Chicago Office Rents Rose 20% in 2016 — Second Most in the World

Overall downtown office vacancy fell to 11.1% in the fourth quarter of 2016 – lowest since 2001 – and a third 50-plus-story riverside office tower just gained planning commission approval

ChicagoTribune.com
Howard Hughes Corp. won Chicago Plan Commission approval to construct this 51-story office tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago.
Howard Hughes Corp. won Chicago Plan Commission approval to construct this 51-story office tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago.

The bill for high-end office space in Chicago rose almost 20% in 2016, the biggest increase in the U.S. and second-highest in the world.

Rents in Chicago's newest and best-located office buildings rose to $38.84 a square foot in 2016, up from an average of $32.40 in 2015, according to a report from commercial real estate brokerage CBRE.

"You're as bullish as the anchor tenants are bullish, and we've seen strong interest," CBRE leasing broker Drew Nieman said.

Nieman, a CBRE executive vice president, represents Chicago developer Riverside Investment & Development in leasing the 53-story at 150 N. Riverside Plaza opened early this year. It is more than 80% leased, as is the 52-story River Point tower that a venture of Houston's Hines Interests opened early this year.

Another Riverside development that Nieman is helping lease, a partnership with Dallas' Howard Hughes Corp., won Chicago Plan Commission approval to construct a 51-story office tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive on Thursday.

This first wave of office development since the recession comes as overall downtown office vacancy fell to 11.1% in the fourth quarter of 2016, the lowest level since 2001.

(more on Chicago’s office construction boom . . .

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