Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) now has more room to operate in the Windy City.

This week, KBRA announced the opening of a new corporate office at 71 South Wacker Drive in the heart of the Chicago Loop to support the firm’s exponential growth and increasing ratings business in the region.

The company said it began a lease for the office on Aug. 1 to house employees across both KBRA, the credit ratings arm of the business, and KBRA Analytics, the firm’s data and analytics platform.

KBRA DLD, a KBRA Analytics product acquired in September 2022, is also based in the new space.

DLD founder Kelly Thompson plans to expand the news and research team with new hires covering the direct lending market.

KBRA’s Chicago-focused analysis has broadened in recent years, especially in the firm’s rapidly growing public finance ratings.

“KBRA is excited about our new base in the vibrant city of Chicago, building on the company’s growth both domestically and abroad,” KBRA CEO and president Jim Nadler said in a news release. “The Chicago office is not only a strategic business decision to be closer to our Midwestern-based clients, it also solidifies our commitment to providing analysis on the growing credit considerations coming out of the region.”

With a global workforce of 500 employees and U.S. offices in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, as well as in London and Dublin, Ireland, the firm covers all markets including structured finance, private credit, public finance, financial institutions, project finance and infrastructure, financial guarantors, insurance, sovereigns and corporates.

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency that was established in 2010 “to restore trust in credit ratings following the financial crisis.”

Since then, KBRA said it has “differentiated itself by offering accurate, timely, transparent ratings and research including comprehensive credit insights and a forward-looking perspective.”