Chicago Office Market Reaches Record Highs in Direct Vacancy and Sublease Space

The Chicago office market saw a decline in health during the first quarter of 2023, as direct vacancy rates and available sublease space reached new highs. Transwestern’s Caitlin Ritter and Tanita Bradley reported that net absorption totaled negative 781,453 square feet with the direct vacancy rate increasing by 110 basis points to 19.7%. Additionally, 948,275 square feet of available sublease space was added to the market bringing total inventory up to 7.7 million square feet. Despite these indicators rents continued to hold at $41.83 per sqft..
Ritter and Bradley noted Fulton Market District as “the single bright spot in the market” due its trendy environment offering tenants new buildings with top-tier amenities; however much of this growth has come at expense of other office submarkets such as Central Loop area .