{"id":5816,"date":"2017-02-24T09:16:04","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T09:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/?p=5816"},"modified":"2026-06-03T10:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:30:49","slug":"willis-tower-first-major-lease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/willis-tower-first-major-lease\/","title":{"rendered":"Willis Tower Signs First Major Lease Ahead of Renovation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Blackstone to Revamp Willis Tower<\/h2>\n<p>The nation&#8217;s second-tallest building is getting a makeover &#8211; the first major renovation in its 43-year history.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, Blackstone bought the tower for $1.3 billion &#8211; a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/office-spaces-for-lease\/us\/il\/chicago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicago office<\/a> building record. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/terminal\/OKPPROMEQTXC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">recent statement<\/a> made by the company, it will invest a further $500 million in renovations. This will be the largest investment the firm will have made in a single-building asset.<\/p>\n<p>Plans for the 110-story Willis Tower include a reconfiguration of about 460k SF of existing space which will provide tenant amenities like lounges, a fitness center and an event space. Over 300k SF of new entertainment areas, retail and dining will be added to the lower end of the building. A 3-story glass structure will be erected on the entry plaza and will encompass 3 floors set up around a winter garden.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, part of the investment will go towards improving the 103rd floor Skydeck &#8211; the Chicago attraction that draws 1.7 million visitors each year.<\/p>\n<h3>National Restaurant Association Signs Full-Floor Office Lease<\/h3>\n<p>Blackstone&#8217;s Equity Office, operating as the Willis Tower owner, announced on February 22nd that the Chicago operations of the National Restaurant Association signed a long-term <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/tag\/cre-term-lease\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lease<\/a> to occupy the 36th floor. The deal totals 50,852 square feet of space in a &#8220;a unique, engaging office environment with unbeatable views&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Located in the mid-rise block, the National Restaurant Association will be close to some of the new proposed amenities: the <em>Tower House<\/em> 2-story tenant lounge and caf\u00e9 and <em>Tone <\/em>&#8211; a 30k SF &#8220;full-service fitness experience&#8221;. The Association was drawn to the proposed renovation&#8217;s hospitality components, as well as the high quality tenant amenities, that their employees would benefit from, going forward.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12853\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/YM_willis_tower.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12853\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12853\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/YM_willis_tower.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/YM_willis_tower.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/YM_willis_tower.jpg?resize=120,150 120w, https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/YM_willis_tower.jpg?resize=240,300 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12853\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialcafe.com\/commercial-property\/us\/il\/chicago\/willis-tower\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL<\/a> on CommercialCafe<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plans for the 110-story Willis Tower include a reconfiguration of about 460,000 square feet of existing downtown Chicago office space to make room for tenant amenities like lounges, a fitness center, and an event space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":12855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[37,38,39,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial-real-estate-news","category-deals","category-office","category-retail","wpautop"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WIllis Tower Office Lease Ahead 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