Monthly Archives: November 2012


CLIMBING MT. RAINIER

Climbing a mountain and building a successful, robust business have many similarities.

Listen to my interview on the Career Clinic to hear about my recent summit of Mt. Rainier.

 

Podcast  – Mt. Rainier interview with Maureen Anderson of the Career Clinic

 

Next week we’ll write about where building a business and climbing a mountain intersect.


SCHENK ANNES TEPPER CAMPBELL RELOCATES AND RENEWS AT 311 S WACKER DR

Chicago, IL – November 16, 2012 – Chicago-based law firm Schenk Annes Tepper Campbell Ltd. recently renewed their lease and will be moving to new space of approximately 9,000 rsf of space at 311 S. Wacker Dr.

Schenk Annes Tepper Campbell Ltd. (SATC) has been a tenant at 311 S. Wacker Dr. since 1997.  As the firm grew and took additional adjacent space, however, its office configuration became awkward and inefficient.  “In a market like the current one, a tenant like SATC is pure gold: they’ve been a reliable tenant for 15 years and are actually growing when other firms are shrinking,” said Rhea Campbell of Bella Terra Partners, who represented SATC in its lease negotiations.  “This is why I was not surprised that several other West Loop buildings negotiated hard for their tenancy.”  Only when the firm committed to an exhaustive full-market search and decided they were fully prepared to leave the building did 311 S. Wacker offer a compelling deal structure, making a renewal not the path of least resistance, but rather a perfect fit. “SATC was able to grow by the amount needed to accommodate its new partners and associates as well as to create efficiencies that were unachievable without a complete demolition of its existing space,” said Ms. Campbell. “In a market like the one we have today, it is inconceivable a Landlord would allow a tenant like SATC to leave their building without pulling out all the stops,” she reiterated. 311 S. Wacker was represented by Mark Baby of JF McKinney.

Schenk Annes Tepper Campbell Ltd. has been practicing law since 1992.  Its areas of practice include:  commercial real estate, corporate planning, estate planning, insurance counseling, business and commercial litigation, and general civil litigation.

 


WHAT LIES AHEAD IN 2013

 

Rental rates across the country continue at historic lows and landlords continue to offer attractive concessions packages to attract or retain an office user’s tenancy.  Will these advantages for tenants continue to prevail in 2013? Across the country, the office sector has shown signs of improvement in 2012. Our expectation is this will continue incrementally and unevenly throughout 2013.  In other words, the recovery is expected  to move at a snail’s pace and may even deteriorate in 2013. The impending Fiscal Cliff and tax climate  continue to present headwinds.  Deloitte echoes this sentiment in their recent Commercial Real Estate Outlook report saying,

“the impact of European uncertainty on U.S. capital markets may act as a damper.  While average rents are likely to grow, a more robust recovery is not expected to begin until 2015.”

What does that mean for occupiers of office space?   Landlords are still hungry for your business.  The ball is in your court.


OUR MAGNIFICENT CITY

Cityscape Chicago from Eric Hines on Vimeo.

“Cityscape Chicago is a personal timelapse piece consisting of over 30,000 still photographs shot on the Canon 5D Mark III incrementally between July and October 2012 around downtown Chicago, Illinois.

The inspiration of this piece was my fascination with the city of Chicago, particularly at night. For me, there has always been a mysterious sort of feeling to Chicago at night, so I decided to explore and capture it.”

Eric Hines