Vacancy tightens despite new supply
Even with more than 2 million square feet of notable speculative product having delivered—including two buildings by Bridge Development Partners totaling roughly 465,000 square feet in Downers Grove in the I-88 Corridor—the vacancy rate fell for the ninth quarter in a row, decreasing 20 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2018 to 5.9 percent.
Prices in Chicagoland went on the rise as well, with the average asking rental rate going from roughly $4.75 to $4.90 per square foot. While leasing activity declined 13 percent quarter-over-quarter to 7.2 million square feet, net absorption remained high at 1.6 million square feet. “The market is being driven by demand from companies expanding or realigning their distribution and light manufacturing networks, as well as from the growing ecommerce sector,” Lydon noted in prepared remarks.
//cpexecutive.com
