Chicago cracks top 10 in tech cities ranking
Comments Email Print
Photo by Getty Images
Chicago moved up the rankings of the nation's top tech cities with stronger job growth.
The city was ninth in job growth between 2013 to 2015 with a 21.1 percent increase, or 10,181 jobs, up from 17.1 percent growth from 2012 to 2014, when Chicago was 13th among the nation's top 30 tech markets, according to research by real estate firm CBRE.
San Francisco led the way with 47 percent growth, adding 22,096 new jobs. Silicon Valley was sixth with 27,976 jobs for 26.1 percent growth, said CBRE, which tracks the economics of tech cities annually.
Chicago was 22nd in growth of office rents at 5.7 percent. Silicon Valley's rents saw the fastest growth at 28.4 percent.
Tech companies were the third biggest users of Chicago office space, with 11 percent of leasing in the central business district. River North, the preferred home for tech companies, commands rents of $38.34 per square foot and a 9.4 percent vacancy rate, compared with $28.99 per square foot and a 14.1 percent vacancy rate.
But there are signs that the six-year surge in tech jobs that boosted commercial real estate in Chicago and around the country is slowing.
"Sublease space in Chicago has increased over 70 percent since January, mostly led by tech firms,” said Brad Serot, a senior vice president at CBRE in Chicago, citing pullbacks by Raise Marketplace, Motorola Mobility and Avant.
Funding is another concern.
"Things are starting to slow down a little bit," Serot said. "It feels like the Series A and B rounds are much more difficult to come by than in 2013, '14 and '15. Tech was responsible for a lot of job growth and rent growth. There's going to be a pullback, but the tone is still optimistic."
