WPP Unloads 80K SF Onto Chicago Office Sublease Market

An advertising giant is shrinking its Fulton Market footprint, adding to the glut of sublease space plaguing Chicago’s office sector.

WPP wants to shed nearly 80,000 square feet, or 31 percent of its 253,000-square-foot occupancy, in Sterling Bay’s 19-story building at 333 North Green Street, Crain’s reported. JLL’s David Miller and Stefan Ivanisevic are marketing the space.

Separately, WPP put 45,000 square feet in the building up for sublease in January. The two listings account for almost half of its footprint at the site.

WPP signed its lease in the 553,400-square-foot building in 2017, and it runs through 2035. The property, developed by Sterling Bay in 2020, is roughly 90 percent leased, which is better than average.

Chicago’s office occupancy reached a record low average of 75 percent in the first quarter, according to CBRE.

While WPP’s reason for shedding space remains unclear, it mirrors an increasingly common trend in Chicago, driven by the remote-work movement. A record-high 8.2 million square feet flooded Chicago’s sublease market in 2023, compared to 3.3 million square feet when the pandemic started.

Financial services firm Charles Schwab also just hired Cresa to find a taker for a combined 135,000 square feet of sublease space across two properties, at 600 West Chicago Avenue and 150 South Wacker Drive.

Chicago’s sublease market has notched a few wins in recent months, though. GrubHub is in talks to occupy 90,000 square feet from Paypal in the 4 million-square-foot Merchandise Mart building. Plus, digital textbook company RedShelf just subleased about 20,000 square feet in the 22-story building at 175 West Jackson Boulevard from employee health software company WellRight.

—Quinn Donoghue