Momentum Continues Building for the Improving Suburban Chicago Office Market
Transaction activity within the suburban Chicago office market accelerated during the second half of the year, and 2012 finished on a positive note. This improvement was echoed in most of the major market statistics, particularly the vacancy and absorption rates. The overall vacancy rate declined and ended the year at 17.3% as compared to 19.3% at the 2011 year end. The strong leasing activity in the fourth quarter also resulted in more than 450,000 SF of positive net absorption, bringing the full year positive net absorption to more than 1.2 million SF.