BIG PICTURE: Third-Quarter Office Leasing a Tossup

ORLANDO-Heading into the third quarter, leasing brokers polled by GlobeSt.com say they are not overly optimistic tenants will be coming out of the woods to fill empty properties between now and yearend. Still, Houston and Orlando leasing specialists are looking for an improved 3Q, while Dallas, Austin and Chicago brokers see continued static on the renting horizon for the rest of the year.

“Our leasing brokers say the pipeline is not that strong and they don’t expect much more this year,” Ted Buenger, office broker, CB Richard Ellis Inc., Chicago, tells GlobeSt.com Midwest Bureau Chief Mark Ruda.

Sublease space is fueling the vacancies. Chicago’s East-West corridor is at 17.4% vacancy; O’Hare submarket, 15.1%; north suburbs, 15%; northwest suburbs, 13.5%; Downtown, 13.9%.