There’s even more office space up for sublease in downtown Chicago.
Direct lender Golub Capital is looking to sublease 75,000 square feet of office space across five floors at 150 S. Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago, contributing to the growing pool of sublease offerings in the area, Crain’s Chicago reported.
The company will retain two floors for its own use, the outlet said.
The move would reduce Golub Capital’s downtown Chicago office footprint by almost one-third, as it currently occupies an additional 53,000 square feet in a neighboring building.
The sublease listing adds to the already substantial amount of downtown office space available for sublease, which is more than 8 million square feet, an increase from about 6 million square feet a year ago and 3.3 million square feet at the start of the pandemic, Crain’s said, citing data from CBRE.
The surge in sublease availability is primarily due to remote work triggered by the pandemic, resulting in a record-high availability of office space in the central business district.
The recent trend of companies shedding excess office space has put additional pressure on office landlords, who are already grappling with a weakened demand for workspace.
Tech companies, in particular, have announced mass layoffs, further exacerbating the situation.
High-profile examples include Salesforce and Meta, which listed a combined 125,000 square feet of their downtown offices for sublease.
Golub Capital, which specializes in loans to private equity-backed borrowers, hasn’t commented on why it’s downsizing, the outlet reported Its lease at 150 S. Wacker Drive runs until November 2028.
The company has been a tenant in the building since 2006 and is currently the second-largest occupant across both 100 and 150 S. Wacker Drive. These properties, totaling nearly 1.2 million square feet, have been owned by a venture led by billionaire Marvin Herb, the former Coca-Cola bottling mogul, since 2002.
Other high-profile subleases in Chicago this year include Publicis Groupe, a Paris-based owner of marketing and media companies, which listed 350,000 square feet of the office space it leases across 14 floors in the 50-story building at 35 West Wacker Drive earlier this year. The listing, which is being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield, is the largest contiguous block of available office space on Chicago’s secondary market.
— Ted Glanzer