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MCI WorldCom Connects With Rockford

Chicago and its suburbs, though, aren't the only places in northern Illinois that are attracting business investment. At press time, MCI WorldCom revealed plans to locate a new call center in Rockford that will create 500 full-time and 400 part-time jobs. The $20 million facility will cover 85,500 sq. ft. (7,943 sq. m.).

"Illinois has traditionally been the nation's manufacturing and distribution center," Gov. Ryan says. "I'm pleased that our state has also become the nation's telecommunications hub."

DCCA is providing as much as $500,000 in job-training funds. Other assistance includes EDGE tax credits, infrastructure aid and a High Impact Business designation. The facility is slated to open in July.

CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Snapshot: The Chicago Market (Third Quarter 1999) Industrial Vacancy Rate:  8% Lease Rate per Sq. Ft. (Sq. M.)/Year:  US$4.63 ($49.87) Under Construction:  8.6 million sq. ft. (799,000 sq. m.) • Gross absorption for the first nine months of 1999 totaled 22.1 million sq. ft. (2.1 million sq. m.). This reflected a moderate downshift in user demand, which had been running at record or near-record high levels since 1994. • The bulk of new product on the market continues to be high-cube warehousing, which includes a new class of super-sized facilities covering 600,000 sq. ft. (55,740 sq. m.) or more. Downtown Office Vacancy Rate:  9.4% Lease Rate per Sq. Ft. (Sq. M.)/Year:  $19.53 ($210.34) Under Construction:  2.8 million sq. ft. (260,000 sq. m.) • The downtown office vacancy rate declined to 9.4 percent at the close of the third quarter 1999 from 10.0 percent during the previous quarter. This is the first time the marketwide rate has dipped to the single digits since 1982. • The supply of usable blocks of space downtown is very limited. Year-to-date net absorption in the downtown market is 839,756 sq. ft. (78,000 sq. m.), down from 2.8 million sq. ft. (260,000 sq. m.) for the first nine months of 1998. Suburban Office Vacancy Rate:  10.4% Lease Rate per Sq. Ft. (Sq. M.)/Year:  $15.66 ($168.66) Under Construction:  4.2 million sq. ft. (390,000 sq. m.) • The opening of 12 new buildings during the third quarter increased the suburban office vacancy rate to 10.4 percent from second quarter's 9.0 percent. • Demand for space has remained relatively stable, while in selected sub-markets demand has finally been outpaced by new construction. Additionally, there is a trend for larger companies to consolidate scattered suburban operations into a single, more efficient location.