"Class B was the only sector to end the year with negative net absorption –- negative 437,610 sf -– which essentially pulled down the market's overall absorption performance," says Jeff Samaras, executive director in the firm's Downtown office.
Overall Central Business District vacancy rose four points to 12.7%, with asking rents averaging $27.31 per sf, the highest in 10 years, according to Cushman & Wakefield. However, property owners will have to remain flexible, Samaras cautions, given a 173% jump in sublease space to a record 4.1 million sf. "Look for rents to flatten out or decrease in 2002 and for concessions to continue increasing," he adds.
Even the West Loop is not immune, as the vacancy rate there already is 15.3%, more than double from a year ago. That's before the expected 2002 openings of 700,000-sf 191 N. Wacker Dr., the 527,600-sf Congress Center and 425,000-sf Quaker Oats building.
North Michigan Avenue is the only submarket where vacancy remains in the single digits – barely at 9.8%. At $28.49 per sf, space is the priciest outside of the West Loop.
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