Greenberg Traurig eyes move to Fulton Market District

People close to the matter said no deal has been finalized, and a Greenberg Traurig spokeswoman said in a statement that “it is premature and wrong to report since nothing is final until a lease is signed.” The negotiations come after a drawn-out search by the firm to move from its longtime Wacker Drive tower.

Greenberg would be the first major Chicago law office to plant its flag in Fulton Market, which transformed over the past decade from a domain of meatpackers and food wholesalers into a corporate destination with the likes of Google, McDonald’s and Mondelez International. Professional services firms have more recently added to the mix, with leases signed by Ernst & Young, Kroll (formerly Duff & Phelps) and law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, as well as a massive deal that Boston Consulting Group inked last year to anchor the 360 N. Green building. Greenberg’s arrival could help other major law firms and traditional Loop tenants justify moving to Fulton Market.

The 24-story Green Street building is being developed by Chicago-based Sterling Bay and is expected to be completed early next year.

Greenberg would also add to the long list of law firms moving to newer buildings and cutting back on workspace, in line with the trends set off by the rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The space-shedding movement has driven up downtown office vacancy to an all-time high, but Fulton Market’s mix of upscale offices, restaurants and hotels have helped the neighborhood largely defy the leasing challenges plaguing other parts of the central business district.

For Sterling Bay, signing Greenberg would bring 360 N. Green to more than two-thirds leased before construction is completed. That would help validate the developer’s 2021 pivot to redesign its plan for the building by shrinking the size of the floors and making it taller. Professional services companies and law firms tend to avoid building with massive floor plates, opting instead for those with more window lines for offices.

But Fulton Market’s gain would come at the expense of an office building at 77 W. Wacker that has seen some of its most prominent tenants decamp in recent years. Greenberg Traurig would follow big law firms Jones Day and Morgan Lewis & Bockius out the door at the 1.4 million-square-foot tower, which has been owned since 2008 by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. Those other two law firms previously moved to the new office tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive.

Including Greenberg Traurig, the 51-story building at 77 W. Wacker is now 61% leased, according to real estate information company CoStar Group. That is well below the 78% average for downtown office buildings as of the end of March.

A Sterling Bay spokeswoman declined to comment; a spokeswoman for the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio did respond to a request for comment.

Greenberg Traurig ranked 10th on Crain’s 2022 list of Chicago’s largest law firms, with 181 local attorneys. The firm announced in March that it generated more than $2.1 billion in revenue during its 2022 fiscal year, an 8.6% increase year-over-year and its ninth consecutive year of record revenue.