by “When Google opens its new Midwest headquarters at the James R. Thompson Center late next year, brokers and developers say it could kick off a wave of redevelopment that finally cures the Central Loop’s post-pandemic hangover.
“Other mammoth rehab projects in the works nearby are expected to help fill vacant offices and revive aging skyscrapers with new apartments and hotel rooms. And once Google is established in its new offices, companies that do business with the tech giant could start checking out potential spaces in the area.
“The wave of investment led by Google will be a chance to stitch a new neighborhood together, one not wholly dependent on office workers, said Ariella Gibson, a spokesperson for the Chicago Loop Alliance. By 2028 she foresees a Central Loop busy seven days a week. It will have thousands of new residents and crowds of tourists, as well as Google’s workforce, all served by new stores and restaurants.
“‘After Google and (thousands of) new (residences) come online, the dynamics of the Loop will change and it will look a lot different,’ she said.
“‘Anytime you have something with Google’s name on it, you know you’re on the right path,’ said Kathleen Bertrand, senior vice president of commercial real estate firm Transwestern.
“The Google effect sparked redevelopment across Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood just west of downtown, largely occupied by food wholesalers and distributors in 2015 when the company opened its Midwest headquarters in a former cold storage building, she said. The neighborhood is now a premier office market with rehabbed lofts and new skyscrapers, and where streets are often crowded with shoppers and diners.
“‘The effects of COVID were devastating, but I think people are looking at the Central Loop differently today,’ said Michael Reschke, CEO of The Prime Group, who along with Capri Investment Group Chairman Quintin Primo leads the redevelopment of the Thompson Center.
“‘In the next 12 months, that building is going to be well-occupied, and creating a lot of activity in the neighborhood,’ he said.
“Reschke and Primo bought the Helmut Jahn-designed Thompson Center in 2022 from the state of Illinois for $105 million and started construction in 2024. Google agreed to take over the 1.2-million-square-foot building at 100 W. Randolph St. after the duo completed the work.
“The 17-story atrium will be transformed into a comfortable public space open to Loop office workers, according to renderings released by Google. The old food court will be replaced by a terraced green space and a set of new cafes, restaurants and retail.
“Google said renovation of most of the building would be done by the end of 2026, but interior work would continue into next year. The company hasn’t said how many of its 2,000 employees in Chicago will move into the Thompson Center.
“‘Google has called Chicago home since 2000 and we’re committed to investing here,’ said Rob Biederman, Google’s head of state and local government affairs. ‘We are proud to play a part in bringing a new wave of growth and innovation to the Loop.’
“Financial consultant Morningstar is likely to lease several hundred thousand square feet in the building, and move from 22 W. Washington Blvd. around 2028, an early sign that other companies will flock around Google, Sevim said.
“‘You’re going to have this ripple effect,’ he said.
“The city and a group of developers have also joined together to kick off the LaSalle Street Corridor Revitalization, converting obsolete Loop offices near the Thompson Center into residences and hotel rooms.
“The nearly $1 billion program, financed with private investment and Tax Increment Financing funds, will create nearly 2,000 new units at six buildings by 2028, including hundreds of affordable homes, transforming about 2 million square feet of space. More than a dozen other downtown conversion projects without city financing are also planned.
“Retailers are already showing more interest in the Loop, according to Gibson, of the Loop Alliance. About 30 new downtown restaurants and stores opened in 2025, including Panera Bread at 168 N. State St. The restaurant chain had shuttered its downtown location during the pandemic.
“‘State Street hit bottom and it’s starting to work its way back up,’ Gibson said.
“‘It feels like more (stores) are opening than closing,’ said Tony Maggiore, Chicago-based chair of the Midwest market leadership team for Chase. ‘The pendulum is swinging the other way toward the revitalization of the Loop.’
“In 2021, Chase thought about developing a new skyscraper for its more than 7,000 Loop employees, and the bank looked at possible sites in Fulton Market and the South Loop. But Chase Tower’s iconic, sloped steel-and-concrete design, massive public plaza, and proximity to trains and the theater district, led the company to stick with its longtime home.” (Rogal, Chicago Tribune, 6/11/26)
“Startups and other small companies have been snapping up space in the LaSalle Corridor district, which once served as the city’s financial center and as backdrop for movies from The Dark Knight to The Untouchables. The catalyst: the renovation of the James R. Thompson Center, where Alphabet’s Google plans to start moving workers next year.
“The real estate rush — part of a wider phenomenon often dubbed the ‘Google effect’ in which the tech giant drives real estate investment around its offices — is fueling signs of recovery in a hard-hit part of downtown as Chicago struggles to rebound from the pandemic. Since Google announced the project in 2022, office leasing volume has advanced 14% in LaSalle Corridor, compared with a 13% drop in the broader Central Loop district of which it’s a part.
“‘We’re just getting started in terms of being able to see the Google effect,’ said Jeffrey Cheng, chief executive officer of Nautilus Solar Energy, which relocated from New Jersey to Chicago last year and took space near the Thompson Center. ‘The commercialization of this area is only going to continue to increase, which is going to be great for our employees and our company just to be an ancillary beneficiary of that effect.’
“Startups such as ElectronX, a power-derivatives exchange, are betting that Google’s presence will bolster the neighborhood. The area also has strong transit options and a wealth of offices, hotels and restaurants within walking distance.
“‘From a recruitment perspective, from just that proximity perspective, I would expect there to be lots of other more innovative companies coming in around here,’ said Sam Tegel, CEO of power-derivatives exchange company ElectronX, which recently moved into a building across the street from the Thompson Center. ‘That gave us comfort and confidence.’” (Davis, Bloomberg, 5/22/26)
The Thompson Center was a Preservation Chicago 7 Most Endangered in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The preservation advocacy effort was long and challenging, but ultimately proved to be highly worthwhile. The building is being comprehensively modernized and will become a home to Google.
Governor James R. Thompson wanted the State of Illinois Building (later renamed the Thompson Center) to stimulate the Central Loop in the early 1980s. Thanks to a long and successful preservation campaign, and visionary developers and decision makers 40 years later, the Thompson Center as Google’s Midwest HQ will again have a huge beneficial impact on the Central Loop.
The reinvestment now underway around it follows the same pattern. Chase Tower, 161 N. Clark Street, the former AT&T headquarters at 225 W. Randolph Street, and the six LaSalle Street buildings being converted to housing and hotels are all existing buildings being modernized rather than replaced. Preservation and economic development are the same project here, and the Central Loop’s recovery is being built on the buildings it already has.
From “Impossible to Inevitable,” the Thompson Center reuse is a perfect example of the incredible power of preservation to generate economic development.
“Now with all of this work underway at the Thompson Center, we need to find a safe and permanent home of the Jean DuBuffet sculpture in the Loop. Removed from the Thompson Center in the past year, Downtown Chicago has been losing incredible examples of 20th Century public art for several decades, prompting Preservation Chicago to make Chicago’s 20th Century Public Sculptures a 2017 Most Endangered. Perhaps we can also rescue Alexander Calder’s “The Universe“ from storage and back on public display again. Also, Sol LeWitt’s “Lines in Four Directions“ needs to be restored and returned to public display the Federal Government and GSA restoring“.
Read the full story at the Chicago Tribune and Bloomberg/Silicon Valley
Read the full story at Bloomberg/Silicon Valley
Thompson Center Will Keep Its Name, With Google Planning A 2027 Move-In
Leasing is now open for retail and office space in the iconic Loop building, which will serve as the tech giant’s new Chicago headquarters for 2,000 workers, Melody Mercado, Block Club Chicago, 3/17/26
Inside Google’s $280 Million Plan to Save a Chicago Landmark (12:48), MegaBuilds, 2/27/26