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3 MIN READ -- Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA) released its quarter four 2025 State of the Loop report on downtown activity, using a variety of data sources, produced by CLA since July 2020. The report tracks pedestrian and transportation activity, investment, retail, arts and culture, and more. View the quarter four (Oct.-Dec. 2025) State of the Loop report here.
“The Loop continued to build momentum in quarter four, with high-amenity buildings leading the return-to-work trend; major companies signaling growing confidence in the Loop as a robust business district; and dozens of new restaurants and retailers planning openings,” said Michael Edwards, President & CEO of Chicago Loop Alliance. “Our organization is acutely aware of the swiftly changing landscape of downtowns, and recognizes the Loop is bolstered by corporate, civic and community commitment to our survival and progress.”
Office and Economic Investment
Chicago’s Q4 office occupancy rate averaged 57 percent of 2019 levels, consistent with 2024’s Q4 occupancy (Avison Young Technologies, Placer.ai). Luxury offices continued to draw approximately 10 percent more workers than the average, signaling efforts by employers to attract workers back to the office with premium amenities. Additionally, Onni Group, Shamrock Trading, Zurich, and Hireology all signed deals to lease or own office buildings in the Loop. Shamrock, a logistics company, plans to expand its existing suburban office to a downtown space, and Hireology plans to move into the upper floors of the Marshall Field Building. These moves signal a steady trend toward physical office investments choosing the Loop.
New investment flourished in the Loop in Q4, totaling over $318 million, with the number of vacant storefronts on State Street decreasing nearly 14 percent from Q3. This reflects the more than 40 new restaurants, cafés, and retail stores opened or set to open soon in the Loop, Additionally, the purchase of 213-227 S State Street by the Downtown Islamic Center, which plans to redevelop the historic building into a community space and educational center, and 401 S. State Street with 525,000 square feet of investment further supports intentional Loop and State Street investment. Construction also continued on Google’s redevelopment of the Thompson Center, which is set to open in early 2027.
“Tenants want to be where talent wants to be; restaurants and hospitality want to be where people gather,” said Victor Sanmiguel, Bespoke Commercial Real Estate. “The Loop’s ability to pull in that kind of tenant shifts the narrative from what we lost to what we can build.”
Arts and Culture
Throughout the fall and winter season, iconic holiday events brought visitors to the Loop to celebrate. In October, events like Sundays on State, Lurking in the Loop, and the Arts in the Dark Parade saw hundreds of thousands of visitors. Performing arts and cultural institutions drew 1.4 million arts lovers to the Loop in Q4. Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza saw 500,000 visitors and over 60,000 people tested their skating skills at the Millenium Park Ice Rink. Overall, the Loop’s popular seasonal events attracted 2 million people and generated $575 million in economic impact.
Transportation
CTA and Metra ridership continued to increase just as Illinois’ landmark transit funding and reform bill passed in October. The legislation includes an estimated $1.2 billion in new annual operating funding for Metra, Pace, and CTA, ensuring Chicago and the Loop’s crucial transit infrastructure continues operating at full capacity in 2026. In addition, reforms in the bill will allow the agencies to provide improvements to service frequency, reliability, and safety in the coming years.
Transit’s continued popularity among Chicago’s residents and visitors is reflected in Q3 ridership. CTA’s buses and trains carried a weekday average of over a million passengers, reaching 80 percent of pre-pandemic ridership and surpassing Q3 2024 levels by 17 percent—October 9 was CTA’s biggest ridership day since the pandemic, with 1.17 million rides. Metra saw 10.7 million passengers in Q3, a 14 percent increase from the same time in 2024.
Visitors and residents from around the city flocked to the Loop for holiday events, keeping pedestrian activity on State Street at 78 percent of 2019 levels. While foot traffic is down overall compared to the previous year, weekend activity held steady in Q4, reaching an average of 128,000 pedestrian impressions.
