Edelman moves Chicago office, shrinks real estate footprint in the city

Edelman is shrinking and moving its Chicago headquarters to the city's West Loop next month, following through with a lease it was finalizing before the COVID-19 pandemic. The public relations giant confirmed it has inked a deal for 92,000 square feet at 111 N. Canal St., where it will move from the Aon Center after 26 years. The new space at the Gogo Building will be just more than half the size of its current office footprint in a building it has called home since 1995. The 15-year lease adds Edelman to the list of major downtown tenants cutting back on physical workspace after adjusting to life with remote workers over the past 18 months. Such widespread downsizing has driven up the office vacancy rate in the central business district to its highest mark on record and has recently pushed some landlords to boost concessions and lease term flexibility to land tenants. Edelman will move to the 11th and 12th floors at the Canal Street building. The agency has \about 6,000 employees globally, including 537 based in Chicago, according to the company. The new office will include 257 desks and close to 800 "other seats, including collaboration zones, cafes, team rooms, meeting spaces and focus areas," an Edelman spokeswoman said in a statement. "We designed an office that people will truly want to be in," Edelman Chicago President Kevin Cook said in a statement. "This new environment encourages connection and flexibility and gives employees ample room to spread out when they return to the office in a hybrid model." Edelman, co-headquartered in New York and Chicago and founded by Daniel Edelman in 1952, has more than 60 offices around the world. The Chicago Tribune first reported Edelman's deal to move to the Gogo Building. Danny Ecker is a reporter for Crain's Chicago Business.

Edelman moves Chicago office, shrinks real estate footprint in the city

Featured Stories