A Headquarters Grows in Chicago

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Personal finance company Avant has signed a long-term lease for 78,794 square feet at 222 N. LaSalle in downtown Chicago with landlord, Tishman Speyer.

The space will serve as Avant’s new headquarters and keep the growing three-year old company in Chicago.

“It’s a historic Chicago building with great ownership and management and a large 40,000-square-foot floor plate, which is very important to create a very collaborative environment,” Al Goldstein, Avant’s CEO, told Commercial Property Executive. “Our culture is all about innovation, talent and collaboration and this space will allow us to foster all of those.”

According to Goldstein, the company currently has 670 employees and plans to up the total to nearly 1,000 by year’s end.

Overall, the 26-story office tower totals 938,300 rentable square feet, and offers a full service fitness center, valet parking and panoramic views of the Chicago River.

222 N. LaSalle has achieved LEED Silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system, as well as ENERGY STAR certification.

Tishman Speyer recently completed a number of capital improvements to the building, including creating a 7,200 square-foot, state-of-the-art conference center/auditorium with capacity for 125, adding an 8,000-square-foot tenant lounge, and adding two restaurants on the main lobby—Prime & Provisions Restaurant and Glazed & Infused Donut Shop.

“The location is right on the river bordering River North and the Loop, which works ideally for us,” Goldstein added. “River North is where a lot of our people live and our Global Operations Center is at 225 W. Randolph.”

Avant’s business model is driven by big data and machine-learning algorithms that have transformed the traditional personal loan process into a streamlined, customer-friendly experience. To date, more than $1 billion in loan originations have been issued through the Avant technology platform, providing funding for more than 200,000 customers.

Avant Credit was represented in the transaction by Brad Serot of CBRE, while Tishman Speyer’s Joe Gordon and Greg Tait represented building ownership.