N
ewmark is in talks to relocate its Chicago office to Salesforce Tower, a 60-story skyscraper along the Chicago River. The company is close to finalizing a sublease for 24,000 square feet of space that Salesforce has been marketing after deciding not to fully occupy the tower it opened in late 2023.

    The sublease would be part of the 120,000 square feet of unclaimed space at the 1.2 million-square-foot building, which was developed by Hines and Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises in 2023. Newmark would be the first company to take over any of Salesforce's unclaimed space, potentially paying a premium for riverfront views and prime amenities.

    The move reflects a broader trend in Chicago's office market, where companies are consolidating space but upgrading to top-tier buildings to attract employees back to the office. Office vacancy downtown is at a record high, but Class A towers like Salesforce Tower have outperformed, with a vacancy rate of nearly 21 percent compared to 32 percent for Class B buildings.

    Newmark's potential move would also help it keep pace with rival CBRE, which recently inked a deal to relocate its local office to 300 North LaSalle Street. Salesforce's lease at the tower runs through 2040, and its sublease effort has become a closely watched bellwether for post-pandemic office space strategy among major tech tenants.