Cisco brands Chicago ‘midwest hub’
 

Tribune coverage
By LISA DONOVAN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
AUG 13, 2021 AT 8:00 AM

Technology firm Cisco Systems announced this week it’s moving its regional offices in Rosemont to downtown Chicago where the city will serve as the company’s Midwest “hub,” officials tell the Tribune.


Jobs span across sales, sales engineering, services, collaboration and operations roles, according to a Cisco spokesman. The Tribune reported in 2019 that Cisco was negotiating rent on 130,000 square feet of office space in the long-vacant old post office. The new Cisco space can accommodate 1,200 employees.

A top Cisco official called the move a win for recruitment efforts: It’s easier to attract young tech-savvy professional workers.

“Chicago is an amazing city and offers everything we wanted for our Midwest regional hub. It’s business-friendly, has a booming tech and innovation ecosystem, and offers access to a dynamic pool of talent,” Gerri Elliott, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief customer and partner officer, said in a statement.

LOL....If by having revenue of almost $50 billion is still existing, then yes.

I mean it's got a quarter trillion dollar market cap...

It's currently the 42nd biggest company in the planet by market cap...

CoinFlip moving headquarters to Old Post Office

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...ilding-chicago

Glad to see the OPO continue to fill up! Also glad to hear that Chicago is not getting left behind the crypto boom. As one of the world's premier financial centers, we should definitely be paying a lot of attention to this.

Great to see. Here is a nice recent summary of some of the crypto related businesses in the area - there are many more https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...v3y-story.html

From the article, I did not know that FTX set up an office in the West Loop, that is big news.

I can't find the reference, but I read somewhere that Chicago/IL had the most crypto ATMs of anywhere in the US. Athena Bitcoin is a CoinFlip competitor and is also headquartered in the Chicago: https://cointelegraph.com/news/athen...to-el-salvador

Uber opens new office at Old Post Office

https://chicago.suntimes.com/busines...ght-eats-rides

nice to see offices filling in. 100% remote work all the time can't be truly productive for a company, works for some, but I'm sure most will adopt a hybrid model like Uber just did.

Nothing new in the article

But remember this sitting empty for years trying to come up with a plan for this beast. It was so big most all thought half of it would have to come down for a rehab because it would be simply too big to fill.

Imagine if someone said it could be 90% leased!





https://www.chicagobusiness.com/cool...t-offices-2021


October 14, 2021 01:25 PM |



The Old Post Office: Best reuse of a historic building



As part of our Coolest Offices 2021, we spotlight the largest historical redevelopment in the nation, a building erected in 1921 and spanning three city blocks.

Crain's Coolest Offices 2021



The Old Post Office sat vacant for two decades, but in the largest historical redevelopment in the nation, the building, erected in 1921 and spanning three city blocks, is now a thriving work hub.

Nearly $1 billion has been spent restoring, replacing, replicating and cleaning significant architectural features and readying the 2.8 million-square-foot limestone structure to accept new tenants.

The unprecedented overhaul was spearheaded by developer 601W Cos. in conjunction with design giant Gensler and general contractor Bear Construction, along with historical consultants, preservation experts and civil engineers.

Since November 2019, companies such as Cisco Systems, CoinFlip, PepsiCo, Home Chef and Walgreens have taken up office and retail space in the iconic building. It is more than 90% leased, according to Jamey Dix, principal of leasing firm the Telos Group.


....


















http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...k7y-story.html




Uber opens new office in Old Post Office, making Chicago the center of growth plans for its surging freight business


By Robert Channick


Chicago Tribune |

Oct 19, 2021 at 3:44 PM


...


Uber now has about 1,500 Chicago office workers, with about half employed by Uber Freight, the company said. It plans to expand to more than 2,000 employees in Chicago.

...


“We’re in full hiring mode,” Lior Ron, head of Uber Freight, said Tuesday.



Uber is occupying about 310,000 square feet at the Old Post Office, including the entire ninth floor, parts of the eighth floor and a private rooftop deck. The company is subleasing about 150,000 square feet of its original space to other tenants on the eighth floor.



The new office features a full-service kitchen, executive suite, grand hall, restrooms, library spaces and other amenities. The roof includes event space and sports courts. But the biggest feature is simply the sheer size of the contiguous office.



“The floor plan allows us to actually have the entire team collaborate together on one floor,” Ron said. “It’s essentially like four football fields connected or like a skyscraper basically tilted on its back.”





Ron said the office will initially be open on a voluntary basis for Chicago employees, many of whom continue to work remotely. Uber is expecting most employees to be back in the office by the “beginning of next year,” he said.




In 2020, Uber Freight generated $1 billion in revenue, according to financial statements, and has accelerated to a rate that would produce $1.7 billion in annual revenue, Ron said.





“From a business perspective, Uber Freight has a lot of momentum,” Ron said. “We started from nothing just four years ago.”



Ron said the ability to “tap into the universities” and Chicago’s talent pool has enabled the business to recruit and ramp up logistics professionals quickly. The opening of a new technology hub at the Old Post Office will have “dozens of engineers” working alongside the operations staff, he said.



Another boost for the Chicago operation will be the $2.25 billion acquisition of Texas-based logistics firm Transplace, which was announced in July but has yet to close.


...

I think I had a Cisco modem in 1996 on my Packard Bell PC

now they own WebEx

the terrible clunky and not free version of zoom :D

I'm not sure what your point is?

Cisco primarily sells products and services to businesses, not individuals. So yeah, if your picture of them is based on products that you personally buy, they won't seem that impressive (I agree, Webex sucks).

That's because most of what they do is sell products and services to companies that build telecom and data center infrastructure. The average person won't interact with them in their day-to-day life, but there's still a lot of money there. $50B of revenue in fact, employing 77500 people. Getting a slice of that is a good get for OPO, and downtown Chicago.

just trying to have some fun really, which is rarely welcomed in this forum so that's my bad

I know cisco is b2b

Not sure if the plaza was open before, but this was the first time I walked by and the gate was open. They have some netting next to the benches... Not sure what it's for. It's hard to get the full view, but it has a great perspective of downtown and the river.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b2178173_h.jpg

And of course these bad boys.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a13643c7_b.jpg

90% occupied? Fantastic news! And to think, 20 years ago there were proposals to gut/demo much of this beautiful structure. Thank God that didn't happen. Would have been a travesty on the scale of the demolition of the old Merc...

Speaking of potential demos, what is the plan for the Chicago Central Carrier Annex? I remember years past that it was to be demolished, but that might have been with Davies and his crapshoot ideas for the OPO in the decade he slumlorded the property.

The carrier annex/Sugar House is also owned by 601W along with OPO. Right now they are using it as a staging site for work on the main structure and for the tenants' GCs. I don't think there is a firm plan to develop there yet.

The city is planning major projects to rebuild Harrison directly in front of the Sugar House (Canal to the river) as well as Canal itself, both of which span over the Union Station tracks. If/when those projects kick off, the Sugar House site will be virtually inaccessible except for workers driving into the OPO and the new Post Office garages. So I'd guess 601W is waiting on those projects.

They also own the parking lot at Clinton/Harrison next to the Holiday Inn. They are in the midst of resurfacing that lot so it looks less awful, but that probably means they aren't planning to develop there either anytime soon.

Interesting! What does the city have planned for Canal? That stretch of road definitely needs work, and not just because its crumbling. Its a jumbled and confusing mess, especially the intersection of Canal and Harrison which constantly confuses everyone driving through it with underpass under 290 and the 'frontage roads' style on/off ramps to 290, plus the old access drive on the east side of that stretch of Canal creating a no man's land along the entire west side of the OPO. I assume the city and developers want to make the now fenced off Canal frontage more inviting/embracing the street, with the opportunity for street fronting retail?

They will rebuild the viaduct structure between Madison and Taylor. I’ve heard it compared to the Wacker Drive rebuild from a few years back, except the lower level is train tracks. I haven’t seen any detailed plans yet for the Canal project but it keeps cropping up in planning documents.

However, once the viaduct is rebuilt, the plan is to build park space along the west side of OPO in the old loading dock areas.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ld-post-office

October 21, 2021 05:24 PM UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Milwaukee Tool leases space for engineering hub at Old Post Office
The deal sets up the power tools maker to bring a few hundred jobs to the city.

DANNY ECKER


They said 90% last lease, but whatever... It's good news.

This sort of feels like a slight to Milwaukee (the city)?

They probably round...

Yeah, 70,000SF is only 3% of the building's massive 2.5 million leasable SF. Drop in the bucket.

It should be convenient for Milwaukee people to get down there, though. Easy 1-block walk from Union Station if they're riding Amtrak.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ld-post-office

November 22, 2021 11:29 AM

Health care firm inks big Old Post Office lease
Vizient is combining its downtown and suburban offices into a single location at the redeveloped mammoth.

DANNY ECKER

Health care management consultant Vizient signed a big lease at the Old Post Office, a move that will combine its local offices into a single location and cut Uber's footprint at the redeveloped building by more than 20%.

Vizient inked a deal this month for roughly 112,000 square feet in the property at 433 W. Van Buren St., according to sources familiar with the lease. Vizient plans to consolidate its local offices in the building from its roughly 150,000 square feet of combined workspace today at 155 N. Wacker Drive in the West Loop and 5250 Old Orchard Road in north suburban Skokie.

90% of this behemoth is leased? Incredible! A white elephant no more.

Is this the same Texas company that was alluded by a forum member a few weeks ago as moving their HQ to Chicago?

I don't think so... based on https://www.chicagobusiness.com/juic...-casinos-bears

^ Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar said the Texas company is mid-sized and there will be an announcement about the move

Just an update on this, FH Paschen has had parts of Canal closed off for 2-3 weeks now for the plaza work. All the ratty old loading dock pavement is being ripped up, you can see a bunch of round vents for train exhaust. Will be interesting to see how the plaza design deals with this... not super pleasant to hang out above some diesel locomotives.

I thought they were gonna rebuild the underlying viaduct first, but I guess not. :shrug:

This seems like big news, anyone have a CoStar subscription to summarize the article?

Old Post Office Lands $830 Million Loan in One of Chicago’s Largest Refinance Deals

After 601W’s $1 Billion Redevelopment, Long-Vacant Structure Along Chicago River Is Now 95% Leased
https://www.costar.com/article/17067...efinance-deals

^ Story in Crain's now too: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...0-million-loan

I wonder what this means (if anything) for further redevelopment or plans for the building. Will this go towards the landscaping on the west side or the riverwalk side? The South annex building/new building?

The riverwalk side is "done" for the moment but the landscaping there is "interim".

I assume the plans for that area are in flux given the need to upgrade Union Station by repurposing the old mail platforms under OPO (and the infrastructure bill may fund this).

601W probably also has plans to eventually build a highrise where the Sugar House is, and they will need to provide a pedestrian link to the north somehow for commuters.

^ Hopefully they end up preserving/repurposing the Carriage Annex. Instead, let them buy out the crappy Holiday Inn across Canal and put up a full block 60 story office tower instead :yes:

And while we are on that pipe dream, Canal and 290 should be made into an at-grade traffic-lighted intersection, with the entire west frontage of the OPO turned into retail. :tup:

Don't they still have zoning to add some massive tower here?

What an incredible success story. A total gift of good fortune to this city.

Great question. I thought they had approval for a 130-story giant... I wonder if it's lapsed?

The whole PD is based on Bill Davies' kooky plan for the Post Office which was honestly too overstuffed. They asked for the moon and they got it (building height, FAR, density, you name it) but they also committed to a ton of costly infrastructure. I'm guessing from 601W perspective this looked like a bad deal since they still have all the same costly infrastructure commitments even if they scale down the development plans to what the market will bear. 601W didn't shy away, they took on the project and all the risk and completed Phase I. Now they reap the rewards of a huge and successful office building, but the Phase II and Phase III in the PD are really fanciful. Not sure if those phases can actually be built without 601W going back to City Council to renegotiate the terms of the PD.

For now, these Phase II/III entitlements have not lapsed so they still have the ability to build a supertall on the Sugar House site if they want up to 2000', or a highrise on the Holiday Inn site (minus that crappy little retail building with Harold's Chicken which is not part of the PD).

More likely, I think we get a residential highrise (not supertall) on both sites eventually. The PD allows up to 6,769 residential units and 1,240 hotel rooms. I suppose there's an outside chance that Chase or somebody else comes in demanding a signature office tower, and this is the only riverfront site that's already entitled for such a tower... but it's south of Congress, so that may be a dealbreaker for big anchor office tenants.

^What about the speed ramps???

. . . I'll see myself out. . .

. . .

Software consulting firm Focused Labs is moving from Fulton Market to OPO. This building is inching towards being 100% leased

Software Startup Focused Labs Moves Into Old Post Office Building
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2022/...-office-hiring

VillageMD, a primary health care provider with funding from Walgreens, is moving from the Loop to OPO for larger space

VillageMD takes space at Old Post Office
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ld-post-office

^Oh wow, this building has to be 100% leased now? Great to see businness still searching for office space.

Makes sense as Walgreens HQ moved into the OPO iirc.

^ They are still HQ'd in Deerfield, they simply consolidated their downtown offices in the OPO, and moved a whole bunch of tech and e-commerce jobs down as well. It will be a pretty sizeable presence (1800 employees IIRC), but the execs wanted to remain in the North Shore I guess.

My bad thanks for the correction. I didn't rc.

Managed to snap a picture of the plaza work going on along the Canal St side. They've totally demolished the concrete deck and they're working on removing the old steel beams. Lots of pipes being held up on temporary shoring while they do the work.

I thought there were Union Station tracks directly under the south plaza, but it's actually just basement space. The north plaza does have tracks beneath, so the work on that end will require some Metra coordination. Explains why they haven't done any demo on the north side yet.

https://i.ibb.co/kgKsBhx/IMG-3071.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HVvBy7m/opo-plaza.png

Looks like they are doing demo on the north plaza, actually. You can see the tracks below!

https://i.ibb.co/9nGhC5d/opo2.png

Did you happen to notice what is going on with the Holiday Inn in that shot? Is it a re-model, or is it too much to hope that it's a teardown?

^ I was wondering the same thing. Does anyone know?

Thank you! I'll take an "improvement" as well.

That holiday inn needs to meet the bulldozer

If they actually make it nice enough, it could pay off. Easy hotel stays for anyone needing to visit any company in OPO.

Or someone who wants an overnight in the city near Union or greyhound stations.