Updated September 2026 · By Tom Koelzer and Dave Ven Horst, co-founders of Tenant Advisors
The two biggest considerations in choosing office space are location and total occupancy cost. Location affects hiring, retention, and client access for years. Total occupancy cost, not the asking rent, determines what you actually pay over the lease term. Weigh them together: a cheaper building in the wrong place can cost more than it saves.
Key Takeaways
- Map where your employees live before choosing a submarket.
- Higher-vacancy submarkets give tenants more negotiating room.
- Asking rent is not what you pay. Compare buildings on net effective cost over the full term.
- Rent structure, expense caps, and load factor can swing total cost more than the rent number.
Consideration 1: How should you evaluate an office location?
- Employee commutes: Map where your team lives. A move that adds 20 minutes each way for key staff is a retention risk.
- Client access: If clients visit, consider highway access, parking, and how the building presents.
- Transit and highways: Metra and CTA access downtown and near O’Hare; I-90, I-88, I-94, and I-294 access in the suburbs.
- Parking: Confirm ratios and whether parking is included in rent or charged separately.
- Submarket leverage: Vacancy varies widely across Chicagoland, and higher vacancy means more room to negotiate.
Compare conditions across our five Chicago-area office markets, or look up your town in our city-by-city office space guide.
Consideration 2: What does office space really cost?
| Cost component | What to check |
|---|---|
| Base rent | Asking rent versus effective rent after concessions |
| Rent structure | Full-service gross or net, and exactly what is included |
| Operating expenses and taxes | Base year, caps on controllable expenses, and exclusions |
| Escalations | Annual increases and whether they compound |
| Load factor | Rentable versus usable area; you pay for a share of common areas |
| Parking | Included in rent or a separate charge, and for how long |
| Concessions | Free rent and tenant improvement allowance |
| Build-out | Construction costs above the allowance |
Put every option on the same basis: net effective cost over the full term. Related reading: rentable vs. usable square footage, CAM costs tenants overlook, and Class A, B, and C buildings.
How do location and cost trade off?
A lower rent far from your team can cost more in turnover than it saves in rent. A premium building in a high-vacancy submarket may be more negotiable than its asking rate suggests. The right answer comes from running each finalist on the same total-cost basis and weighing that against location. In the transactions we track and negotiate across Chicagoland, effective rents typically run 10–20% below asking for tenants who create real competition between buildings. If you are deciding whether to stay or move, a renewal vs. relocation analysis puts both paths in dollars.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important factor in choosing office space?
Location and total occupancy cost, weighed together. Location affects hiring, retention, and client access. Total cost determines what you actually pay over the lease term.
What is the difference between asking rent and effective rent?
Asking rent is the landlord’s quoted rate. Effective rent accounts for free rent, allowances, and other concessions spread over the term, and it reflects what you really pay.
Does using a tenant representative add to my cost?
No. In a standard commercial lease, the landlord pays the brokerage fee, so tenant representation costs tenants nothing.
Benchmark Your Options Against the Market
Comparing buildings or submarkets? We will put your options side by side on total cost. We represent tenants only, and the landlord pays our fee. Schedule a strategy call or call (847) 778-0296.
About the authors: Tom Koelzer and Dave Ven Horst co-founded Tenant Advisors, Inc. in 2004 after nearly two decades each as First Vice Presidents at a national commercial real estate firm. The firm represents office tenants only, never landlords, and has negotiated 2,000+ office leases across Chicago and the suburbs.