**Benesch Expands Chicago Office Footprint at 71 S. Wacker Drive**
Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff, a Cleveland-based law firm, is making a major expansion of its Chicago office.
The firm has signed a lease for an additional full floor at 71 S. Wacker Drive, increasing its total footprint at the building by approximately 33,000 square feet. This brings Benesch’s total leased space at the downtown Chicago location to over 130,000 square feet.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Ari Klein, Scott Shelbourne, and Jeff Skender represented Benesch in the lease negotiations. Greg Tait and Maggie Brophy of CBRE manage leasing on behalf of property owner Irvine Company. Prior to Benesch’s expansion, the building was already 94% leased.
Benesch has a national presence with about 500 attorneys and offices in Cleveland, Columbus, New York, San Francisco, and Wilmington.
71 S. Wacker Drive is a 48-story Class A office tower totaling 1.5 million square feet and is owned by California-based Irvine Company. The building is considered one of the premier office properties in Chicago’s Central Business District.
Earlier this year, international law firm Akin also bolstered its presence in the city by opening a new Chicago office at 190 S. LaSalle Street with four partners who transitioned from Mayer Brown.
This expansion highlights continued activity among legal industry tenants in Chicago’s downtown office market.
