GlobeSt.com: Okay, so there’s infrastructure changes and cheaper rent. What made the building stand out to prospective tenants?
Patterson: When people got into this building, they realized what a good building IBM had constructed for themselves in the 1970s. It has very efficient 9-foot ceilings, it’s surrounded by three streets, and the river and the plaza, and the views are just tremendous. Mies van der Rohe designed a great building. Once we got people in the building, and they saw the redevelopment program, it’s sold itself. And not all of our deals have been done at below-market rates, we’re talking mid-$20s net.

GlobeSt.com: One main worry when the work started was the new Trump International Hotel and Tower, going up on the old Sun-Times building site right next door, threatening to block the views of Lake Michigan. Was this concern valid?
Patterson: It’s more perception than reality than about view. When we got tenants up into the building and had them look out the window, they saw that not much of the view is affected. Also, the higher you get, the floor plates of the Trump step back further. We think it’s more of a plus to have the Trump building so close, it’s got great amenities and restaurants. Also because it was built we also got a new walkway that connects us directly to Michigan Avenue (a walk that usually would take pedestrians around buildings and up and down stairs).

GlobeSt.com: So more office tenants are coming -- how is the hotel coming along?
Patterson: The hotel is under construction and going full-speed. They intend to open in late first quarter of 2013. I think it’s going to work great. We will have a separate entrance at the southwest corner of the building, they’ll have their own lobby, control of their own elevator bank, though there will be a connection to the office for use by the tenants. They’ll also have their own signage, and two restaurants, including outdoor dining at the existing plaza.
I don’t think people fully understand how nice the hotel is going to be, it will be on par with the Peninsula and the Four Seasons.

GlobeSt.com: Are you yet reaching a pause in leasing announcements?
Patterson: We’re at 86% leased, and we’re running out of space. We do have a couple things in the pipeline that will push the numbers up higher. Medium space users still have a lot of choices, and I think we’ll see movement in the market by those users in the next 12-24 months. We’ve seen where potential tenants have been sitting on their hands the past two years, and they are out now at least making some leasing decisions -- other than renewing for a year or so, like what has been going on. People are getting a little more confident, our economy has more legs than it did last year. The leases we’ve been doing have all been big leases -- in the couple of years before 2010 we didn’t see those deals.