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West Loop Office Market Hits Tipping Point

CHICAGO—The recent decision by McDonald's to move into Harpo Studios shows that corporations are ready to occupy unconventional spaces if it means they can access the young talent that lives in the West Loop.

By Brian J. Rogal | brianjrogal | Updated on June 20, 2016

chi-harpo The former HARPO Studios at 1045 W. Randolph in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.

CHICAGO—One of the striking aspects of McDonald’s recently announced move from suburban Oak Brook to the West Loop is the company’s decision to occupy Oprah Winfrey’s former Harpo Studios at 1045 W. Randolph St. In the not-so-distant past, Fortune 500 firms making the transition from a suburban campus to the CBD would choose an established top office property. And McDonald’s choice has brought the Chicago office market to a tipping point, according to the latest market beat report from MBRE.     

“Not only are large corporations continuing to migrate to the city from the suburbs, they are now considering unconventional sites in rapidly changing submarkets on a par with the city’s most prominent trophy towers,” according to the report. The city saw something similar a generation ago, when the River North area was transformed from an aging warehouse district into a hot office market. But the transformation of the neighborhoods west of the Loop, especially Fulton Market, has not followed the exact same path.

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