Sublease Space Chokes Downtown Chicago*
Companies have put more than 3 million sq. ft. of office sublease space on the market in downtown Chicago through the third quarter of 2008, marking a three-year high, according to locally based MB Real Estate. Nearly 1 million sq. ft. of new sublease space was added in the third quarter alone, and this does not bode well for the market’s fundamentals in 2009, as three more office towers are scheduled to deliver. Excluding sublease space, the downtown office market could see its 11.4% vacancy today increase to nearly 15% in 2009.
By comparison, Portland actually leased back 30,719 sq. ft. in the Third Quarter ending with only 169,764 sq. ft. of vacant sublease space in the downtown (Central Business District) submarket. The sublease vacancy rate dropped from 7.5% at the end of the Second Quarter to 7.3% by the end of the Third Quarter. We predict a slight uptick in the Fourth Quarter, though nothing on par in significance with that of Chicago and other major cities in the U.S.
*Source:National Real Estate Investor, 12/19/08
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onThe Benefit of Few Fortune 500 Firms in Portland « The ft.² ReportHere’s a quick excerptWe predict a slight uptick in the Fourth Quarter, though nothing on par in significance with that of Chicago and other major cities in the U.S. *Source:National Real Estate Investor, 12/19/08. Posted in commercial real estate, … [...]