Google’s new Midwest headquarters in the Central Loop could usher in a wave of new development – Chicago Tribune*

An artist's rendering shows Google's Midwest headquarters after renovations to...The number of vacant offices throughout downtown rose in 2025, and the first few months of 2026 brought no relief. The downtown availability rate stood at 30.4 percent in the first quarter, up from about 29 percent one year ago, according to a Transwestern report. The Central Loop fared worse than any downtown submarket.
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mqyl
1 day ago

Was Google aware of the level of crime in downtown Chicago or Cook County’s soft-on-crime policies before they decided to set up shop in the Thompson Center building? It doesn’t seem they were.

The Railroader
2 days ago

Thie lefty children infesting the once-great newspaper Chicago Tribune haven’t bothered to notice the fire-sale prices that Chicago offices have been selling (and not selling) for. Google won’t be staying long.

There are no adults remaining at the Trib.
The Trib is dead.

Pat S.
2 days ago

I wouldn’t count on it.

Free at Last
2 days ago

Sure it will. It will be interesting to see how long google lasts there. There are things about the operation of that building that make ownership by a private entity cost prohibitive. Google is more than likely a tenant and will be somewhat insulated from those problems, but if they have a triple net lease, those issues will eventually be theirs. The building, as built, is a disaster and has been from the day it opened. It’s just the State of Illinois didn’t care what it cost to keep it open.

Sanity please
2 days ago

Tribune what a useless rag, keep smoking
that hopium it will not change anything but
you don’t care anyway.

Fed Up Taxpayer
2 days ago

Keep dreaming Trib.

Last edited 2 days ago by Fed Up Taxpayer
Hello, Indiana
2 days ago

The Libune’s “ availability rate “ is everyone else’s vacancy rate. More smiley newspeak from a kowtowing excuse for media in CHI.

mqyl
1 day ago
Reply to  Hello, Indiana

Good catch. Availability has a more positive connotation than vacancy. Vacancy is a problem; availability connotes more of an opportunity. Nice try, Trib.

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