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Speakers and Panels

The Modern Tenant- Who Wants What, and Why

Newmark's Melissa Copley and JLL's Meredith O'Connor on what tenants are testing for -- plus PGIM's Molly Rutkowski, Skender's Lauren Torres, and LIVunLtd's Danny Dulkin on delivering it.

Melissa Copley
Sealed 200K SF Willis Tower Lease

Melissa Copley

Vice Chairman

Newmark

Meredith O'Connor
Sited The $700M Obama Center

Meredith O'Connor

Vice Chairman

JLL

Lauren Torres
Delivered 46K SF LinkedIn Buildout

Lauren Torres

Project Executive

Skender

Molly Rutkowski
Manages PGIM's 20+ US Offices

Molly Rutkowski

Senior Director, Head of Facilities & Administration Real Estate

PGIM Real Estate

Danny Dulkin
Moderator

Danny Dulkin

President

LIVunLtd

Lauren Torres

Delivered 46K SF LinkedIn Buildout

Skender

Lauren is a key leader in Skender’s award-winning Interiors group, where she directs high-performing project teams to deliver innovative workspace solutions. She has played an integral role in the successful buildouts of prominent offices for renowned organizations, including Motorola Mobility, 1871, Google, Sprout Social, LinkedIn, PepsiCo, AbelsonTaylor and Mondelez. She holds a degree in Computer Graphic Technology from Purdue University.

Danny Dulkin

President

LIVunLtd

Danny Dulkin is President of LIVunLtd's Development Services platform, bringing over a decade of progressive leadership in the design, development, and operations of fitness, wellness and aquatics facilities across diverse industry verticals. He has overseen the successful delivery of over 500 turnkey wellness amenity projects, including dozens of award-winning and Fortune 500 projects nationwide. Danny is a lifelong athlete with experience at the collegiate and professional levels, he holds a B.S. in Exercise Science, as well as a PMP certification.

Reading the Landlord's Hand- Where Capital Is Actually Going

Colliers' Dan Arends, Cushman & Wakefield's Ari Klein, Savills' Robert Sevim, and Industrious' Marc Bestman on concessions, TI, capital, and the flex operators changing the equation.

Dan Arends
13M+ SF Leased Over 33-Year Career

Dan Arends

Principal

Colliers

Ari Klein
1,500+ Transactions, 10M+ RSF & Billions in Value

Ari Klein

Executive Vice Chair

Cushman & Wakefield

Robert Sevim
20M+ SF, $10B+ In Deals Closed

Robert Sevim

President, Chicago Region

Savills

Marc Besteman
Oversees 8 Chicago-Area Locations

Marc Besteman

Director

Industrious

Nathan Greenhalgh
Moderator

Nathan Greenhalgh

Vice President

Rightsize Facility

Robert Sevim

20M+ SF, $10B+ In Deals Closed

Savills

In his real estate career, Robert Sevim has executed over 20 million square feet of transactions valued at more than $10 billion. With an exceptional client roster including News Corporation, UnitedHealth Group, The Big Ten Conference, Aetna and Exelon, Robert has developed a reputation for solving the complex real estate challenges of organizations spanning many geographies and property types. He is a dedicated advisor to a broad spectrum of business types, where sophisticated business acumen is highly valued and critical to project success. Robert specializes in the development and implementation of strategic plans that align his clients’ real estate with their overall organizational objectives and financial goals.

Robert was named Executive Vice President and Co-Head of the Chicago office in 2014, taking over the management of the operations, recruitment, training & development, research and marketing initiatives, in addition to his professional broker responsibilities. He was promoted to Vice Chairman in 2017, and was named to the company’s North American Board of Directors in 2020.

Nathan Greenhalgh

Vice President

Rightsize Facility

Nathan Greenhalgh is Vice President of Rightsize Facility, a nationwide office furniture and facility services firm. Nathan helps lead business development and strategic relationships for Rightsize, working with many of Chicago’s leading brokerage firms, architects, property managers and project managers. His client roster includes many Fortune 500 companies. His experience spans tenant buildouts, spec suites, turnkey deals, amenities spaces and large-scale decommissioning projects, giving him a unique perspective on how real estate decisions translate into the workplace itself. Nathan is particularly focused on the evolving relationship between landlords and tenants and helping owners make thoughtful investments to differentiate their buildings and attract tenants.

Spotlight: The Pre-Sale Playbook- How Chicago Condos Get to Groundbreaking

What it actually takes to pre-sell a mid-rise condo building before construction financing closes.

Cory Robertson
30+ Years, $1B+ in New Development Sales

Cory Robertson

Team Principal

Corwin Partners Development Strategies

Andy Schnack
Moderator

Andy Schnack

Vice President, Sales

Zentro

Cory Robertson

30+ Years, $1B+ in New Development Sales

Corwin Partners Development Strategies

Cory Robertson is the Principal at Corwin Partners Development Strategies, leading new development analysis and developer relations.

Cory operates at the forefront of new development home sales in Illinois. With over 40 years of experience, he stands as a leading innovator with proven sales success through both the boom and bust cycles of the past three decades. Throughout his career, Cory led successful marketing and sales campaigns for over 110 projects. His experience with gameplanning and deal analysis spans across more than 16 states. And he proudly managed over 100 sales representatives thus far in his career, supervising and selling over $1 billion in real estate transactions.

Cory’s creative solutions and collaborative attitude led to him and his teams succeeding where others fell short. He oversaw sales and marketing efforts at multiple sites simultaneously, for some of the most prominent developers in the country including Centex Homes, William Ryan Homes, Garrison Partners, Allen Edwin Homes, and Belgravia Group. And now, he has cultivated a reputation for recruiting, training, and leading the most successful new development sales teams in the Chicago market.

In 2015, Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty recruited Cory to create their Developer Services program and start Corwin Partners. Cory initiated the use of on-site sales reps at new developments and, under his direction, the new team proved out locations others didn’t think could succeed and where previous agents had failed. His developed skills in residential product development, pricing strategy, and comprehensive sales and marketing gameplans sets him and his team apart in the market and deliver results.

The Corwin Partners Development Sales and Marketing team excels at pre-sales from floorplans before and during construction evidenced by the successful sold-out buildings throughout the West Loop — Peoria Green, Madison+Carpenter, and 6 North Bishop. Most recently, newly-released 1282 Washington achieved 75% pre-sales before the public launch and demolition of the existing structure.

Learn How Chicago's Best Buildings Are Winning the 2026 Leasing Fight

Chicago's office story has split in two. Downtown direct vacancy hit 24.7% in Q1 2026 — but trophy vacancy is just 11.4%, and on floors above the 25th, it's 8.4%. Class A leasing accounted for over half of all new deals in Q1, the average new lease is now 9,000 SF, and Mars Wrigley, IMC, Ropes & Gray, and Benesch all expanded into premier towers in the last six months. Meanwhile, Chicago's 11 biggest office tenants spent roughly $600 million on interior buildouts over the last three years, with elite fit-outs running north of $300 per square foot.

This is no longer a "fill the building" problem in the abstract. It's a "win the tenant" problem — and the playbook is being rewritten in real time. The third edition of Bisnow's How to Fill Your Building Summit brings together the landlords, brokers, tenants, and experience operators actually moving the leasing needle in 2026.

What's in Store

  1. Trophy vs. Everything Else

    • Why trophy vacancy is falling while overall vacancy is at a record — and what mid-tier owners are doing about it

  2. The $300/SF Buildout Era

    • When TI packages clear $300/SF, the negotiation isn't about money anymore — it's about partnership, trust, and risk allocation

  3. The Modern Tenant in 2026

    • Law firms expanding, energy/engineering firms scaling, BCG-style consultancies anchoring buildings — what does today's end user actually want, and what's just expensive theater?

  4. Repositioning vs. Conversion

    • The lower tier is shrinking through office-to-residential conversion. What does that mean for the buildings stuck in the middle?

  5. The Capital Side of the Negotiation

    • When a distressed landlord promises a $200/SF TI and comes up short, who steps in — and how lenders are now in the room on every major lease

  6. Building New in 2026

    • Related Midwest, Hines, John Buck are all shopping new West Loop tower plans needing $100+ PSF pre-leases. Is anyone close?

  7. Experience as a Leasing Tool

    • Amenity programming, concierge services, F&B partnerships, on-site activations — what's table stakes, what's overkill, and what's actually moving leases?

How You'll Do More Business

Filling a Chicago building in 2026 takes a different team than it did three years ago. The right tenant rep, the right experience operator, the right architect, the right TI package, the right capital partner — they all show up in the same negotiation now. This is the morning to put yourself in front of all of them at once.

Who You'll Network With At This Event: The region's leading tenant rep brokers, owners, developers, investors, consultants, accountants, bankers and city and government officials.

Why You Should Attend This Program: 

Bisnow events convene the biggest power players in the industry to help you grow your business across a complex market. With engaging discussions, exclusive networking opportunities, and the largest and most equipped audience in the field, Bisnow’s unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities of the market makes attendance a value add for any CRE professional. 

Questions about your ticket purchase or interested in sponsoring? 

Reach out to customerservice@bisnow.com for customer support. For questions, recommendations, comments or press inquiries please email our Chicago event producer Will Follett at will.follett@bisnow.com. To request disability-related accommodations, please contact janet.fernandez@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

Agenda

Time Activity
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
Breakfast and Networking
9:00 AM
9:45 AM
The Modern Tenant- Who Wants What, and Why

What does the 2026 tenant test the building on, what's a deal-killer, and how has the calculus changed since 2023? Real tenants and the brokers who represent them, on what's actually moving deals across the finish line.

9:45 AM
10:30 AM
Reading the Landlord's Hand- Where Capital Is Actually Going

What top brokers are seeing on concessions, TI commitments, and capital as owners compete to fill a bifurcated market — and how flexible operators are changing the equation.

10:30 AM
11:00 AM
The Pre-Sale Playbook- How Chicago Condos Get to Groundbreaking
11:00 AM
11:30 AM
Closing Networking

Venue

The Allegro Royal Sonesta Hotel Chicago Loop
171 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL 60601

Ballroom: Walnut, Lobby Level

Parking Information: 
$35 Valet Parking

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Tickets

General Admission

$135.00 /ticket

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