While some 15.3 percent of commercial office space in Chicago was vacant during the year’s first half, the situation should improve during the second half of the year and rents will rise modestly, according to a new forecast.
The commercial real estate brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap predicts that vacancies will fall to 14.9 percent this year and asking and effective rents will rise 1.7 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
In the suburban market, vacancies totaled 22.8 percent at the end of June and should remain relatively flat, as will asking and effective rents.
On the sales front, better access to financing enabled qualified borrowers to snap up deals and transactions involving large, institutional-grade assets meant a 18 percent increase in sales activity in the city. Deals valued at $1 million and more have almost doubled in the past 12 months.
“The recovery will unfold slowly as many tenants continue to backfill under-utilized cubicles before leasing additional space,” the firm said in a third-quarter report on the market.
