Chicago Office Market
| Average Asking Rent (Price/SF) | $30.86 |
| Vacancy Rate (%) | 20.6% |
| Net Absorption (SF) | -895,000 |
Across the Metro, the office market had another challenging quarter, with pockets of positive activity. Vacancy increased to 20.6%, a 70-basis-point increase, the highest rate the Metro has seen since 2010. Following that rise in vacancy, rents increased slightly to $30.86/SF. The COVID-19 Delta variant has pushed return-to-office dates past the originally scheduled date of Labor Day. There have been two new common plans announced; some companies have opted for a new return date of January 2022, while others, concerned with the war for talent, have chosen a return date of November 2021. According to Kastle Systems’ Return to Work Data, office occupancy dipped during the week of and week following Labor Day, rebounding during the third week of September, increasing 2.9% to 30.9%. Chicago’s average is lower than Kastle System’s 10-metro average of 33.6%.
Download Chicago Office Market Report 3Q21 [PDF]
Download Chicago CBD Office Market Report 3Q21 [PDF]
Download Chicago Suburban Office Market Report 3Q21 [PDF]
Chicago Industrial Market
| Average Asking Rent (Price/SF) | $5.89 |
| Vacancy Rate (%) | 5.7% |
| Net Absorption (SF) | 9,018,780 |
The Chicago industrial market logged another outstanding quarter as vacancy fell to a new record low of 5.7%, thanks to just over 9 million square feet of absorption. Thus far, year-to-date absorption is totaling 24.6 million square feet through the third quarter, already almost 10 million square feet more than all of 2020 as all the leases signed over the past several quarters take occupancy. Availability fell by 3.4 million square feet, despite 4.8 million square feet of new construction being delivered. At 93.4 million square feet, this is the lowest amount of available space there has been since 2006. While the market only saw a slight jump in sublease availability at the start of the pandemic, the number has now fallen back to pre-pandemic levels at 6.8 million square feet. As predicted the total amount of inventory under construction fell to 15.1 million square feet, the lowest it has been in three quarters. Rental rates increased by $0.06/SF to $5.89/SF.