Luxury Living consistently tracks leasing data on larger assets in Downtown Chicago’s Class A Market built since 2016. This dataset currently includes 84 properties and over 27,500 total units—and counting. These properties set the tone for the entire market.

May 2024 vs. May 2025

Supply constraints in Chicago’s multifamily market are driving notable fluctuations in availability and pricing. Total available units have declined by 29%, dropping from 2,649 in the first week of 2025 to 1,888 as of June 9.

The vast majority of properties were above 96% leased in May, which is usually a time when there is a significant amount of movement with expiring leases and relocation renters heading to Chicago. 

How is this impacting rents in 2025?

The table below shows YoY data by unit type for May 2024 and May 2025 for the most common unit types—studios through 2 bedrooms represent more than 97% of units leased. 

There were 16.3% fewer rentals in May 2025 compared to May 2024, which can be directly attributed to the significant lease-up activity occurring at this time last year, with next to nothing this year. 

As a percentage of inventory leased, all unit types are within 1% of the totals from 2024, showing consistency in demand in Chicago. 

Average SF was down slightly (-6 SF), which had an impact on the gross PPSF for 2025. 

• GROSS RENTS: +3.8%
• GROSS PPSF: +4.6%

At a high level, this rent growth is outstanding for downtown Chicago. 

Digging Deeper

Overall averages paint a clear picture of YoY rent growth. However, there are important nuances when analyzing data at a submarket level. 

Average SF — By Submarket — Studios through 2 Bedrooms

• The Average SF YoY is only showing a total difference of -6, but looking deeper, all submarkets showed a decrease in average SF except one—Gold Coast/Old Town at +48
  • This is critical information as it clearly indicates rising rents in the market are forcing renters to lease smaller, more affordable inventory. 
• Streeterville and River West saw the biggest declines, at -53 and -41 SF, respectively
  • Renters with tightening budgets are leaning toward smaller, more affordable unit types  
• All other submarkets are within 8 SF from the previous year, with River North nearly matching its previous total
• Gold Coast/Old Town is the only submarket with an average SF above 800
  • This is due to an extreme drop in studio/convertible rentals from 2024

Average Gross Rent — By Submarket — Studios through 2 Bedrooms

• Gross rents increased by 3.8% YoY, with the average gross rent rising by $117, signaling strong rental demand and extremely limited supply. 
• Gold Coast/Old Town led rent growth with an 11.2% increase (+$359), continuing its trend from April
• South Loop saw a sizable increase of 7.1% over May 2025, which can be attributed to nearly 20% of all leasing activity coming from a single premier tower. 
• River North achieved a YoY increase of 5.4%, which is a result of being the highest leased submarket in the city
• On a gross rent basis, Streeterville rents dropped 4.8% YoY, which can be directly attributed to the 6.4% drop in average SF.
• Despite a large drop in average SF of 41 SF, River West is showing stable YoY rents for May 

Limited supply is significantly impacting gross rents in all submarkets, but not all are experiencing collective growth. We’ll review again in June, which will likely show similar trends of dwindling supply with strong rent growth.