Similar recovery of office leasing activity & CTA ridership in the Chicago CBD

- From 2014-2019, the correlation between “L” ridership and leasing activity in the CBD was 0.02, showing almost no relationship between the two. From 2020-present, however, that same correlation has grown to 0.82, indicating a notably strong and positive connection between the two.*

- Across all CTA “L” stations in the CBD, recent quarterly ridership has grown 34% since the same time last year. However, this volume is still down 56% (or ~5.8 million rides) from pre-COVID quarterly averages.**

- Across the CBD, recent quarterly leasing activity has declined 38% from the same time last year. This volume is down 59% (or ~1.8M sf) from pre-COVID quarterly averages.

*Correlation in data quantifies the degree to which two variables change together between -1 and 1, indicating the strength and direction of their relationship. A positive correlation implies that as one variable increases, the other tends to increase, while a negative correlation suggests that as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease.

**CTA “L” ridership is limited to stations located within Avison Young’s defined boundaries of the Chicago CBD on weekdays. This includes all Loop stations, Fulton Market stations, and most River North/NMA stations. At the time of publishing, ridership data is available through 2023 Q1.