Chicago sees spike on return to office

There’s a glimmer of hope for Chicago’s ailing office sector, as more employees returned to work in person following the 4th of July holiday.

The return rate increased nearly 17 percent last week, Crain’s reported, citing data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which calculates building security card swipes and compares current numbers to early 2020.

The jump in office attendance is likely to raise the hopes of many landlords; Chicago’s return-to-office rate as of last week was four percent higher than the national average.

However, the data was compiled only from buildings that use Kastle technology, so it’s not a  definitive snapshot of the city’s office market. 

Office vacancies are still soaring in the Windy City, in any case, reaching a record high of nearly 23 percent last quarter, according to CBRE. The numbers offer a clear indicator that the remote-work movement, set in motion by the pandemic, is lingering despite the recent uptick. Plus, a handful of companies are still downsizing their office footprint, as the amount of available sublease space crept up to 8 million square feet by the end of June. 

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Chicago

More than half of Chicagoans are back in the office

Chicago

Chicago office vacancy reaches record high — again 

Chicago

More than half of Chicagoans are back in the office

Experts predict that Chicago’s vacancy rate will start to drop in future quarters, though, largely because of the slow down in new supply.

—Quinn Donoghue