Salesforce to expand in Chicago, add 5,000 jobs to riverfront office

San Francisco-based Salesforce has plans to expand its Chicago footprint. The software and cloud computing firm currently employs around 1,500 in Chicago, but may add upwards of 5,000 jobs in the expansion.

The company is discussing the potential to lease a 500,000-square-foot office in Wolf Point West, the third and final tower in the Wolf Point development at the convergence of the North, South and Main branches of the Chicago River. According to a report in Crain’s, the company is in talks with the Hines—the firm developing the project in partnership with the Joseph P. Kennedy Family—for several concessions, including “extremely extensive” signage that would include a video wall on the building’s exterior.

The video wall would require city approval and the city has already denied a $10 million property tax abatement that Salesforce was seeking. The company currently has offices throughout the Loop and River North in 111 W. Illinois Street, 114 W. Illinois Street, 222 S. Riverside Plaza and 205 W. Wacker Drive.

The Wolf Point development comprises the bKL Architecture-designed, 48-story Wolf Point West residential building completed in 2016 and a mixed-use, 70-story, residential/hotel/office under construction on the south end of the plot. Wolf Point East, also designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, has zoning approval to rise to 950 feet and will contain approximately 1.2 million square feet of office space once completed.

Salesforce is reportedly also considering taking space in the planned redevelopment of the firehouse at 444 N. Dearborn Street. Friedman Properties has outlined its plans for two towers to be built in phases at the site. Whether the company takes space at either location is still unknown, however, as Salesforce spokeswoman Cheryl Sanclemente issued a statement that the company “does not comment on rumors or speculation.”