CHICAGO—The city's office market is set to expand over the next few years as developers put the finishing touches on several new office towers rising along the Chicago River, and downtown landlords are looking for ways to distinguish their properties as the competition for tenants heats up.
Union Investment Real Estate GmbH, the owner of 111 South Wacker, for example, has transformed the operations and maintenance procedures at the 51-story, 1.1 million square foot office tower enough to achieve LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council, the highest level of recognition for green buildings.
"There are many companies that would never even consider a building that did not have some type of LEED certification," Bill Truszkowski of the Telos Group LLC, exclusive leasing agent for the building, told GlobeSt.com. And "LEED Platinum certification is the industry's highest standard; it doesn't just happen even in a trophy building like this one. This is an achievement for every company here, and a benefit for future tenants."
Deloitte is the current anchor tenant, he added, and "is very committed to sustainability on a global scale." The assurance that the building was set to achieve LEED Platinum status for its operations "helped cement their decision to renew their lease last summer."
The owners made many changes in the building to satisfy the standards set by USGBC. A new light-harvesting system in the lobby measures the amount of natural sunlight coming in, and dims the indoor lights accordingly, so they are not going "full blast when it is sunny outside," Truszkowski said. Other upgrades include: better recycling efforts; the use of green cleaning products; motion sensors on all water faucets; composting programs; green education seminars for tenants, and many others.
The LEED effort is just one of many changes Union Investment GmbH has recently brought to the property. Other improvements planned or already instituted include an expansion of the building's conference auditorium, an expanded fitness center and upgraded elevators.
111 S. Wacker is currently 97.5% occupied, Truszkowski added, a rate it has sustained since opening in 2005. But Deloitte wants to increase its efficiency and in 2018, the firm will greatly shrink the amount of space it occupies. Therefore, Telos is set to begin the search for new tenants. The LEED Platinum certification "really differentiates this building from the competition. We are ramping up our marketing efforts as we speak."
The LEED Platinum certification process included all building tenants, and was led by Goby LLC, LEED recertification consultants; JLL, property managers; Metzler Real Estate, building ownership's advisors; and Union Investment Real Estate GmbH.
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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.
