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Chicago CBD Office Leasing Stays in Positive Territory

Pandemic or no pandemic, office leasing in Chicago’s CBD stayed in positive territory during the second quarter, CBRE reported. That being the case, much of the 110,356 square feet of positive net absorption was due to carryovers from “a historic run of strong market fundamentals and employment growth in the urban core,” according to the firm’s Q2 report.

The dominant submarket remains the West Loop, where positive absorption of 160,850 square feet was recorded during Q2. However, the lowest direct vacancy rate in the CBD was for River North Class A space, which at 6% was less than half that for comparable space in the West Loop.

CBRE says it’s tracking six active tenants with requirements of greater than 100,000 square feet, along with other large users sitting on the sidelines. Market activity has begun to pick up again, but “lease size and terms and term remain up for discussion.”

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Paul Bubny

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

  • ◦Economy
  • ◦Lease