Chicago industrial space, the intermodal center of North America.
Chicago is the largest industrial market in the country by inventory and the place where the eastern and western railroads meet. Vacancy is under five percent and has been for three quarters. It is a tight, mature market where the opportunities are specific: an intermodal-adjacent building coming off lease, a sublease in the I-55 corridor, a landlord with a vacancy problem in one submarket while the market as a whole is full.
Where the leverage sits right now.
Vacancy of 4.8 percent for a third straight quarter is tight. But CBRE's availability figure of 8.6 percent tells the other half of the story: nearly four points of space is being marketed ahead of becoming vacant. Those buildings have landlords who already know they have a problem. That is the inventory to negotiate in.
Rent growth of under one percent year over year, in a market with sub-five vacancy, says landlords are not pushing rate. New leasing of 21.8 million square feet through mid-year shows the demand is real but price-sensitive. Chicago rewards tenants who come with alternatives in hand.
Reach is the reason to be here: 23 percent of the US population overnight and 72 percent on two-day ground, with the BNSF and Union Pacific intermodal terminals in Joliet feeding product straight from the West Coast ports. Few markets combine that reach with a $7.55 rent.
What the major brokerages report.
Each firm tracks a slightly different building set, and in some markets a different metric, so the figures differ. We show all of them rather than average them, because an average of three different definitions describes nothing. Where the spread matters to a negotiation, we say so above.
| Firm | Quarter | Vacancy | Asking rent | Net absorption | Under construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cushman & Wakefield cushmanwakefield.com | Q2 2026 | 4.8% | $7.55 per sq. ft. | +5.1M sq. ft. (first half) | 13.5M sq. ft. |
| CBRE Reports availability, not vacancy cbre.com | Q2 2026 | 8.6% availability | $9.30 net per sq. ft. | +6.1M sq. ft. | 11.8M sq. ft. |
Reach, infrastructure, and labor.
Share of the US population within 450 road-equivalent miles (one-day ground) and 1,000 miles (two-day ground) of the market center, computed against population-weighted centroids of all 3,125 US counties (2020 Census). Bands approximate FedEx and UPS Ground zone tables within roughly 10 percent and are for comparing markets, not quoting transit times.
Sources: ofis.trade.gov
Where the buildings are.
Bolingbrook, Romeoville and Woodridge. The big-box core of the southwest suburbs, with direct access to the Joliet intermodal terminals.
Joliet, Elwood and Minooka, around the BNSF Logistics Park and Union Pacific Global IV. The largest buildings in the metro and the heaviest intermodal volume.
Elk Grove Village, Bensenville and Franklin Park. The densest infill industrial in the country, air cargo, and the tightest vacancy in the market.
Aurora, Naperville and the western suburbs. Mature distribution and manufacturing with strong labor access.
University Park, Monee and across the state line into Lake County, Indiana. Lower costs and a growing share of the new large-format construction.
The operations that choose Chicago.
We represent tenants and buyers only. No landlord listings in Chicago, so every building in the market is a candidate and every negotiation is on your side of the table. See the operations we serve.
Evaluating Chicago?
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