Baker & McKenzie signs lease to move
(Crain's) — Law firm Baker & McKenzie signed a long-term lease Wednesday to move into the East Loop headquarters of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' parent company.
Baker signed a 16-year deal in the building at 300 E. Randolph St., Health Care Service Corp. says in a news release. HCSC recently completed a 24-story expansion of the high-rise, and Baker will occupy about 7.5 floors in the new addition.
Baker has agreed to lease 237,000 square feet in the building, says Bill Rogers, a managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. who represented Baker. The lease begins Dec. 1, 2012.
The firm, currently headquartered at nearby Prudential Plaza, "loves the East Loop" — Millennium Park, the lake and museums fit with the firm's global image, Mr. Rogers says.
Baker will occupy all of the 43rd and 46th through 51st floors and part of the 44th floor, says Mr. Rogers, who declines to disclose financial terms of the lease.
The firm will move about 700 lawyers and staff into the space, according to the release. Baker hopes to move in the second half of 2011, Mr. Rogers says.
Baker's plans to move to the building had been previously reported by other local media.
Last year, the firm agreed to lease 300,000 square feet in a proposed tower at 444 W. Lake St. That deal fell apart earlier this year, and the original plans for the project have been scrapped because the developers were unable to land financing.
