Case Study

Financial Services Client

Workplace of the Future – Schaumburg, IL

Background

Strategized and launched prior to COVID, this financial services organization’s Workplace of the Future initiative sought to modernize and rethink their real estate, portfolio wide. This long-time client had a pre-COVID footprint of 21,651 rentable sqft office in Schaumburg, IL, a suburb of Chicago. This space, however, did not provide the Workplace of the Future they imagined. In addition, the space accrued annual occupancy costs in excess of $690,000. The client quickly recognized that Work From Home policies were aiding productivity and allowed for them to revisit their Workplace of the Future initiative while scaling back footprint and costs. The client again turned to Vestian for development of a new plan for real estate.

Approach

Vestian developed a strategy that would allow employees to eventually return to the office, while providing the flexibility they desired. The real estate strategy also adhered to all standard social distancing protocols. After interviewing each department lead, Vestian recommended a workplace consolidation plan to accommodate their current headcount of 59, with a growth factor of 15%. Vestian recommended a comprehensive solution to reduce the footprint from 21,651 SF to an optimal efficiency of 6,259 SF.

With COVID conditions having a profound effect on office real estate assets, Vestian recognized that supply in the market was increasing rapidly, but there was little to no demand. Due to these factors, our client was able to take advantage of the first tenant-friendly market seen in over a decade.

Results

After touring 13 options in three Chicagoland submarkets, six potential options were chosen to RFP. After disqualifying two sub-markets as potential markets for relocation, the client chose to remain in their current sub-market of Schaumburg. Through a leveraged negotiation process, Vestian was able to secure flexible terms in line with business objectives for our client. The client moved into their newly-built-out space in June of 2021.