Huron shrinks Chicago office footprint

Huron Consulting has cut its Chicago headquarters to about 83,000 square feet at 550 W. Van Buren, down from roughly 134,000 square feet. (therealdeal.com) The Chicago-based consulting firm renewed its lease in the West Loop and will keep its headquarters in the building through 2037, according to trade reports published April 20. Crain’s reported the move as part of the continuing reduction in office space by downtown tenants more than six years after the pandemic upended workplace habits. (therealdeal.com) (chicagobusiness.com) The cut trims Huron’s space by about 51,000 square feet, or roughly 38%. At a 332,608-square-foot building, that reduction pushes occupancy at 550 W. Van Buren to about 62%, based on the building size listed by owner Onni Group and deal details reported this week. (therealdeal.com) (onni.com) Huron still lists 550 W. Van Buren as its Chicago office on its corporate website, and the lease extension keeps a recognizable tenant in a building that is now marketing available space. The address sits just west of the Loop in a corridor landlords still pitch on transit access and daytime foot traffic. (huronconsultinggroup.com) (onni.com) The backdrop is a downtown office market that is still shedding space. CBRE said Chicago’s Central Business District posted 515,176 square feet of negative net absorption in the first quarter of 2026 and a 27.0% direct vacancy rate, while leasing for deals above 10,000 square feet fell to about 1.4 million square feet from 1.7 million a year earlier. (cbre.com) Cushman & Wakefield reported the same 1.4 million square feet of new leasing activity in the Central Business District in the first quarter, down 9.4% from a year earlier. In that market, a headquarters renewal that comes with less space is no longer unusual; it is one of the ways tenants are resetting for hybrid schedules instead of fully leaving downtown. (cushmanwakefield.com) (cbre.com) That office pullback intersects with a tighter apartment market near the urban core. Marcus & Millichap said Chicago deliveries are expected to fall below 4,000 units in 2026 for the first time since 2012, and that Central Business District apartment vacancy is at its lowest level since at least 2006. (marcusmillichap.com) A smaller headquarters does not erase downtown demand, but it does reduce the number of desks tied to daily commuting at one address. In Chicago’s 2026 office market, that is the pattern: companies keep the name on the building, keep fewer floors, and leave landlords to refill the rest. (chicagobusiness.com) (cbre.com)