Playboy Enterprises Inc. is looking to sublease its headquarters space at 680 N. Lake Shore Drive.
The company confirmed this morning that it hired real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield to sublease the 15th and 16th floors of the building because the space “is too big for us,” said spokeswoman Martha Lindeman.
Lindeman said the company has not started looking for a new home to relocate its 245 full-time employees. “We haven’t made any plans at all,” she said.
The move comes as Playboy directors are considering Hugh Hefner’s offer to take the company private.
Christie Hefner, Playboy’s former CEO, told MediaBistro’s TVNewser blog earlier this year that “Chicago is the most cost-effective of any city Playboy does business in — New York, Chicago, L.A.”
Hefner, who founded the company synonymous with bunny ears and centerfolds, owns around 70 percent of Playboy’s Class A common stock and 28 percent of its Class B stock. He made the offer in July, setting off a bidding war for Playboy that involves its competitor, Penthouse magazine.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Yep, its a moving on out