Overview
- Chicago office space investment is on the rise as of June 2025.
- Through June 2025, year-to-date transactions in the Chicago office market reached $957 million, the seventh-largest office sales volume in the nation’s top markets, according to CommercialCafe.
- Affordability ($57 per square foot on average in June 2025) attracts investors to Chicago.
- Local business leaders’ plans to expand hiring and office footprints, growing demand for coworking spaces, and the city’s central location and robust infrastructure also appeal to investors.
If you’re going to invest in commercial real estate, Chicago is a wise choice. In previous blog entries, we’ve discussed how factors such as the Windy City’s economic strength, convenient central location, and international trade and transportation systems appeal to real estate investors. It’s a hot spot for all kinds of asset types, including data centers and industrial properties.
With the mass desertion of workplaces that took place in 2020 receding in the rearview mirror, investment in Chicago office space is also on the rise. Through June 2025, year-to-date transactions in the city’s office market hit $957 million, constituting the seventh-largest office sales volume among the country’s top markets and double the amount of sales closed in the market during the first half of 2024 ($345 million), according to the June 2025 national office report from CommercialCafe, which is based on data from Yardi Research.
While development has stayed slow, here are some of the reasons why office buildings in the Second City are capturing the attention of commercial real estate investors.
1. The Midwest is one of the nation’s most affordable markets for office space.
Chicago office space had the lowest sale price in the U.S. in June at an average of $57 per square foot, according to CommercialCafe’s report. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate for offices in the city remained approximately the same year-over-year at 19.6 percent.
2. Chicago business leaders plan to increase hiring and expand their office footprints.
Although local leaders have reservations about the state and city economies, 84 percent of Chicago business leaders said they planned to increase hiring this year, and 71 percent intend to grow their office footprint, according to the KPMG 2025 Perspectives: Local Insights from Chicago report.
3. The Windy City offers an ideal location and robust infrastructure.
As we touched on in a blog entry last year on Chicago’s status as a top metro area for corporate facility investment, the Second City’s appeal stems in part from its central location with easy access to various railways, highways, and international transportation and trade systems.
4. The city is experiencing growing demand for coworking spaces.
As of April 2025, Chicago had approximately 8.1 million square feet of coworking space distributed across 280 sites, making it the second-most prominent metro area for coworking inventory nationwide, according to Commercial Property Executive and CoworkingCafe data. That figure will continue to climb as additional space becomes available. For instance, in May 2025, Workbox announced plans to establish its biggest coworking location in the U.S. in downtown Chicago.
Interested in investing in Chicago office space? The Avalon Realty Associates team offers property investment services. We’ll manage your investment brokerage as if our own funds are on the line. Connect with our team today by calling 847-506-1000 or emailing info@avalonreal.com.