CHICAGO—GCG Financial and Coldwell Banker both recently signed long-term leases for office spaces at 3 Parkway North Blvd. in suburban Deerfield's Parkway North Center. The deals are yet another sign that the economic recovery is encouraging suburban office users to upgrade their space, especially if they can secure the modern amenities that employees increasingly expect.
GCG anticipates future growth and will leave its 31,544-square-foot national headquarters in nearby Bannockburn and relocate into 36,810-square-feet at 3 Parkway North. And Coldwell has decided to move both its home office in Chicago and its NRT central region headquarters from suburban Northbrook to 25,446-square-feet at 3 Parkway North. Both plan to relocate during the first quarter of 2015.
“It was really about the amenities for GCG employees,” Jonathan Metzl of Savills Studley's Chicago office tells GlobeSt.com, and Coldwell was attracted for the same reason. Along with John Goodman, also of the Chicago office, and Brian Netzky of Interstate Tenant, he represented GCG in their lease negotiation. Goodman and Metzl co-brokered the Coldwell transaction with its in-house broker Jordan Schnoll. John Clark of NGKF represented the landlord, The John Buck Company, in both transactions and Rich Dale of Savills Studley served as the project manager for both clients.
3 Parkway has a full fitness center, a full cafeteria and covered parking, among other amenities. “In the competitive recruiting environment we are in today,” says Metzl, more companies are looking for these features, but especially those recruiting younger employees. The new spaces for GCG and Coldwell will provide more collaborative environments, also becoming an expected standard, with up-to-date furniture and features such as “huddle rooms” for employees that need some privacy.
“It has become imperative that we make available the perks and amenities that 3 Parkway North could offer us at a very attractive rate,” says Alan Levitz, chief executive officer of GCG Financial.
Suburban growth may have lagged a bit behind Chicago's CBD, but “as the recovery has built up in suburban Chicago,” Metzl says, “these are very common deals in the market.” Many suburban companies are trading up and moving to higher quality offices or consolidating operations onto larger, more efficient floor plates.
Metzl can't disclose details about either lease due to confidentiality agreements. However, he does say that “the economic terms of both were very aggressive and compelling.” The suburban office market still has an elevated level of vacancy and “landlords that want to attract good-credit tenants are stretching themselves to fill vacant space.”
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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.
