Logistics firm TransLoop opens River North office with hiring push planned

Freight brokerage TransLoop held a grand opening Thursday for its new Chicago headquarters, more than doubling its footprint in the city.

The company leased nearly 45,000 square feet of office space at 350 N. Orleans St. in River North. It has been on a hot growth trajectory since launching in 2019.

TransLoop planted its roots in a 200-square-foot office in River North. It continued to grow before moving to 1 S. Wacker Drive in 2022, where it tripled the company’s footprint to 17,000 square feet.

“Our business exploded, and then we outgrew that,” TransLoop CEO and founder Nick Reasoner said.

Reasoner said he never would have imagined the brokerage would grow to its current size, which he credits to the growth of the logistics market.

“There's just a ton of opportunity and market share to grab from competitors that aren't servicing their customers properly,” Reasoner said. “We've done a really good job of getting in with customers and being ethical and being transparent, finding new initiatives for shippers to bring us revenue. I think other people are kind of sleeping at the wheel, in a sense, and we're just very aggressive.”

Its 44,457-square-foot office on the ninth floor includes a kitchen, huddle rooms, phone rooms and desks for nearly 300 employees. TransLoop, which moved in last month, is subleasing the space from research company Gartner, according to CBRE, which represented TransLoop. And it shares the floor with a co-working lounge.

TransLoop plans to increase its Chicago head count to 250 over the next two years for a number of positions, including customer sales. Its headquarters employs more than 100.

Reasoner said he’s a “big supporter” of Chicago and wants the company to continue to grow in the city. It also has offices in Birmingham, Alabama, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Nashville.

“This area, especially with the Salesforce Tower and Merch Mart, there's no better business area,” Reasoner said. “Wacker Drive is the business center, I feel like, in Chicago.”

TransLoop was drawn to 350 N. Orleans St. for its clean fully furnished space, allowing the company to avoid the headache of buying and moving furniture. The Wolf Point location was also a big draw for its access to transit and food options, Reasoner said. Most employees are in the office five days a week, which the company said is key to building its corporate culture.

"This is just a very comfortable space for the quiet people, who want to pull away and work in a quiet environment, and the people that want to be on our very robust and loud sales floor," Reasoner said. "You can find a hole everywhere in our office."