The effects of the pandemic? They’re pretty much over in the downtown Chicago Class-A multifamily market, according to the latest research from Luxury Living.
Luxury Living reported that the current occupancy percentage for Class-A apartment properties in the downtown Chicago market in October was just under 94%. That ranks as an all-time high.
That means that this occupancy rate is also higher than its pre-pandemic levels. According to Luxury Living, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Class-A downtown Chicago multifamily market had an occupancy percentage just above 93%. In the fourth quarter of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, this percentage dipped to an average of 87%.
The downtown Chicago Class-A multifamily market consists of about 43,000 apartment units, extending from North Avenue on the north to Cermak Road on the south. It stretches from Lake Michigan on the east to portions of the Chicago River and Ashland Avenue on the west.
With occupancy rates so high, it’s not surprising that apartment rents in downtown Chicago are on the rise, too. Luxury Living reported that the average gross rent for Class-A downtown Chicago multifamily properties stood $3,038 as of the end of the third quarter of 2024.
That is up 2.3% from the same period a year earlier. The downtown Class-A average gross rent increased $71 in the third quarter of 2024 when compared to the same quarter a year earlier.
Spurred by solid rent growth, developers have continued to add new apartment units to downtown Chicago. Luxury Living reported that more than 27,500 Class-A luxury apartments have delivered here since 2016.
Luxury Living reported that an additional 1,200 Class-A multifamily units are under construction in the downtown Chicago market and about 19,000 total new apartments are in the downtown Chicago pipeline for 2025 and beyond.
