Suburban sublease market suffers another big space dump

Chicago’s office sublease market entered 2021 in historically bad shape but the suburbs are also struggling with tenants offering up their space.

In the latest blow, credit reporting firm Experian listed its 177,500-square-foot Schaumburg office for sublease, according to Crain’s. It has more than two years remaining on its lease for the four-story building at 955 American Lane. CBRE is marketing the entire property.

It is the largest sublease on the suburban office market, eclipsing the 165,000-square-foot listing from Capital One in nearby Rolling Meadows, according to the report.

The suburban market had over 3.6 million square feet of space available for sublease, Crain’s noted, citing a late January report from JLL. In the Chicago central business district some 5.4 million square feet was vacant in the fourth quarter, the most since the Great Recession, according to MB Real Estate.

Numerous firms have sought to shed office space, exit leases or pull back on future plans, citing the effects of Covid-19 on the workforce. Experian, however, was vague about its reason, saying only that it was “part of our regular real estate assessment,” the publication noted. The company added that it was committed to remaining in Schaumburg.

By the third quarter of 2020, suburban office vacancy had jumped to 25 percent, the highest in a decade.

And in November, the American Board of Radiology said it would sublease its 71,000-square-foot office in Oak Brook, months after signing a long-term lease. [Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman