For now, at least, Google and Facebook are the tech behemoths beefing up their presence in Chicago. Many of those companies' existing employees are in sales.

If the Facebook lease is completed as expected, it would cap a spring to remember for Chicago developer John Buck Co. In May, Facebook signed the largest office lease in San Francisco history, agreeing to fill all of a new, 70,000 sq m tower developed by John Buck and two partners: Chicago-based Golub & Co and the asset management arm of MetLife.

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The Chicago deal comes immediately after tenants began moving into John Buck's 35-storey tower at 151 North Franklin Street, where CNA Financial is the namesake tenant. Another tenant in the approximately 74,000 sq m building is law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson.

The largest block of remaining space is the top 10 floors, which have just over 23,000 sq m combined. It's possible Facebook could fill all of that space.

It's unclear whether Facebook also plans to remain in a recently expanded office on Wacker Drive, or whether the spaces will be consolidated on Franklin Street. In October, the Tribune reported Facebook had expanded its space at 191 North Wacker Drive to more than 9000 sq m.

A Facebook spokeswoman and John Buck president and chief investment officer Kevin Hites did not respond to requests for comment.

In May, Crain's Chicago Business reported that Facebook has been poaching recruiters from other Chicago companies so the social media company can make hundreds of new hires in the city.


The Franklin Street space would be large enough to accommodate more than 1000 employees.

Facebook is represented by brokers at Cushman & Wakefield. John Buck is represented by Bill Rolander and Jon Cordell of Newmark Knight Frank.

Google is expanding in Fulton Market, an area that it helped elevate a few years ago when it moved into 33,000 sq m in the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building, which was redeveloped by Chicago's Sterling Bay and renamed 1KFulton.

Google, which has nowhere else to expand at 1000 West Fulton Market, is leasing 1300 sq m on the ground floor that once had been planned as retail space for the building, Google spokeswoman Kayla Conti confirmed. She said that space will be used for Google's salespeople to interact with clients.

Just south of 1KFulton, Google is negotiating to take more than 9000 sq m in a 12-storey building Sterling Bay plans to finish building at 210 North Carpenter Street by late this year, sources said.

Sterling Bay managing principal Andy Gloor could not be reached for comment.

Conti declined to comment on the Carpenter Street lease, or to say whether Google plans further expansion in the neighbourhood. She said the Mountain View, California-based company has more than 900 employees in Chicago.

Google is represented by Kyle Kamin and Cal Wessman of CBRE. Sterling Bay and 1KFulton owner American Realty Advisors are represented by Sterling Bay leasing director Michael Lirtzman.

About 5500 sq m of the Carpenter Street building's 19,000 sq m already has been leased.

MCT