JLL's XM team delivers sky-high amenities at Chicago’s Aon Center

Chicago’s Aon Center is a home-away-from-home to more than 8,000 employees of Fortune 500 companies like Kraft Heinz, JLL, Aon, Microsoft, HCSC and KPMG. When the 601W Companies wanted to create the highest amenity space in the city, they brought in JLL’s Experience Management (XM) team to extend the tenants’ spaces beyond the floorplates and up into the clouds.

The highest amenity space in Chicago

Once a 34,000-square-foot traditional office space, the 70th floor of the Aon Center —aptly named Cloud Level — is an amenity floor open to all employees who work in the building. As the highest amenity space in Chicago, it showcases panoramic views of the city and extends their offices into a dynamic, comfortable space. Opened in 2019, it’s now a place where tenants and their employees go to take a quiet break, hit the gym, or celebrate a win.

The Cloud Level is comprised of three revenue-generating components with earnings going directly to 601W Companies:

• Soapbox Conference Center offers five rooms accommodating up to 80 people
• Peak Fitness Center is a 15,000-square-foot fitness facility and space for community events centered on a culture of wellness with over 2,000 people taking advantage of the space with year-long memberships — more than 22% of the building’s employees
• Remedy Tenant Lounge is the Wi-Fi-enabled lounge where tenants have access to coffee, a cafe, cocktails, a library, and a game room, as well as plenty of seating and quiet places to either work or relax

Coming back to the Cloud Level post COVID

While the space was closed to the general public in March of 2020 due to COVID-19, JLL hosted small, socially distanced, sit-down dinners for brokers, their guests, and prospective tenants. The expansive space allowed them to safely interact and conduct business in a relaxed, social setting. Soapbox and the Remedy tenant lounge reopened in June of 2021, and Peak reopened in October of 2021.

Since reopening, JLL’s Experience Management (XM) team has activated several events to re-engage tenants who have come back to the building, including a Yoga in the Clouds class, a Lollapalooza pre-party complete with glow sticks and DJ, a Monster Mash Halloween Dance and a Free Hot Chocolate and Ice Sculpture Carving Demo.

JLL’s XM team provides amenity and conference room management services for the Cloud Level and partners with Infuse Hospitality to manage the tenant lounge and Lulafit to manage the fitness center. Through their operation of the amenity floor, the team is able to generate additional revenue for Aon Center from bar and cafe sales, fitness center memberships and services as well as conference center room rentals. 

XM also handles concierge services, tenant engagement activations, and event planning for the Cloud Level, working in tandem with the Property Management team to ensure seamless execution and extraordinary experiences.

Want to learn more about how JLL’s Experience Management experts can bring added impact to your property? Click here