Updated September 28, 2026 · By Tom Koelzer, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Dave Ven Horst, Co-Founder & Managing Broker, Tenant Advisors, Inc.
Bottom line for tenants: the O’Hare / Rosemont office market offers some of the deepest concession packages we track anywhere in Chicagoland. Vacancy is 20.1% and rising, the market has lost roughly 406,000 SF of occupied space over the past 12 months, and nothing new is being built. Landlords from the Rosemont towers to the Elk Grove value tier are competing on free rent, build-out dollars, and rate. Tenants with airport-driven businesses hold real leverage here — if they run a competitive process.
The Market at a Glance (Q3 2026, Tenant Advisors market tracking)
| Metric | O’Hare / Rosemont Office Market, Q3 2026 |
|---|---|
| Vacancy rate | 20.1%, up 0.9 points year over year (five-year average: 17.1%) |
| Class A vacancy | 18.4% |
| Class B vacancy | 24.0% |
| Class A gross asking rent | $35–$42 per SF |
| Class B gross asking rent | $22–$31 per SF |
| 12-month net absorption | -406,000 SF (occupied space shrinking) |
| Office space under construction | 0 SF |
| Sublease space available | ~230,000 SF |
| Free rent achievable | 1 to 2 months per year of lease term (5 to 10 months on a 5-year lease) |
| Tenant leverage | High |
- Submarket vacancy: 20.1% and rising — roughly one in five square feet sits empty, and the market lost about 878,000 SF of occupied space in 2025 alone
- Class A gross asking rents: $35–$42/SF at 18.4% vacancy — the top of the range in the Rosemont towers and airport-corridor Class A
- Class B gross asking rents: $22–$31/SF at 24.0% vacancy, with value plays below that in Elk Grove Village and Bensenville — the weakest part of the market and the deepest concessions
- Rents are flat: asking rents are essentially unchanged over the past year while vacancy climbs — a gap that shows up in concessions, not face rates
- New construction: zero office space under construction and none proposed — no new supply is coming to compete with existing landlords for you, and none is coming to bail them out either
- Sublease space: roughly 230,000 SF on the market, adding a discount tier below direct deals
These figures come from Tenant Advisors’ own transaction and market tracking. For the full corridor overview, see our O’Hare / Rosemont office tenant representation market page.
What Defines the O’Hare / Rosemont Office Market?
The O’Hare submarket wraps around the airport — Rosemont, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Schiller Park, Elk Grove Village, Bensenville, and Chicago’s own O’Hare corridor — stitched together by I-90, I-294, and I-190, with CTA Blue Line service running straight to the Loop. It totals roughly 17.9 million SF of office space. No other Chicago submarket puts a national client base within a five-minute drive of a boarding gate, which is why tenancy skews toward logistics, aviation services, sales offices, professional services, and firms with traveling teams.
Rosemont is the premium tier: the River Road corridor towers, the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, and an entertainment district that makes client visits easy. The value tiers run west and south — Des Plaines and Park Ridge in the middle of the range, with Elk Grove Village and Bensenville posting some of the lowest office rents in the metro.
Where Is the Tenant Leverage?
With one in five square feet vacant, occupancy shrinking, and zero new supply, landlords need signed leases more than tenants need any single building. In practice that means:
- Free rent of 1 to 2 months per year of lease term — 5 to 10 months on a 5-year lease — especially in buildings carrying large vacant blocks
- Tenant improvement allowances well above historical norms for credit tenants, often enough to fund a full build-out
- Renewal repricing: tenants who signed before the market softened are frequently above today’s market — a renewal negotiation backed by current comps can reset the economics without moving a single box
- Sublease alternatives: quality sublet space adds a discount tier below direct deals — see our Chicago office sublease guide
The spread between Class A at $35–$42 gross and Class B at $22–$31 also creates a trade-up window: with Class B vacancy at 24%, tenants in tired Class B buildings can often land in better product for less than they assume once concessions are netted out. But none of this materializes for a tenant negotiating with one landlord and no alternatives. A landlord facing a tenant with qualified options in Rosemont, Des Plaines, and Elk Grove Village concedes a lot more.
How Tenant Advisors Works This Market
Tenant Advisors, Inc. is a tenant-only commercial real estate firm founded in 2004 by Tom Koelzer and Dave Ven Horst, headquartered in Schaumburg, with 2,000+ office leases negotiated — tenants only, never landlords. We track availability, asking versus achieved rents, and concession packages building by building across the O’Hare corridor, which is exactly the information a landlord’s broker hopes you don’t have. City-level detail is in our guides for Rosemont, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Bensenville, and the Chicago O’Hare corridor, plus the full city-by-city tenant guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is now a good time to lease office space near O’Hare?
Yes. With vacancy at 20.1% and rising, roughly 406,000 SF of negative absorption over the past year, and no new construction, conditions around O’Hare strongly favor tenants. Landlords are competing on free rent, build-out allowances, and rate — and the concession packages here are among the deepest Tenant Advisors tracks in Chicagoland.
What does office space cost in the O’Hare / Rosemont market?
Per Tenant Advisors’ Q3 2026 market tracking, Class A gross asking rents run $35–$42 per square foot — topping out in the Rosemont towers — while Class B runs $22–$31. Elk Grove Village and Bensenville offer some of the lowest office rents in the metro below that range.
When should I start my O’Hare-area lease renewal?
12 to 18 months before expiration. Starting early keeps relocation across Rosemont, Des Plaines, or Elk Grove Village a credible alternative, which is what forces your landlord to compete on renewal terms.
What cities does the O’Hare / Rosemont office market include?
Rosemont, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Schiller Park, Elk Grove Village, Bensenville, Franklin Park, and Chicago’s O’Hare corridor. Tenant Advisors covers these cities and the entire Chicago metro.
Who pays a tenant rep broker’s fee near O’Hare?
The landlord pays the commission, so tenant representation costs the tenant nothing. Tenant Advisors represents only tenants — never landlords — so there is no conflict of interest in the negotiation.
About the authors: Tom Koelzer and Dave Ven Horst co-founded Tenant Advisors, Inc. in 2004 after senior landlord-side brokerage careers. The firm exclusively represents office tenants across the Chicago metro — Northwest Suburbs, O’Hare/Rosemont, East-West Corridor, North Suburbs, and Chicago CBD — and has negotiated more than 2,000 office leases.
Negotiating a lease near O’Hare? Request a consultation or call (847) 778-0296. We know these buildings, and representation costs tenants nothing — the landlord pays our fee.