The firm will occupy approximately 44,000 sf on the 27th and 28th floors and will also occupy approximately 2,800 sf on the upper concourse, says Mark Buth, SVP and managing director of leasing services with MB Real Estate. "The lobby space will be used mainly for meeting rooms," Buth says. "By taking the lobby space, it affords them much greater identity than they would otherwise achieve." Since 1999, the firm and a predecessor had been subleasing 36,728 sf on the 11th floor from Midas in 225 N. Michigan Ave., part of Michigan Plaza.

Buth and Kathleen Bertrand, with MB Real Estate, represented the building ownership in the lease transaction. Joseph Lerner, with Studley, represented the tenant.The company is expanding the amount of space they are leasing because "their business has grown organically and they have acquired other firms in the area as well," Buth says. The firm chose the new location to keep the convenient location and views in addition to the floor plates of 22,000 sf at 205 N. Michigan Ave., he says. Amenities to the building include a concierge, 500 parking spaces, a bus that travels to and from the West Loop train stations and retailers such as a bank, Starbucks and other food options. Virchow Krause expects to move into the new space June 1, Buth says. The asking lease rate for Michigan Plaza is between $28 per sf and $32 per sf, gross.

The two-building complex, which has a total of nearly two million sf, is owned by New York City-based Loeb Partners Realty LLC, which acquired the property in December 2004 for approximately $273 million, sources say. The plaza is 81% leased. The largest tenant in the complex is Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which occupies all of the second through the sixth floors at 225 N. Michigan in addition to parts of the eighth and ninth floors. Other major tenants include Cramer Krasselt, Fox Television, Unilever and a number of business units of Omnicom.