CHICAGO—When MB Real Estate took over the management and leasing for downtown's historic Inland Steel building in February 2012, its occupancy rate had sunk to only 45%. But the firm's officials claim that tenants now occupy 85% of the modernist landmark, one of the first buildings constructed in downtown Chicago after the depression and war years.
“We've closed 13 new leases at the building since last year with roughly 100,000-square-feet leased in the first twelve months,” says Gary Denenberg, executive vice president and managing director of leasing for MBRE. The progress comes in the wake of campaign by MBRE to rebrand the 19-story, 234,980-square-foot building and a renovation that brought the office space up to modern standards.
Recent transactions include a 9,400-square-foot lease to Nelson Architects; a 9,800-square-foot lease to Kerns Frost & Pearlman; a 12,900-square-foot lease to Asset Allocation Management; and a 12,900-square-foot lease for the Jacobson Group. Denenberg and Vice President Sara Spicklemire represented Capital Properties Management, Inc. in the lease transactions.
Capital brought in Skidmore Owings & Merrill, the original design firm, to rejuvenate Inland's old headquarters into a class A product. SOM renovated the elevator lobbies, added eco-friendly bathrooms, a sustainable green roof, HVAC upgrades and high-efficiency lighting throughout the building. And MBRE has helped bring in amenities such as a fitness center on the second floor, and through a partnership with Workspring, a conference center that helps provide tenants with space for co-working, collaborative meetings, long-term projects and events.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
