yet to secure a tenant for more than 250,000 square feet of space on the building’s top 10 floors, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Facebook now operates out of 191 North Wacker Drive, where it expanded its offices by more than 100,000 square feel last year.
At the same time, Google is looking to add another 100,000 square feet of office space in Fulton Market, three years after debuting its more than 350,000-square-foot Midwest headquarters in the scorching neighborhood.
The tech giant is reportedly looking at several floors in the 12-story complex being built by Sterling Bay at 210 North Carpenter Street, which is projected to open later this year.
Facebook is represented by Cushman & Wakefield. John Buck is represented by Bill Rolander and Jon Cordell of Newmark Knight Frank.
Google is represented by Kyle Kamin and Cal Wessman of CBRE. Sterling Bay and 1KFulton owner American Realty Advisors are represented by Sterling Bay leasing director Michael Lirtzman.
John Buck returned to the C-suite of his namesake company last month, just before the company landed Facebook as the sole tenant for the 756,000-square-foot office tower it developed in San Francisco with Chicago-based Golub & Co. and MetLife.
Google’s global empire now spans at least 70 offices and 15 data centers across 50 countries, combining for real estate assets valued at almost $15 billion. [Chicago Tribune] — Alex Nitkin