Suburban Companies Are Still Pushing to Move Into the City

Evidence of a Hot 2017 Market
The momentum of the downtown craze is rolling into 2017 as Cars.com expands their headquarters in downtown Chicago. They plan to move to the city in mid-July, eating up 140,000 square feet of space. Wilson Sporting Goods will also join the club as a new corporation soaking up additional square footage. With these two corporations already publicly planning to move to Chicago, the writing on the wall says the hot market will stay warm in 2017 — perhaps they’ll even hold down the already low vacancy rates.
New Age Company Culture
Companies such as Google, Zappos and Apple have experienced much fame around their culture of encouraging and nurturing ideas within their company. They promote the entrepreneurial spirit allowing the free expression and pursuit of ideas. They also understand that happy employees work harder. This shift in company culture has changed the way businesses operate, adding a focus onto the care about the lifestyles of their employees. Moving downtown – closer to where their employees want to live – allows corporations to provide a greater range of amenities and a better quality of life for their work force.
Attractive New Properties
Chicago is a bustling commercial real estate market, and there are a slew of attractive new properties coming to market in 2017 and beyond. The repurposing of Coyne college campus will convert it into a trendy office space granting the city an additional 76,000 square feet and another 400,000 feet of space after their plans for a new nine-story building when completed. The new properties will add significant square footage to the Chicago market and help balance out rent and vacancy rates.
With new companies joining the already impressive list of corporations that are moving into downtown Chicago, the commercial real estate market does not have a plan to cool down anytime soon. Add the exciting new properties planned for the upcoming years and the focus on company culture, and the market in Chicago is poised to be an attractive destination for a while.