August 2017

REmark: Transaction Activity in Chicago’s CBD & Suburban Office Markets

The total square footage in the Chicago suburban (128.1 M SF) and CBD (136.1 M SF) office markets are roughly equivalent. There is a misperception that suburban office is the less active market of the two, largely due to the movement of several large corporations from the suburbs to the city over the past three years. Our analyses of leasing activity and net absorption contradict this perception. The suburbs consistently see a higher volume of lease transactions, however the average downtown transaction tends to be about twice the size of an average suburban transaction. Meanwhile, the quarterly difference in net absorption between the two markets has vacillated, but it remains comparable over time.