Obama's HQ to be on North Michigan Ave.
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By Greg Hinz and Thomas A. Corfman
Feb. 08, 2007
(Crain’s) — It looks like Barack Obama will run his presidential campaign from a Michigan Avenue high-rise.
A spokesman for the Illinois Democrat confirmed Wednesday that Sen. Obama, who is scheduled to officially announce his candidacy on Saturday in Springfield, expects to open his national campaign headquarters at 233 N. Michigan. Mr. Obama’s exploratory committee already has a small office in the 32-story building.
Knowledgeable real estate sources confirmed that final negotiations are under way on a deal in which the Obama campaign would sublease an entire 33,500-square-foot floor from Accenture Ltd., the big consulting company, for up to two years. That’s a big enough space to handle up to several hundred strategists, pollsters, media experts and other campaign hands.
Sources said the Obama campaign is being represented by J. F. McKinney & Associates, which is donating its services to the senator. The firm also is handling leasing for the Hyatt Center at 71 S. Wacker. It was co-developed by Penny Pritzker, Mr. Obama’s national finance chair. McKinney declined to comment.
The Obama campaign reportedly considered other, more innovative loft-like spaces on the edge of the central business district, but eventually concluded that only a central location would provide both quick public-transit access and a secure space with parking.
The building selected for headquarters formerly was known as 2 Illinois Center and is in the middle portion of that complex. Other major tenants in the building are public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and insurer UnitedHealthcare.
The building, on air rights over South Water Street just east of Michigan Avenue, was built in 1972 and now is owned by Parkway Properties Inc., a Mississippi-based real estate investment trust. It’s a block north of Millennium Park, and just a few steps away from one of the Pritzker family’s inns, the Hyatt Regency Chicago. |
