CHICAGO-There’s three times as many firms out looking to redesign office and retail space in downtown Chicago as there were two-three years ago, according to Rick DuPraw, SVP with Leopardo. The interior construction firm took on 500,000 square feet of new work in the second quarter, he says, thanks to corporations finally spending again.
DuPraw tells GlobeSt.com that whereas companies had to cut back on staff during the recession, with Leopardo itself laying off 25% of its employees, now companies are looking to pull the trigger on new space. “That’s been the biggest trend this year more than anything,” he says. “We see three times as much opportunity, though that doesn’t mean we win all of that.”
Leopardo was awarded contracts in the past few months to build out 100 offices in 60,000 square feet for the Legal Assistance Foundation at 120 S. LaSalle, to remodel 100,000 square feet for Leo Burnett advertising agency at its 35 W. Wacker headquarters, and to redevelop the Sullivan Center for Joseph Freed & Associates, moving in new tenants Targe and DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse. The ad agency work should be completed by the end of this month, while the other two projects are slated to finish in December.
The other major interiors trend, DuPraw says, is that firms are getting more efficient with space. “Corporations realize they can’t be as lavish as they had been,” he says. “There’s the concept of fitting more people in a smaller amount of square feet, the design is not the key design factor any longer, you have to think in terms of density.”
A further continuing trend is the gradual move away from employees being tied to the office, due to the advent of the digital age. “People can do business anywhere today, so the move is to much more open space and fewer private offices. That’s been a trend for awhile, and it’s going to continue,” DuPraw says.
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