In a rare win for the beleaguered suburban office sector, media giant Comcast signed a 61,295-square-foot office lease at Affinius Capital’s Schaumburg Corporate Center, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.
The new lease represents fuel that could spark a major turnaround for the office complex at 1515 East Woodfield Road, which was plunged into distress when work-from-home policies were widely adopted during the pandemic and interest rate hikes starting in 2022 cut further into property values.
Chicago-based Glenstar, which formerly owned the property, transferred it to San Antonio-based Affinius in 2023 via deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, but Glenstar maintained its role as the property manager. Glenstar had originally bought the complex for $78 million in 2017 and spent $30 million on renovations before the pandemic. After Affinius took over ownership to settle a $78 million debt it provided to Glenstar in 2017, it refinanced the property for $95 million.
Comcast was one of 12 new tenants to sign leases at the 1 million-square-foot, three-building office complex in 2024, according to a press lease from Glenstar. Although the release doesn’t specify that the 61,000 square foot deal was with Comcast, sources familiar with it confirmed the media company’s involvement. The firm plans to move into its new space in April and will become the property’s largest tenant.
Comcast, which is headquartered in Philadelphia, last reported in 2023 that it has over 186,000 employees total.
The 12 new leases at the Schaumburg Office Center, which total 196,000 square feet, were joined by a total of 88,000 square feet of office lease renewals from existing tenants. The property’s total occupancy is now at 78 percent, above the 68 percent average notched for the entire suburban Chicago office market in the fourth quarter of 2024, which marked another new record low.
Still, Comcast’s new deal at Schaumburg marks an overall net loss for suburban Chicago’s total demand, as it previously leased about twice as much space in the area. Comcast’s Chicago regional headquarters were previously located in an Oak Brook office building at 2001 York Road, but the company vacated its space in 2020. It’s unclear if the company found a different space between then and now or temporarily transitioned into a fully-remote workplace.
Losing Comcast, the anchor tenant of the 184,000 square foot Oak Brook building, proved devastating to its ownership. A venture of Pennsylvania-based landlord Pembroke IV was hit with a $25 million foreclosure lawsuit last year after failing to pay off debt tied to the six-story office building at 2001 York Road.