Bradford Allen is pleased to share with you our 2020 third quarter office market report.

This quarter in the downtown office market:

• Direct net absorption was positive 150,562 s.f., posting a total of 303,703 year to date.
• Year over year, direct availability rose from 14.02% to 16.51%.
• Year over year, gross average asking rates dropped to $41.51 p.s.f. from $42.37 p.s.f.

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is pleased to share with you our 2020 mid-year Chicago suburban office market report.

This quarter in the suburban office market:

• Net absorption was positive 77,400 s.f. for the quarter but negative 422,822 s.f. at mid-year.
• From year-end 2019 to mid-year 2020, availability rose 24.16% to 24.73% and direct vacancy rose 19.55% to 20.56%.
• Overall, the direct asking rate was $25.03 p.s.f., a $0.30 p.s.f. increase since year-end 2020.

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is pleased to share with you our 2020 second quarter Chicago office market report.

This quarter in the downtown office market:

• Net absorption was negative 540,590 s.f. for the quarter and positive 153,141 s.f. for the year.
• Quarter over quarter, direct availability rose to 15.71% from 14.69% and vacancy rose to 10.26% from 9.11%.
• Overall, gross average asking rates declined to $41.49 p.s.f. from $42.18, quarter over quarter.

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is pleased to share our Q1/20 Downtown Chicago Office Market Report.

This quarter in the downtown office market:

• Direct net absorption was positive 693,731 s.f.
• Year over year, direct availability rose from 13.90% to 14.69%.
• Year over year, direct average asking rates climbed to $42.18 from $41.42.

To read the full report, click here.

This year in the suburban office market:

• Net absorption was positive 331,551 square feet for the quarter, but negative 516,840 square feet for the year.  
• From mid-year to year-end, direct availability dropped from 25.11% to 24.16%, while direct vacancy rose from 19.16% to 19.55
• Overall, the direct asking rate was $24.73 p.s.f.  

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is pleased to share our Q4/19 office market reports. This quarter, in the downtown office market:

This quarter in the downtown office market:

• Net absorption was positive 1.12 million square feet for the quarter and positive 2.32 million square feet for the year.   
• Quarter over quarter, direct availability rose to 14.35% from 14.02% and the direct vacancy rose to 9.49% from 9.3%.
•  Year over year, gross average asking rates climbed to $41.25 p.s.f. from $40.51 p.s.f.

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is pleased to share our Q3/19 office market reports. This quarter, in the downtown office market:

• Direct net absorption was positive 402,062 s.f., posting a total of 1,257,481 s.f. year to date
• ear over year, direct availability declined from 14.1% to 14.02%
• Year over year, gross average asking rates climbed to $42.37 p.s.f. from $40.73 p.s.f.

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is pleased to share our Q2/19 office market reports. This quarter, in the downtown office market:

• Net absorption was positive 796,185 s.f. for the quarter and positive almost one million s.f. year to date.
• Year over year, direct availability dropped from 14.7% to 14.1%, and the direct vacant/available rate dropped from 10.5% to 9.4%.
•  Year over year, gross average asking rates climbed to $41.79 p.s.f. from $40.73 p.s.f.

To read the full report, click here.

Bradford Allen is proud to release our Mid-Year 2019 Office Market reports. This year, in the suburban office market:

• Net absorption was negative 147,587 s.f. for the quarter and negative 613,681 s.f. year to date.
• Direct availability and vacant and available stood at 25.11% and 19.16%, respectively.
• Overall, the direct asking rate was $24.76 p.s.f.
• Lake County unemployment dropped from 3.8% to 3.4%; DuPage County rose to 2.8% from 2.6%; and Cook County rose to 3.6% from 3.4%, year over year.

Download the full report here.

This quarter, in the downtown office market:

• Direct absorption was positive 371,026 SF, with total absorption up 477,105 for the quarter.
• Direct availability dropped from 13.97% to 13.90%, and direct vacancy dropped from 11.89% to 11.63% from last quarter.
• From Q4/18 to Q1/19, direct asking rents increased across all building classes, most notably in Class A, where they increased from $43.67 to $44.62. Direct asking rents in Class B increased from $35.88 to $36.07, and Class C rents increased from $29.27 to $29.59.

To read the full report click here.

 As 2018 came to a close, the suburban office market continued its multi-year trend of shrinking vacancy and record investment sales. Direct availability and vacancy both fell from 21.60% to 20.41% and 17.06% to 16.52%, respectively, while direct weighted asking rents climbed to $24.38 from $23.59, year over year. The 2018 year-end total space absorption was a net positive 438,780 sf. 

To read the full report click here.

At 2018’s year end, Chicago’s CBD office market maintained its upward pace with 94,341 sf of positive absorption for the quarter, and over 2 million sf of positive absorption for the year. Similar to last quarter, direct availability dropped from 15.23% to 13.97% and direct vacancy dropped from 12.18% to 11.89%, year over year. From 3Q18 to 4Q18, direct asking rents increased from $40.16psf to $40.51psf, a new record-high asking rate.

To read the full report click here.

The buoyancy of Chicago’s downtown office market continues into the third quarter with a positive absorption of over a quarter million square feet, totaling over two million square feet absorbed in 2018. In addition, year over year, direct availability dropped from 14.99% to 14.11% and direct vacancy dropped from 12.03% to 11.68% while direct asking rents increased from $38.68psf to $40.16psf, a new high-record asking rate.

To read the full report click here.

As the federal government tries its best to monitor growth and stem inflation (see box below), local village and city economies continue on their paths to recovery from the great recession which began over a decade ago. Quietly and assuredly, overall direct suburban vacancy and availability rates compressed over the past year from 19.45% to 17.06% and 21.35% to 21.25%, respectively, while gross asking rents increased by almost a dollar and half to $24.24psf. Although the first half of 2018 saw only 2.5 million sf of leasing deals inked, it also witnessed its first string of three, consecutive, half-way marks/six-month periods of positive net absorption since 2013 with 456,280 sf added to the metro’s ledgers*.

To read the full report click here.

At the mid-year 2018, Chicago’s downtown office market exhibited the traits of equilibrium. Restraining the economic giddiness of increased employment and consumer confidence is the passing of the second of four promised interest-rate increases for 2018. The real success of this quarter’s office market, however, is how it responded after almost two million sf of space was added to the urban core’s ledger since the beginning of the year. To support this claim of confidence, Chicago’s CBD posted 1,713,755 sf of positive absorption, YTD, with 60% of all leasing transactions occurring in 2Q18.

To read the full report click here.

The first quarter began with a plethora of positive economic and confidence indicators for Chicago and the nation (see box below), including Site Selection magazine choosing Chicago for the fifth year in a row as the top metro for potential corporate growth. These all point to a continuing demand for office space acquisition and expansion. The question remains, however, does the current and pending demand for office space necessitate the supply of the one million square feet added over the course of 2017 and the pending three to five million square feet projected to deliver to the urban core over the next three years?

To read the full report click here.

Chicago’s suburban office market suffered its fair share of hits over the past few years but seems to be on an upward trend. After struggling early in the year, the market ends 2017 with a positive net absorption of over 1.4 million sf, in which 1.65 million sf was added during the fourth quarter alone. Direct vacancy and availability rates compressed from mid-year’s 19.7% and 22.6% to the year end’s postings of 18% and 21.5%, respectively.

To read the full report click here.

As 2017 closed out, Chicago’s downtown employment base was growing and the economy was largely still in expansion mode from the last serious contraction in 2010. The office market responded to these conditions with assurance yet also with hesitancy. The fourth quarter posted a slight, direct vacancy uptick of 0.27% to 12.07% and a stable direct availability of 15% compared to 2017’s third quarter.

To read the full report click here.

Corporate executives and eager developers tout the draw of downtown Chicago to recruit talent and consummate deals. Some sectors, notably tech, echo their enthusiasm through the numbers: almost 30% more new-lease and lease-expansion transactions occurred in 2017’s third quarter compared to the second quarter, coupled with a modest drop in direct availability from 15.6% to 15.0%.

To read the full report click here.

With two million square feet under active construction and another proposed eight million square feet possibly materializing within Chicago’s Central Business District (CBD) over the next three years, it is no wonder the downtown office market is showing signs of overdevelopment strain, particularly in the West Loop.

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At its core, Chicagoland’s suburban office market underpinnings are strong. Excellent access to Chicago, O’Hare, Midway, cutting-edge research in diverse industries, prized public school systems, and investment capital shall remain a draw for companies to ply their trades and families to call home.

To read the full report click here.

During the first quarter of 2017, 150 North Riverside officially opened and welcomed Polsinelli, Studley and Linden Capital as tenants. In the largest deal of the quarter, Context Media signed a lease for 400,000 square feet at 515 North State Street.

To read the full report click here.

This quarter one of Chicago’s two new office towers opened its doors to tenants, 444 West Lake welcomed tenants taking occupancy of roughly 140,000 square feet of the 1.1 million square-foot building. Vacancy ended the year at 11.0 percent.

To read the full report click here.

Year-to-date net absorption dropped to negative 1.9 million square feet causing vacancy to climb to 19.2 percent. These weakening statistics were aided by the Zurich headquarters moving to its new headquarters as well as companies like Jim Beam and ConAgra moving from the suburbs downtown.

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This quarter in the downtown market absorption reached 806,000 square feet aided by moves from WeWork and Motorola. Thanks to this positive absorption vacancy dropped to 11.5 percent, this is the sixth consecutive quarter of positive growth. Rental rates remained steady, declining a nominal $.09 to $36.14.

To read the full report click here.

This quarter in the suburban market major leases signed by Paylocity, US Cellular and Combined Insurance helped leasing activity for the suburbs reach over 2.5 million square feet. Absorption dropped following Kraft Heinz’s move out of 650,000 square feet in the North Central region. Oak Brook based McDonald’s announced that they too would be moving operations downtown, relocating to the former Harpo Studios in Fulton Market.

To read the full report click here.

This quarter in the downtown market absorption reached 262,000 square feet aided by moves from ConAgra and ACGME. Thanks to this positive absorption vacancy dropped to 11.9 percent, the third consecutive quarter since 2008 to reach that low. Rental rates remained steady, declining a nominal $.17 to $36.23.

To read the full report click here.

Downtown Market Vacancy Continues to Decrease, Asking Rates Increase and Investment Sales Surge

Chicago’s downtown office market is continuing to tighten, for the moment. The overall vacancy rate has decreased from 13.1% to 12.8% from year-end 2014 to year-end 2015. This is the lowest it has been since 2Q 2009. As expected, Chicago’s unemployment rate continued to improve over the course of 2015 as well. Chicago’s unemployment rate dropped from 6.2% at the end of 2014 to 5.4% at year-end 2015.

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Suburban Markets Prove Resilient, Availability and Vacancy Rates Drop

The Suburban office market maintained the positive momentum it saw in 2014 through the end of 2015 despite the continued migration of large tenants to the CBD. 2015 saw 951,311 sf of positive net absorption which surpassed the 704,910 sf of positive net absorption in 2014. The vacancy rate decreased from 17.5% to 17.1% and the availability rate decreased from 23.2% to 23.1% year over year, respectively.

Click here to read the full year end report

Chicago Office Market Continues to See Positive Absorption and Rising Rates

Chicago’s downtown office market continues on a steady path. Despite overall vacancy in the CBD increasing slightly to 12.8% from last quarter’s 12.6%, it remains below last year’s 13%. While seeing negligible change in vacancy, unemployment in both Illinois and throughout the country continues down the path of improvement. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US unemployment is at its lowest rate since April 2008 at 5.1% and Illinois is at its lowest rate since February of 2008 at 5.6%.

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Improving Trend Continues as Downtown Chicago Office Market Records Positive Net Absorption

The downtown Chicago office market continues to improve. This is being driven by steady demand from tenants looking for CBD locations that can help them attract talent. This theme has been in play for several years now and is illustrated by both suburban and out-of-area employers relocating to downtown Chicago. It was again evident during the third quarter with the announcement that AT&T was relocating 500 workers from the Northwest suburbs to their office at 225 West Randolph Street.

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