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CHICAGO-Locally based law firm Jenner & Block LLP has officially inked its 383,000-sf, 15-year new lease at 351 N. Clark St. The 1.1-million-sf building, expected for a 2009 delivery, is being developed by a partnership led by Mesirow Financial Real Estate Inc., a division of Mesirow Financial. The financial firm and building developer has also signed for 345,000 sf in the new tower.

Bob Chodos, principal with Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc., says the transaction was unique in the fact that Jenner & Block and Mesirow Financial joined together to procure proposals from a number of developers and owners of office buildings and sites in Chicago. The goal, Chodos says, was to "maximize the leverage created by two very large, credit-worthy tenants, working in tandem to create a business solution to their respective facilities' requirements."

With both firms reaching lease expirations in 2010, and one wanting space in the low rise of a building, the other in the high-rise portion, "it proved to be a perfect match," Chodos says. "A 70% preleased building delivered a capitalization structure that allowed both tenants to procure very competitive lease terms."