Big box vacancy rate drops sharply due to record new leasing, few completions
Following record net absorption during the first quarter of 2021, Chicago’s biggest and most modern industrial buildings posted near-record net absorption again during the second quarter, totaling 7.1 million square feet. This demand resulted in a net absoprtion total of 15.3 million square feet through the first six months of 2021, eclipsing the 15.1-million-square-foot net absorption total from all four quarters of 2020. Record new leasing activity totaling 8.6 million square feet, only three big box construction completions, and few new vacancies pushed the big box vacancy rate down 185 basis points to 6.30 percent, one of the lowest rates ever recorded among big box buildings.
