Articles About Office

Cornerstone’s launch fulfills William A. Alter’s 30-year vision that began when the legendary real estate titan acquired the first of what now comprises 650 acres in central Lake County. As a mixed-use development pioneer, Bill Alter understood that differing residential products could- and would — flourish, complete with nearby stores.  Cornerstone is taking Bill’s vision […]

The renaming of Sears Tower points up one of the fundamental aspects of marketing – that of brand equity. By virtue of marketing and 25 years of public relations, the name Sears Tower has enormous cachet around the world and has brought the city the kind of exposure that can’t be quantified. While the Sears […]

One of Chicago’s most visited real estate icons — and the Western Hemisphere’s tallest building — is getting a new name.  And Chicagoans are not thrilled. Under the terms of a significant lease signed by global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., the 110-story, 1,450-foot-tall Sears Tower will change its name to the Willis Tower. […]

Contrary to popular perceptions, significant CBD office leases are still being signed, recession or no recession. A case in point is KPMG LLP’s recent inking of a 15-year lease for 260,000 SF in the Aon Center at 200 East Randolph Street in the prized East Loop market.  The accounting and advisory firm will relocate its […]

According to a Grubb & Ellis report on the Chicago office market during the third quarter of 2008, vacancy rates increased slightly to 17.1 percent, versus the 16.9 percent reported during the second quarter.  Downtown Chicago reported a loss of 200,000 SF of occupied space during the third quarter, while the suburban office market posted […]

It should be no surprise that rental rates for office space have weakened as demand declines.  Nationally, rents for office space fell 1.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2007, even though owners offered concessions such as free rent for a limited time frame to lure users.  According to Reis, Inc., a New York-based real […]

The Alter Group’s One11 West Illinois Street, its 10-story, 227,604 SF Class-A-to-own office building in downtown Chicago’s dynamic River North neighborhood recently received a rave review and from the Chicago Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic Blair Kamin. Kamin praised architect Martin F. Wolf, Senior Principal with Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates, who “was challenged with a […]

According to a recent Crain’s Chicago Business article, suburban office vacancy rates shot up to 13.1 percent during the second quarter of 2008.  That is the highest level in more than two years. According to the commercial real estate services firm, Transwestern Commercial Real Estate, the vacancy rate is at its highest level since the first […]

You know what they say about polls.  Still, a recent one is an interesting temperature reading for the new economy.   Overseas investors in United States real estate prefer retail versus office or industrial space right now, according to an issue of Commercial Property News. This is just one conclusion in a survey that examined […]