CHICAGO—The office market in Chicago's northwest suburbs was stung by the recent decisions of Motorola and GoGo to move into the city's CBD. But according to Colliers International the submarket made a bit of a comeback in the third quarter.

Overall vacancy ended at 21.2% compared to 21.5% reported in the second quarter of 2015. Both class A and B properties registered decreases in vacancy, but class A properties had the most significant change, ending the third quarter with a 17.2% vacancy rate, down from 17.8%.

And even though year-to-date absorption remains weak, largely due to GoGo's departure, Colliers found that among the higher quality, true class A properties, year-to-date absorption was a positive 105,286 square feet.

KBS has recently seen that such space is still in high demand. The Newport Beach, CA-based company recently completed five leases totaling 84,438 square feet at its Woodfield Preserve Office Center in suburban Schaumburg. AutoTask Holding and Transamerica Premier Life Insurance Co. signed new leases at the property. And McGladrey LLP, New York Life Insurance Co. and Congress of Neurosurgeons extended their leases.

Rob Graham and Bill Elwood of CBRE represented KBS REIT I in the leasing deals.

"KBS has seen increased interest in class A office space in the northwest suburbs, consistent with the class A market throughout the suburbs," Brett Merz, KBS senior vice president, tells GlobeSt.com. "The primary reasons are access to a wide range of quality labor, outstanding highway access, proximity to O'Hare International Airport and high quality office space at rents below the surrounding submarkets and substantially below CBD alternatives."

And the examples of Motorola and GoGo don't cause much concern, he adds. Both "are examples of tech related companies migrating downtown. Certain tenants will continue to be attracted to the suburbs because of the talented labor force, lower real estate costs and quality blocks of space."

Woodfield Preserve Office Center sits along the west side of I-290/Rte. 53 and has two six-story, class A office buildings of roughly equal size at 10 N. Martingale and 20 N. Martingale. The occupancy rate, including the recent leases, is now 90%. The 610,462 square foot complex also features a full-service deli, a new conference center, a tenant Wifi lounge and a renovated fitness center.

According to CBRE research, since the beginning of 2012, the suburban market has posted 3,817,227 square feet of positive absorption versus the CBD net total of 1,904,948 in that same period. Furthermore, the suburban office market has had 16 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption and the class A direct vacancy rate is at pre-recession levels.

And the northwest submarket shows other signs of life. As reported in GlobeSt.com, for example, Zurich Insurance recently acquired a 40-acre chunk of Motorola Solutions' campus in Schaumburg and launched a 720,000 square foot build-to-suit headquarters. The company will complete the development in 2016.