Zurich North America is relocating its Chicago operations from its downtown location. The insurer signed a 52,000-square-foot lease at the iconic Willis Tower, a move that effectively halves its office space in Chicago.
Todd Mintz with JLL represented the tenant in the deal, while Nikki Kern with The Telos Group represented Blackstone portfolio company Perform Properties.
This decision reflects how even financially secure tenants are recalibrating their real estate needs in the hybrid work environment as the space is a stark drop from the roughly 107,000 square feet that the company has leased at its current location throughout the last 12 years.
Zurich is preparing to vacate 300 S. Riverside Plaza, a West Loop property already facing financial difficulties. The move will see the insurer’s Chicago workspace relocate to the 53rd and 54th floors of the Willis Tower, which is owned by Blackstone, sometime next year.
This latest lease agreement is a significant win for Blackstone’s Willis Tower (which successfully completed a $500 million renovation in 2022) and one that underscores the uneven nature of the office recovery in downtown Chicago.
Notably, leasing activity is almost exclusively driven by tenants trading up to premium, amenity-heavy buildings. This trend is evident in Zurich’s shift, which mirrors moves by firms like ArentFox Schiff (which also shrank its Willis Tower lease) and Cars.com (which cut its space at 300 S. Riverside by two-thirds to 53,000 square feet) to align with hybrid work patterns.
For landlords of aging properties, the clear subtext is that companies want less space and higher quality, leaving them scrambling to retain tenants and manage lenders. Zurich, whose North American headquarters remains in Schaumburg, Ill., framed the move as a commitment to Chicago. It follows the insurer’s $20 million settlement earlier this year with the City of Schaumburg regarding a tax incentive dispute related to its 783,800-square-foot suburban headquarters.
