Trammell Crow Lands Tenant in Chicago’s Mild Biosciences Market

CBRE has secured another life-science tenant for its office and laboratory building in downtown Evanston.

Cyclopure, which produces water-purification systems, inked a deal for a 17,500 square feet on the third floor of Evanston Labs, which is owned by Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company, a CBRE subsidiary, Crain’s reported.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Jonathan Metzl and Jack Deroche negotiated the lease on behalf of Cyclopure, while Dan Lyne and Brandon Green of CBRE represented Trammell Crow.

Cyclopure moved into the building, at 710 Clark Street, last month. The firm exited Sterling Bay’s 4130 North Halsted Street on the Near North Side. The relocation puts the firm’s offices in close proximity to Northwestern University, a hub for life-science research that has given rise to many startups, including Cyclopure.

The company, led by CEO Frank Cassou, maintains a connection to the university through its co-founder, William Dichtel, a Northwestern chemistry professor.

The 178,800-square foot Evanston Labs building is 40 percent leased and offers ready-to-use lab spaces ranging from 5,000 to 13,000 square feet, along with a boardroom, bar and lounge, health center and terrace.

Cyclopure is the second tenant to secure space at Evanston Labs. COUR Pharmaceuticals, another life-science company, occupies 50,000 square feet on the 8th and 9th floors of the 10-story building.

Trammell Crow has made significant investments in Chicago’s life sciences industry, building two properties in Fulton Market and another in Hyde Park. The firm also owns Fulton Labs, another life sciences property.

Chicago’s life sciences market is facing significant challenges, with a vacancy rate of 40 percent compared to the national average of 17 percent in top markets, indicating an oversupply of lab space.

Life sciences occupy less than 1 percent of Chicago’s office space, but the sector totals nearly 2.9 million square feet, according to CommercialCafe, which ranked Chicago as one of the top 10 life sciences markets in the U.S. last year. Almost half of Chicago’s life science space has been added since 2018.

— Andrew Terrell