Vacancy and Availability Rates Continue to Decrease in Downtown Office Market
The downtown office market continues to decrease in vacancy and availability this quarter as net absorption is now over 1 million square feet for the year. Chicago’s economy has continued to improve as the unemployment rate decreased to 7.4% in August compared to 10.7% a year earlier. This decrease is the largest annual unemployment rate decline since September of 1994 (-3.5%). Overall this is translating into a tighter Chicago office market with vacancy and availability rates at 13.0% and 16.4% compared to 2013 Q3 numbers of 13.8% and 17.8%, respectively.
