A West Coast fintech is gearing up for a major River North landing, with a sizable office planned at 300 North LaSalle. The move, reported today, would rank among the larger tech commitments downtown has seen in months and could pump much-needed weekday foot traffic back into River North bars, restaurants, and coffee spots. If the deal crosses the finish line, it would mark a cautious but noticeable return of tech and financial players to Chicago's central business district.
As reported by Crain's Chicago Business, the company behind the planned lease is Ripple, the San Francisco based cross border payments and digital assets firm. Crain's notes that the prospective signing would put Ripple in the riverfront tower at 300 North LaSalle and would count as one of the more prominent downtown tech leases inked so far this year.
About 300 North LaSalle
300 North LaSalle is a 60 story River North trophy tower owned by the Irvine Company that has been heavily refreshed in recent years, with a reworked lobby, a riverfront terrace and a slate of new tenant amenities. According to the Irvine Company, the upgrades are part of a broader strategy to keep the building in the mix for large corporate users that want a polished, downtown address.
Landlords Are Upgrading To Compete
Irvine's renovation effort, pegged by industry reporting at roughly $37 million, combined with a steady push to attract law firms and other professional tenants, has helped keep the tower on many landlords' shortlists, according to The Real Deal. That repositioning helps explain why a West Coast fintech would opt for a high profile River North address instead of retreating to a suburban style campus.
Downtown Market Context
Chicago's downtown office scene is still working through a stubborn hangover, with vacancy in the central business district stuck in the mid 20s percentage range and landlords hustling for committed tenants. A downtown market report that draws on CoStar data puts CBD vacancy near 26 percent, a backdrop that makes any large, creditworthy lease especially coveted. Bradford Allen's latest market update lays out those numbers and trends in detail.
Hiring And What Comes Next
Ripple's own careers page lists multiple Chicago based openings, suggesting the company is preparing to build out a local operation, see Ripple Careers. Other fintechs, including Stripe, have also grown their River North footprints in recent months, a sign that softer rents and refreshed trophy towers are still pulling in tech and finance tenants. The Real Deal reported on Stripe's expansion earlier this year.
City officials and the building's landlord did not immediately respond to requests for comment. For River North businesses and nearby transit, another large corporate tenant in 300 North LaSalle would offer a concrete boost to weekday traffic patterns that many operators are still waiting to fully recover.
