CHICAGO-The General Services Administration has been actively leasing space here, relocating various federal government groups within the CBD. Congress Center, a 520,000-square-foot, class A office building located in the West Loop, has benefited from the activity, according to Robert Assoian, executive vice president of asset management for Daymark Realty Advisors’s Midwest region.
“We’ve received more than our fair share of government tenants,” Assoian tells GlobeSt.com. He attributes the activity to the history the 16-story building has with the GSA, along with a number of building features that appeal to government tenants including parking that is nearby, but off-site, freeway accessibility, proximity to suburban train stations and large floor plates.
Two large leases with the GSA, coupled with a lease renewal and a new deal from the private sector, helped push Congress Center’s occupancy to 94 percent, its highest point since it was delivered to the market in 2001.
Just 18 months ago, the 10-year-old building was 79% occupied after a division of GE vacated two entire floors. In total, Congress Center has secured more than 216,000 square feet in new leases and renewals since then.
“As of the fourth quarter 2010, the downtown market was 17% vacant and posted negative net absorption of over 422,000 square feet,” Assoian notes. “There have very few growing companies, yet the government has been one that has taken more space.”
At Congress Center, the Internal Revenue Service and the US Department of Justice have backfilled the former GE space. The IRS signed a lease for 10-year for 28,000 square feet and will move into its space this month, Assoian says.
The DOJ initially leased 44,000 square feet, but in course of designing its space plan, it realized it needed more space and recently expanded the 10-year lease to 50,000 square feet, Assoian explains. The group will move into its space this year.
Including the IRS and DOJ, more than 110,000 square feet of Congress Center is occupied by government users, Assoian points out. For example, the Chicago office of the Secret Service also is housed in the building, which is located at 525 W. Van Buren St.
Other notable non-GSA leases at Congress Center include a six-year lease extension for 91,000 square feet with AKZO Nobel signed last year and a recent 42,000-square-foot lease renewal with North American Company for Life and Health Insurance
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