CHICAGO—Many law firms have caught up with the rest of the corporate world and started shrinking the amount of space they occupy, but Clark Hill PLC is in the midst of a major expansion. The firm has decided to move from 150 N. Michigan Ave. in the East Loop, where it has 36,848 square feet, to the 71,813 square feet on the top three floors of the refurbished One Prudential Plaza just across the street at 130 E. Randolph St.

Craig Braham of Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors, in partnership with Todd Lippman, vice chairman, and Bill Sheehy, senior vice president, of CBRE, represented Clark Hill. William Truszkowski, Matthew Pistorio and Caroline Colnon of The Telos Group represented ownership.

"Almost every law firm is going the other way, so this is atypical of what we usually see," Sheehy tells GlobeSt.com. "The East Loop was the preferred location, but they were not married to it." Still, people at Clark Hill are accustomed to the East Loop commute and this made the firm quite comfortable with sticking close to its present home. 

Many were skeptical about moving into the 41-story Prudential tower, now more than 50 years old, Sheehy adds. But once the partners toured the property and saw its sparkling new amenities, "it went to the top of the list."

Ownership has added a 13,000 square foot rooftop deck with a fire pit overlooking Millennium Park, a 12,000 square foot fitness center and a 7,000 square foot clubhouse. "We're trying to create a neighborhood in the building," Pistorio told GlobeSt.com in late 2014.

The renovation was designed to appeal to progressive tenants, such as media and creative companies. As a result, the building has scored new deals with firms such as Cision, a provider of public relations software and services, which occupies the entire seventh floor.

Sheehy also says that the competition for spaces is getting intense, and some of the prospective tenants hunting around are major corporations with the type of credit landlords love. But Clark Hill signed the deal before a true competitor emerged and will occupy the new space in late 2016.