CHICAGO—Firms like Google, Motorola Mobility and Gogo Inc. have generated a lot of headlines by migrating from the suburbs into the CBD. But a significant part of the leasing activity downtown has also come from suburban firms that decide to open satellite offices. Northbrook-based Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, for example, has just leased a new “plug-and-play” office located on the fifth floor of 10 W. Hubbard St. in River North.
“We're in marketing and advertising and that is always looked at as a young, more urban profession,” Stanton Kawer, chief executive officer of Blue Chip, tells GlobeSt.com. In fact, about 60% of the company's workforce now lives in Chicago. And although the new 5,000-square-foot space can only host about 25 workers at a time, through an online lottery all 160 employees will get the chance to enjoy a shorter commutes and urban amenities about twice a week.
“We're very grateful to the people that commute to Northbrook,” he adds, “but sometimes it's a tough commute.” And for both current and prospective employees having the space on Hubbard “will give them solace that at least for two days a week they can be in River North and go to the theater or a good restaurant when they leave.”
Furthermore, the new loft-style office, formerly occupied by Steve Stoute and Jay-Z's New York-based Translation Marketing, has a design similar to the suburban headquarters and includes shared work stations, skylights and high ceilings. “We can't do our work with beige walls and quiet offices,” Kawer says. “We need a lot of energy.”
Blue Chip will also make sure it has the same activities. “We've been careful not to fall into the trap of having a stale, 'suburban' office culture even up in Northbrook,” Kawer says. “We have a yoga class every week; we do 'lunch-and-learn' sessions,” among other social events. “And everything that happens in the Northbrook office will happen downtown. There won't be a downtown office culture and a Northbrook office culture.”
The agency is among the fastest growing independent marketing firms in the country. It has been named to Crain's Chicago Business “Fast Fifty” four years in a row, and this year to date has seen a net revenue increase of 38% over the same period last year. Its recent string of new clients includes Chicago-based Azteca Foods, Sunstar Americas, Inc., Feld Entertainment, Ricola, Celestial Seasonings, Amgen, Merck, and the Network of Executive Women.
In addition, “we have expanded our international work to at least 20 other countries, and are seeking to broaden our global work,” Kawer says, and due to the city's worldwide reputation as a business center “it's important that we have a masthead with a Chicago location.” Blue Chip officials frequently host overseas clients, and River North simply has far more entertainment options and sightseeing opportunities. “That's especially important to people coming from Asia and Europe.”
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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.
