Chicago, IL Office Overview
The Chicago city property real estate scene includes the Loop, South Loop, West Loop, Downtown, Ravenswood, River North and Hyde Park submarkets. With a metropolitan population of over 7.3 million people, the economy of Chicagoland is firing on all cylinders and the city sees strong office space demand from employers in the financial services, engineering, publishing and food processing industries.
As of mid-2017, the Greater Chicago metropolitan area market encompasses nearly 161 million square feet of office space, in properties larger than 50,000 square feet. As the most populous city in Illinois and the third largest in the U.S., the office market is thriving on the robust demand from the various business sectors that call the area home.
Chicago, IL Office Inventory Description
Chicago is a major world financial center and has one of the largest central business districts in the entire country. With a gross metropolitan product of just under $480 billion annually, the demand for office employment is powerful. Over 70% of the workspace is Class A, while Class B space adds another 29% to the inventory.
The Loop, South Loop, O'Hare, and West Loop commercial real estate submarkets are some of the densest areas for Class A office product in the city, and are home to world-renowned trophy assets such as 155 N. Wacker Drive, 440 South LaSalle, Two North Riverside Plaza, and U.S. Cellular Plaza on Bryn Mawr Avenue.
Chicago, IL Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 212,297,205 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 11,227,710 SF / 5.29% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 56,693,504 SF / 26.7% of total office
- 500k to 1M SF: 60,503,958 SF / 28.5% of total office
- > 1M SF: 83,872,033 SF / 39.51% of total office
By class:
- Class A+: 37,068,275 SF / 17.46% of total office
- Class A: 95,965,599 SF / 45.2% of total office
- Class B: 48,371,598 SF / 22.78% of total office
- Class C: 1,178,736 SF / 0.56% of total office
Top 10 Largest Office Buildings
in Chicago
| Office building | Address | Sqft | Year built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Yards | NEC West Cortland Street & North Southport Avenue, 60614 | 6,000,000 | n/a |
| Willis Tower | 233 South Wacker Drive, 60606 | 3,800,000 | 1973 |
| One Central | 1590 South Lake Shore Drive, 60605 | 3,100,000 | n/a |
| Aon Center | 200 East Randolph Street, 60601 | 2,687,933 | 1972 |
| Chase Tower | 10 South Dearborn Street, 60603 | 2,429,909 | 1969 |
| CME Center | 30 South Wacker Drive, 60606 | 2,351,265 | 1983 |
| 300 East Randolph Street | 300 East Randolph Street, 60601 | 2,218,838 | 1997 |
| 600 West Chicago | 600 West Chicago Avenue, 60610 | 1,650,000 | 2001 |
| The Richard J. Daley Center | 50 West Washington Street, 60602 | 1,593,714 | 1965 |
| The Franklin - 227 West Monroe Street | 227 West Monroe Street, 60606 | 1,583,900 | 1989 |
Most Recently-Built Office Buildings
in Chicago
| Office building | Address | Sqft | Year built |
|---|---|---|---|
| 333 North Green | 333 North Green Street, 60607 | 553,412 | 2019 |
| 145 South Wells | 145 South Wells Street, 60603 | 205,973 | 2019 |
| 8647 West Higgins Road | 8647 West Higgins Road, 60631 | 150,000 | 2019 |
| Twelve01West | 1201 West Lake Street, 60607 | 146,762 | 2019 |
| Mural Park - 1911 South Sangamon | 1911 South Sangamon Street, 60608 | 100,000 | 2019 |
| Mural Park - 1901 South Sangamon | 1901 South Sangamon Street, 60608 | 100,000 | 2019 |
| 620 North LaSalle | 620 North LaSalle Drive, 60654 | 80,000 | 2019 |
| 1308 North Elston | 1308 North Elston, 60642 | 72,000 | 2019 |
| 156 North Jefferson Street | 156 North Jefferson Street, 60661 | 32,000 | 2019 |
| 444 North Orleans | 444 North Orleans Street, 60654 | 28,013 | 2019 |
Chicago, IL Green Office Space
Of the Top 30 Green Office Markets in the U.S., Chicago ranks #1 for energy efficient buildings. While just over 6% of the office buildings larger than 50,000 square feet are LEED-certified, over 16% rank as Energy Star Certified and over 18% are recognized as green buildings.
The Merchandise Mart is a stunning example of a LEED Gold-certified building: with over 3.5 million square feet of space, this Class A building was constructed in 1930 and has been updated to today's green energy standards. As tenants, along with national and global investors seek out green certified assets for both their use and portfolios, the green office trend will continue to grow in the city.
The 2017 National Green Building Adoption Index looked at commercial properties in 30 major U.S. markets and found that, including EPA Energy Star-labeled buildings, the percentage of green certification has increased from under 5% in 2005 to 38% as of mid-2017. Chicago has placed 1st in this survey.
Chicago, IL's Top Office-Using Sectors
As a center for global business and finance, Chicago is considered one of the world's top financial centers, with the key industry sectors of financial services, food processing, and health care all creating a dynamic demand for Class A product in the area.
- Financial Services – companies such as the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
- Food Processing – Archer Daniels Midland, Armour and Company, and McDonalds are all headquartered in the city.
- Health Care – world-renowned businesses such as Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Division of General Electric calling the city home.
- Corporate Headquarters – firms such as Boeing, Kraft Heinz, and Caterpillar Inc.
Chicago Demographics
Population
- Total Population2,718,555
- Male Population(48.6 %) 1,320,499
- Female Population(51.4 %) 1,398,056
- Median Age34.30
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$85,837
- Median Household Income$55,198
- Median Income Under 25$31,251
- Median Income 25-44$67,175
- Median Income 45-64$60,127
- Median Income Over 65$33,450
News
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