JLL Considers Boeing’s Old HQ for Chicago Headquarters Move

Chicago Tenant Shuffles Reshape Downtown Office Scene

Bisnow reports that JLL’s potential headquarters relocation comes at a time when major tenants are rethinking their office footprints and locations in downtown Chicago. According to CoStar News, JLL is considering a lease for the upper floors of the 36-story, 776K SF 100 N. Riverside Plaza—Boeing’s old HQ—amid wider office sector realignment. The brokerage’s move would follow a wave of recent high-profile departures and consolidations, including CBRE’s migration to a compact 55K SF space at 300 N. LaSalle St. and Newmark’s shift to Salesforce Tower in August 2025. As the anchor tenant shuffle continues, older trophy towers like Aon Center are increasingly competing for creditworthy tenants in a challenging macro environment.

The Details

Per CoStar News, JLL’s discussions to move into the Boeing tower are still preliminary, and alternatives remain on the table. If the deal moves forward, JLL would reduce its total office footprint compared to the 202K SF it currently occupies at Aon Center. Hines and the Stahl Organization acquired Boeing’s leasehold interest in the building for $22M in late 2025. Stahl already holds the ground lease, which expires in 2084. Boeing itself exited 100 N. Riverside after more than two decades in the space, having initially signed a 15-year lease in 2001 and purchased the trophy property for $165.2M in 2005. The now-vacant upper floors present a rare high-profile block of contiguous space in Chicago’s office core.

Legacy Towers Under Stress

JLL’s potential downsizing lines up with a citywide reduction in office footprint among major occupiers. Aon Center, where JLL now resides, has become a poster child for distress, landing in special servicing after owner 601W Cos. missed tenant improvement and leasing commission payments earlier in 2026. Even blue-chip tenants like JLL, CBRE, and Newmark have reduced their physical presences, reflecting a sector-wide embrace of hybrid work and cost discipline. Across Chicago, the trend has left large Class A blocks available and is challenging landlords’ ability to preserve occupancy and cash flows, according to CoStar’s Q2 2026 market summary.

Why It Matters

This potential move signals a further blurring of lines between trophy and non-trophy space in Chicago’s post-pandemic office market. JLL previously benefited from recovering office leasing activity, highlighting the contrast between stronger transaction volumes and continued corporate downsizing. JLL’s willingness to relinquish space at a legacy tower underscores growing commitments to flexible, efficient accommodation and the strategic use of headquarters as cultural flagships—rather than pure square footage plays. The backdrop is financial distress hitting even well-located office towers: Aon Center’s special servicing status illustrates how rising debt costs and tenant departures weigh on owners.

The Boeing tower transaction, wherein Hines and Stahl paid $22M for the leasehold, also spotlights sharply reduced asset values for aging but high-profile buildings that suddenly become vacant. With companies like CBRE taking just 55K SF in their new offices, the message is clear: size is less critical than quality and amenity in the hybrid age. According to JLL’s own 2025 tenant sentiment survey, 57% of corporate occupiers across the US plan to reduce office space by at least 20% by 2027. That puts yet more pressure on central business district landlords to compete on experience as the flight to quality shows no sign of slowing.

What’s Next

If JLL executes a relocation, it would be among the largest downtown Chicago office moves of the year and would further shrink demand for large blocks of contiguous space in legacy towers. The company remains in the exploratory phase and is evaluating other options. Meanwhile, the competitive dynamics among landlords in the West Loop and along the Chicago River will intensify, with more Class A space likely to come to market amid ongoing corporate downsizing. As flagship tenants shed excess space, owners will need to get creative—through concessions, major capital upgrades, or repositionings—or risk further value erosion as demand settles at new, lower levels.