Crown Point-based Latitude Commercial's annual market report for 2023 showed a resilient Northwest Indiana commercial real estate market.
Aaron McDermott, co-founder and president, said in his opening letter that work-from-home options are helping suburban areas prosper.
“Suburbs of Chicago, like our area, are the beneficiaries of the work-from-home ‘trend,'” he said in the report. “Employers still want their employees in the office and may start to find smaller regional offices outside of the major central business districts.”
Office vacancy rates in Northwest Indiana, he said, remain low as of the end of 2023 at an overall rate of 5.6%.
He also said migration to the Region is another factor boosting Northwest Indiana's commercial real estate market.
With several large speculative buildings in the Region, McDermott said that sector will cool off in 2024. The added square footage in the market drove vacancy rates up; however, he said, it did not drive decreases in rent. The rates per square foot rose from $7.41 at the beginning of 2023 to $7.61 at the start of 2024, according to the report.
Finally, McDermott said 2024 will see some instability in the market because of elections, but the Region should fair better than other markets.
“With some decreases in interest rates, construction prices stabilizing, and the supply chain back to normal, we hope to see more development happening,” he said.
