Cushman & Wakefield was engaged by TCS Education System for a long-term lease signing and build-out at 203 N. LaSalle Street to advance the nonprofit’s strategic goals. TCS moved into its new headquarters on October 8, and occupies 28,544 square feet—approximately half of the 19th floor. They relocated from their previous 350 N. Orleans headquarters of nearly ten years to better serve their talent with collaborative spaces and the opportunity to “live their brand.”
Jeffrey Skender, Ari Klein, Craig Cassell, Scott Shelbourne and Marcus Berglund represented TCS in lease negotiations and Bill Starcevich and Jon Sisco managed the build-out project.
“TCS came to us with a challenge—leverage a termination option in their current lease and potentially relocate within the downtown Chicago office market in order to optimize their real estate costs and maximize the positive impacts a new space could have on the way their headquarters operate,” said Skender, director, tenant representation, at Cushman & Wakefield Chicago. “We’d successfully advised on various other assignments within their portfolio and we understood the changing market conditions and rising rents that were forcing this current re-evaluation of their space requirements.
“We explored several options with them and ultimately found that they could relocate to a brand new space at 203 N. LaSalle at a net savings for the company. Perhaps more importantly, this relocation presented an opportunity to reimagine their floorplan and create a workspace that would truly accommodate and enable an environment of collaboration.”
“TCS coined the term ‘radical cooperation,’ which is the cornerstone of our operating philosophy. In order to advance our mission to create change agents and impact positive social change, our office space must be as open and as innovative as our people,” said TCS chief of staff, Shari Mikos. “Education is rapidly evolving and it’s crucial to the success of our partner colleges that we communicate and collaborate quickly and easily across all of our disciplines. This new office was built specifically with our mission in mind.”
TCS counts five colleges, more than 7,000 students and 12 separate campus locations among its ranks. Cross-college collaboration enables TCS to build even more efficient practices and processes that help their colleges thrive, and ultimately advance student success and community impact. Inherent to their processes is the ethos of “Radical Collaboration.” With this as a driver for optimal office space design, Cushman & Wakefield helped TCS create an open workspace that would meet the varying needs of its employees, including phone rooms for privacy and huddle spaces for impromptu meetings and collaborations.
