CBRE Arranges New Lease for Crafty

CBRE has arranged a new 12,000 square foot, full floor lease at 205 W Wacker for Crafty, a centralized platform for workplaces to manage food, beverage, and supplies for in-office, remote and hybrid teams. Headquartered in downtown Chicago, the company is expanding its footprint, previously occupying 3,500 square feet in the West Loop neighborhood.

CBRE’s Brian McDonnell and Bill Sheehy represented the tenant, Crafty, in the transaction.

“For years, we’ve been helping our clients build a culture of connectivity and employee appreciation through the power of food and beverage,” says Chris Ritter, Co-founder, and COO of Crafty. “With our new and expanded Chicago headquarters, we are excited to enable our own workforce to help set and map the vision for what the future of work will look like for everyone, everywhere.”

Since its launch in 2015, Crafty has expanded to 30 markets across the globe, including New York, San Francisco, London, Dublin, Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company manages over 260 customer offices, servicing over 300,000 employees per month. In the last year alone, Crafty delivered over 800 percent top-line revenue growth, raised $10 million in Series A funding, and doubled its employee headcount.

“It’s exciting to see another local company continue to grow its downtown Chicago presence and upgrade their space at the same time,” said McDonnell. “Investing in a quality space is proving to be key for companies looking to recruit and retain top talent.”

The Chicago office market has seen a tremendous flight to quality buildings over the past two years. According to a recent CBRE report, between Q1 2020 and Q1 2022, 60 office leases of more than 20,000 square feet were signed by tenants relocating in the Chicago market; of those leases, 79 percent upgraded their space by building class and 85 percent moved to a building that was either recently built or underwent a major renovation.