CHICAGO—The US office market slowed down in the first quarter, partly because activity in the tech sector, which has recently fueled much of the market's growth, was uncharacteristically slow. Overall, the market recorded just 3.7 million square feet of positive absorption, according to a report on the first quarter by Chicago-based JLL.
Another factor that had tenants throughout the nation tapping the brakes a bit was the drive to shrink office footprints by using space more efficiently.
“These days all you need is a Wi-Fi connection and a chair,” Scott Homa, JLL's director of office research, tells GlobeSt.com. Electronic data storage has eliminated the need for physical storage space, and many separate offices have also disappeared as more companies choose collaborative strategies. “Offices look so dramatically different today than they did a short time ago, sometimes since the last lease was signed.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
