Chicago & Midwest + Greater Chicagoland + Office | April 25, 2022

The Federal Aviation Administration's lease for 115,937 of office space in Rolling Meadows was one of suburban Chicago's largest office deals in Q1

Suburban Chicago Office Vacancies Decline for First Time Since Q1 2020

For the first time since the pandemic began, office vacancy in Chicago’s suburbs has decreased, reports Colliers’ Ronna Larsen. Overall vacancies were down a modest, but noteworthy, 10 basis points in 2022’s first quarter, dropping to 26.0%.

The O’Hare market boasts the lowest vacancy at 18.8%. Conversely, the Northwest market continues to offer the most options with 34.9% vacancy.

Eleven new leases exceeding 15,000 square feet were signed throughout the suburbs in Q1, according to Larsen, director of research. There are currently more than 85 tenants, totaling more than 2.8 million square feet, in the suburban office market seeking 10,000 square feet or more

Although Class B properties will continue struggling, recently renovated Class B properties will get some traction as high-quality, Class A space gets leased. However, Larsen notes that with a shortage of multifamily, senior housing and self-storage assets, Class B stock may end up being repurposed.

Connect

Inside The Story

Colliers' Larsen

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-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 15-20 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).