Tall & Urban News

Smaller floor plates in office buildings are becoming more popular for cities, like Chicago, post-COVID. For the last decade, buildings with larger floor plates have been on the rise because it allowed companies to pack their workers onto a single level. However, now many companies are seeking to reduce their office footprint as remote work is increasing. These companies are also intrigued by spaces that are open to more natural light because of their smaller floor areas. 

In response to this shift in interest, Sterling Bay filed a zoning application this month that reduces the floor area of 360 North Green from 3,700 square meters (40,000 square feet) to 2,300 square feet (25,000 square feet). The increased interest in offices with smaller floor plates also led real estate investor Andy Farbman to pay US$ 16.4 million for 100 North LaSalle Street, a 1929 office building that has typical floor areas of 580 square meters (6,200 square feet). Other companies are looking to spread out across multiple smaller floors, like supply chain management company Havi Group who just finalized a deal at THREE FOUR FIVE. This company is moving out of a 19,000-square meter (200,000-square-foot) office space into two floors at THREE FOUR FIVE that are 4,200 square meters (45,000 square feet) each.

The increased interest in smaller floor plates does not necessarily mean that buildings with larger floor plates will get phased out. A building that completed earlier this year, 167 North Green, has floors about 4,200 square meter (45,000 square feet) apiece and obtained a series of deals this year. In addition, 540 West Madison Street, a building completed in 2003, also leased two contiguous 3,900-square-meter (42,000-square-foot) floors in October 2021.

For more on this story, go to Crains’s Chicago Business.