Are you moving for a corporate relocation, school, a medical rotation, or an internship? Is your lease up and you’re not sure what the next few months will bring or where you want to live next? Maybe you want to move but just don’t feel like committing to a long term lease or have family coming for a long visit and nowhere for them to stay. Whatever your reason, short term leases and furnished apartments are growing increasingly popular for the incredible convenience they offer.
Although many luxury rental buildings offer three, six, and nine month leases, it’s hard to find options for shorter lease terms. One high quality option is Suite Home Chicago.
One of the short term options Suite Home offers in the West Loop neighborhood
Suite Home Chicago offers furnished short term rentals in downtown Chicago. With inventory in luxury high rises throughout many of Chicago’s neighborhoods, it’s not hard to find a convenient option for your short term stay. The minimum stay is 30 days, but there is full flexibility in anything longer. For instance, if you need to stay for 42 days, you’ll only be billed for the days you need rather than a full second month.
What really sets Suite Home apart is the quality of their inventory. Their rentals are in top notch luxury high rises and the interiors are masterfully designed. Each rental is complete with basics like full furnishings, full sized appliances, linens, silverware, in-unit laundry in most units, and of course wifi, down to the last detail including paper towels, house plants (because what’s a modern apartment without a succulent), dish towels, travel sized toiletries, and even some trendy throw pillows. All you have to bring is your favorite snack (and some clothes too).
With regular housekeeping service, door staff, and state-of-the-art amenities, you get the luxuries of a hotel with the space and comfort of apartment living. Pets are welcome!
Each furnished apartment comes complete with linens and all the comforts of home
Looking for luxury apartments for rent near downtown Chicago? Contact us today! One of our neighborhood experts will be happy to answer your questions and assist with your move or corporate relocation. We are now offering in person, virtual, and self guided apartment tours. Be sure to ask about move in specials!
The West Loop has been an attractive spot for corporate relocations the last two years. McDonald’s garnered significant attention in 2018 when it moved its headquarters from its home of 47 years in Oakbrook to downtown Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.
The new headquarters office building was built at the former site of Oprah’s Harpo Studios. The relocation brought over 2000 jobs downtown and had a positive impact on this year’s earnings. CEO Steve Easterbrook says the move downtown was motivated by a desire to become a more modern company by tapping into a wider range of top talent and being hip with trends in food and beverage– both things he hopes will be improved by being being centrally located right on Randolph Street. Easterbrook also noted that the downtown move has had a positive impact on recruiting. McDonald’s received over 200,000 job applications sine their relocation, which is a large increase from years prior.
Courtesy of McDonald’s
The new McDonald’s headquarters features a restaurant with menu items from around the world which is open to the public. The second floor houses Hamburger University, where McDonald’s trains its managers. The third floor has a test kitchen for new potential menu items and the sixth floor has an employee cafe with co-working space, a barista style coffee bar, and an IT help bar. Over 300 conference rooms equipped for audio and video, cafe style meeting spaces, unassigned benches and cubicles, and large meeting spaces are scattered throughout the building to promote collaboration. The innovative headquarters has multiple open floor plan sub office “neighborhoods”, each with private phoning rooms, tables, meeting rooms, and lockers. Last but not least, the ninth floor features a fitness center and terraces overlooking the city.
Courtesy of McDonald’s
Looking for luxury apartments from rent near West Loop? Contact us today! We’d be happy to keep you in the Loop!
While some may call Chicago by its specious Second City moniker, we know it’s the best city in the world. But, don’t just take our word for it. Adding another feather to the city’s cap, Site Selection Magazine named Chicago the top metropolitan area for corporate relocation in 2018. With a high-tech workforce, world-class museums, winning sports teams and foodie-favored restaurants, all situated around the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan…what company wouldn’t want to relocate here?
The city added on average 15,000 jobs per year from 2013-2017, with the largest expansion of nearly 20,000 new jobs in 2017 alone. And, 2018 is looking just as promising.
As employees evaluate a corporate relocation, housing is generally their number one issue. While the most common (and expensive) form of housing relocation assistance is with a home purchase, an often-overlooked need is employee rental assistance. According to a recent article from the Human Resources Certification Institute, skipping rental support is one of three common mistakes made in designing relocation packages. As we discussed in the article, leasing often better suits an employee’s needs and budget, but finding the right apartment home requires more than a quick internet search, especially in a city with the size and diversity of Chicago.
In an effort to streamline their relocation services, companies all too often work with just one brokerage firm – typically a full-service firm that says its agents can help with all housing needs, including for-sale and rental. Most brokerages specialize in either for-sale listings or rental listings, but not both – especially in Chicago which is known for its 77 distinct neighborhoods and more than 100 suburbs. So, what inevitably happens is that an employee who wants to rent an apartment in the city is paired with an agent well-versed in the for-sale market. Without the in-depth knowledge of the hundreds of rental buildings in Chicago’s city center, the agent may never quite get it right and the employee is frustrated and confused.
Engaging the help of a professional who specializes in apartment leasing and has hyperlocal neighborhood knowledge, as well as insight into rental concessions and rate fluctuations, will ensure the employee finds the right home and has a positive relocation experience, enhancing the employee’s overall satisfaction with the new job assignment.
Below are a few additional scenarios to consider when determining the best housing option in a corporate relocation:
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
While previous generations bought homes early and stayed in them for a long time, that is not the case today. Many people who would have moved to the suburbs in previous generations are moving to the suburbs at a slower rate, which means many are downtown renters-by-choice for a much longer time period. Many are trading in the suburban home for a maintenance-free rental penthouse or town home in the city. In short, housing needs are incredibly varied and available options are equally diverse.
Short-term Assignments
Many companies are leveraging short-term and temporary assignments as a cost-effective way to balance talent development and the employee experience with the company’s workforce needs. Employees relocating for a short-term assignment will benefit from leasing and often need help finding the right rental community to meet their needs.
Tax Implications
A change in the tax code in 2018 means relocation expenses paid by employers are now taxable, so there is an additional incentive for both employers and employees to forgo big real estate expenditures in a move.
Flexibility
Most employers recognize that working ‘wherever and whenever’ is a growing trend among mobile employees who crave flexibility. Those employees often gravitate toward renting, rather than buying, because they want the flexibility afforded by leasing. Chicago’s newest rental buildings are also known for their high-speed internet, co-working areas and tricked-out business centers, which make connectivity with the home office easier and more enjoyable than ever before. Again, engaging them with a professional to conduct a customized apartment search will yield far better results in finding a home that meets their specific needs.
Ensuring a smooth transition for the relocating candidate is critical to the overall success of the relocation. Engaging the help of a professional leasing service like Downtown Apartment Company is a smart move to guarantee an improved experience for all.
If you need help with a corporate relocation, contact us! We would be happy to talk about our full suite of services, including suggestions for vetted moving, cleaning and furniture rental companies.
2016-2018 have been major years for West Loop residential development. The West Loop office market has grown in parallel, as it has been an increasingly popular destination for corporate relocations.
According to the City of Chicago website, Site Selection magazine recently named Chicago as the “ ‘top metro area in the nation for corporate relocation and investment,’ for the fifth straight year”. In order to be considered a corporate relocation, companies must meet at least one of the following three criteria: (1) $1 million in capital investment, (2) creation of at least 20 new jobs, or (3) have a minimum of 20,000 square feet of operating space.
Site Selection magazine editor, Adam Bruns, attributed Chicago’s high ranking to “housing stock that people can actually afford”. Many speculate that O’Hare’s planned terminal expansion signals an expectation for Chicago’s number of corporate relocations to continue to increase.
Although Chicago, as a whole, received recognition as the top relocation area, the West Loop neighborhood, in particular, has garnered the most attention. In the last few years, notable companies who relocated to the West Loop include McDonald’s headquarters, Google, Ferrara Candy, Walgreens, Motorola, Pinterest, Caterpillar, Kraft Heinz, Sears Holding Corp., Allstate, Knoll Manufacturers, and Aspen Dental Management, which received attention from the mayor’s office in March of 2018 for creating 250 new downtown jobs.
McDonald’s Headquarters at 110 N Carpenter St
Developed by Sterling Bay
Even more striking is the high concentration of tech companies in the West Loop:
Figures curtesy of CBRE
Over 4 million square feet are currently occupied by tech companies in the West Loop. In the Fulton Market sub market, where nearly a quarter of commercial developments are brand new, there is only a 9% vacancy.
Figures curtesy of CBRE
However, tech companies are not the only ones making a major splash in the West Loop. The new West Loop office building, 625 West Adams, is leasing up quickly and attracting high profile tenants from various sectors. It seems the office building market has taken note of the growing popularity of amenities in luxury rental high rises. 625 West Adams will feature a fitness center with a yoga studio, multiple outdoor common spaces, and a 7th floor tenant lounge with access to a terrace. 75% of work space will have direct sunlight during daytime hours.
As of October 10th, it is suspected that CDW will be the anchor tenant at 625 West Adams, making it another major company to find the West Loop an attractive neighborhood to set up an additional office. BMO Harris Bank is also in talks to move their downtown offices to the West Loop near Union Station.
With all the new job opportunities in the West Loop, its safe to say that the luxury rental apartments delivered in the past two years will be absorbed quickly. For more information on the newest rental inventory in the West Loop, click here.
By Sophie Morrison
