WeWork On The Road To Becoming Chicago’s Biggest Private Office Tenant

A Chicago building on 515 North State Street went sparsely used following a renovation years ago, until WeWork swooped in to occupy five floors.

The company has left a huge mark on the city’s office landscape since it’s 2015 debut in the city. Now, it takes up 930,000 square feet across 11 locations, with two new locations expected to open that will total 190,000 square feet. After that, it will be close to becoming the largest leaser of office space in Chicago just after the Bank of America’s 1.2 million square feet, who is about to consolidate that amount down to 930,000 square feet. That does not include other corporations that, may have larger footprints, but also own part of the space they occupy.

WeWork is currently the largest private office tenant in New York, London, and Washington DC.

“It’s created an opportunity for new companies to come into town and get a toehold in the market quicker,” said David Burden, office broker at Colliers International. “We’ve had some clients that started out in Chicago in coworking spaces to get a foothold in the market and then, a year later, they’re out looking for their own space.”