The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador has completed a lease at The Concourse Chicago which, along with another significant lease there, brings occupancy of the 12-building complex of single-story buildings to 90% occupancy. Concourse Chicago is owned and managed by Berger Asset Management.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador has completed a lease for 5,965 square feet of space within the building located at 8605 W. Bryn Mawr. The Consulate expects to take possession sometime in the summer. The Consulate will be relocating and expanding the size of its Chicago office to Concourse Chicago from a Michigan Avenue location.
According to NAI Hiffman Executive Vice Presidents Steve Chrastka and Jason Wurtz who lease the Concourse Chicago, the move was prompted by a number of factors, including the ability to be closer O’Hare International Airport as well as a location that provides convenient access to transportation options to accommodate employees and local/international clients.
Concourse Chicago has a Chicago address and is located within the suburban O’Hare office market. It is situated within walking distance to the CTA’s Blue Line, the Kennedy Expressway and a variety of shopping and restaurant options.
In the second lease, GEI Consultants has completed an 8,006-square-foot office lease at Concourse Chicago. The company occupies nearly two-thirds of the building at 8615 Bryn Mawr.
GEI provides multi-disciplined engineering and technical services to a range of private and public sector clients. It is ranked among the top firms in Engineering News Record’s (ENR) annual list of Top Design Firms and Top Environmental Firms. GEI has more than 40 other offices. The firm is relocating from Vernon Hills to the O’Hare submarket to gain greater accessibility to its clients throughout the Chicago metro area.
“These transactions and the aggregated success we’ve achieved at Concourse Chicago validate the business plan we had for the asset when we acquired it,” said Jonathan Berger, Berger Asset Management. “In fact, the success we’ve had here is being replicated by our efforts at The One Story Schaumburg, a series of single-story office buildings we’ve acquired and are repositioning in Schaumburg.”
Concourse Chicago is a 12-building, 165,000-square-foot single-story office complex that has been completed renovated and repositioned in the marketplace to offer a first-class office experience in a single-story setting. Berger Asset Management already had added a comprehensive amenity center to Concourse Chicago which created a unique working environment and considerable leasing success.
Tenants of Concourse Chicago enjoy a variety of privacy, safety and health-related attributes that are not found in traditional, multi-story suburban buildings. These features include direct-to-the-outside suite entrances, dedicated and tenant-controlled HVAC systems, operable windows, and private restrooms, among other things.
Chrastka and Wurtz represent Concourse Chicago in all leasing activities. The Salvadoran Consulate was represented by Tom Hanson of Hanson Commercial Real Estate. Jordan Rovito and Jonathan Metzl, Cushman & Wakefield represented GEI Consultants in the transaction.
“We’re continuing to see strong demand for tenant spaces in single-story assets where tenants can feel more in control of their own environment and safety,” said Chrastka. “And one thing that is often overlooked is that tenants can lease space at assets like Concourse Chicago at a significant discount to traditional space in a Class A building.”
