CHICAGO—After 25 years at 227 W. Monroe, yesterday McDermott Will & Emery officially opened its Chicago office in the new River Point tower at 444 West Lake St. The move is part of a broader shift of the city's global law firms away from their traditional homes in the CBD's center, and into the West Loop, where developers have created millions of square feet of best-in-class trophy space. But for McDermott Will & Emery, the shift was affordable,

“By being the anchor tenant, we feel we were able to get a reasonable financial arrangement,” Chicago partner and former chairman Jeffrey Stone tells GlobeSt.com. In fact, the firm “will pay less than we did in our old building.”

In addition to signing up early for space in the 1.1 million square foot tower, located at the bend of the Chicago River, McDermott Will & Emery has figured out ways to operate more efficiently and shrink its footprint. It took 201,000 square feet at River Point, about 20% less than at 227 W. Monroe, but with roughly the same number of people. “227 West Monroe was a best-in-class building when we first moved in, but its footprint no longer worked for us,” he says.