Downtown Chicago Office Market Holds Steady, But Demand Points to Further Improvement Ahead
The downtown Chicago office market ended the third quarter with overall availability and vacancy rates of 17.1% and 13.7%, respectively. Compared with the second quarter both are minor increases which can be attributed to the stagnant economic recovery and firms reducing their square footage to maximize space efficiency. Conversely, a side by side analysis of third quarter 2011 and third quarter 2012 shows improvements in most major metrics—asking rate, net absorption and overall vacancy—demonstrating increased stability in the office market.
