While the Chicago area office market has faced numerous challenges over the last year, there has been a steady trickle of big office leases in recent weeks. And global packaging company Amcor is the latest on the list, having just recently announced a commitment to taking 60,000 square feet of space at Three Parkway Boulevard North in Deerfield for its new North American headquarters.
The full-floor lease deal is notable for being the second largest office lease deal for the northern suburban submarket in 2021 according to CBIZ Gibraltar, the firm which represented Amcor in the transaction. Amcor, which has certainly benefitted from the growing need for packaging during the warehousing and logistics boom the country is witnessing, will be relocating from its current 26,775-square-foot office space in Downers Grove.
Part of the logic for the Deerfield location is consideration for Amcor’s recent acquisition of the Wisconsin-based Bemis Company and the need to consolidate staff from multiple places under one roof, says Noah Turner, Senior Vice President, CBIZ Gibraltar Real Estate Services, LLC.
“This became a collaborative effort of bringing several different units of Amcor and the subsidiaries together in one location,” Turner says of the lease. “So they were able to look for a bigger footprint to be able to accommodate those employees and clients coming to to the area as well.”
Turner says that the relocation effort began two years ago but Amcor was able to secure generous terms and concessions due to the ongoing slowdown in the office market, including a below-market rental rate, a “very healthy” tenant improvement allowance package, and signage opportunities for multiple sides of the building’s exterior.
“One of the things we were looking for was to have exterior building signage that would be pretty prominent on multiple sides of the building,” Turner says of the deal. “The space also provides two exterior balconies, as this was one of the very few buildings that we were able to find this kind of unique amenity.”
Additionally, the building was one of the few in the area that offered enough covered parking for all employees, which Turner says was another important factor in the decision-making process. Other amenities include updated food service, a fitness center and conference centers to accomodate larger gatherings.
Turner says that Amcor is targeting a March 2022 move-in date and expects that roughly 200 employees will work out of the new office once opened.
