Suburban single-story office buildings without amenities experiencing surge in demand

During the suburban office market’s half-decade of recovery from the pandemic, headlines usually have centered on companies leasing space in highly amenitized Class A buildings as a way to consistently lure employees away from home.

But another trend that’s been more quietly gaining steam is the rising popularity of single-story office buildings among industries whose workers don’t need all the bells and whistles.

This unsung parallel growth is summed up as “no amenities are the new amenities” by Jason Wurtz, executive vice president of commercial real estate firm NAI Hiffman.

The alternate attraction is based on a desire for affordable, accessible space where employees can park, work and head home without a hassle.

“It’s been a bit of a secret,” Wurtz said. “It’s a difference in the mentality. I don’t think they’re infringing on each other at all.”

During the past two quarters, single-story buildings have outperformed the overall market, which ended March with a nearly historically high vacancy rate of 27%.

The suburban single-story market saw 57 new deals signed during the first quarter, totaling 109,197 square feet. That market saw 358 new deals signed in 2025, totaling 953,821 square feet and up 10.1% over 2024, according to NAI Hiffman’s data.

At Spring Lake Executive Campus in Itasca, occupancy climbed to 96% in 2025, up from 86.7% the year before. At Northwest Corporate Centre in Hoffman Estates, occupancy rose to 80% last year, compared with 75.7% in 2024.

Part of that came from the decision of National Association of Credit Management (NACM)-Connect to choose Northwest Corporate Centre for its relocation from a building it had owned in Rolling Meadows.

Its previous property had been a pair of 20,000-square-foot, single-story buildings, one of which it used and the other it leased. The move was necessitated after the tenant — an IT business — decided it didn’t need as much space after the pandemic.

President and COO Phil Lattanzio asked his staff what was important to them, wondering if a restaurant or some other amenity in the building would be a high priority.

“It was the proximity of where they parked their cars and not sharing space,” he said. “That was really important. Everyone got an office with a window.”

The new space they moved into in January is about the same size as the old, but with everything new and a nice lunchroom. Lattanzio considered the possibility his employees didn’t yearn for anything more because they’d never become accustomed to it.

“Those amenities are nice and are of very high value at the beginning, but then you get used to it and it’s not such a big deal anymore,” he said.

The prior need for a pair of classrooms to educate association members had been eliminated by the virtual teaching that had taken over in the pandemic.

While Lattanzio considers Northwest Corporate Center’s location and proximity to restaurants and other service businesses to be its amenity, he can understand why other types of industries may desire something more.

“As an attorney or accountant, you may want to have that prestige of being in a Class A building,” he added. “They may not have time to go outside. And you want to have some kind of a status for your clients and your customers.”

For those wanting to make that kind of impression, being able to say you’re in a place like the nearby Class-A Bell Works Chicagoland would send that message, Lattanzio said.

For Dan Kardatzke, the franchise owner of three Ellie Mental Health locations, the single-story space he found at Spring Lake Executive Campus in Itasca last fall was just what he’d sought in vain for his previous two sites.

He believes his space needs are probably fairly common among similar health-oriented businesses.

“You want easy access,” he said. “You walk in and walk right out. That was really the goal for us. And visibility too. It’s easier to see where the suite might be. I’d say we’ve had a hard time finding exactly what we want.”

The village of Schaumburg’s recent measure of its own office inventory tells a similar story, Economic Development Director Matt Frank said.

Single-story office vacancy there is only about 8.8% this spring.

That figure also must take into account that about 248,000 square feet of this type of building in Schaumburg was demolished over the past year, he added.

But the diminishing supply of these buildings is proving to be in high demand among relocating businesses.

“They don’t need the amenities of Class A,” Frank said. “They want the convenience and location.”

Such a resurgence doesn’t mean new single-story buildings are likely to be built anytime soon, Wurtz said.

But what remains of this product — most of it built in the ’80s or ’90s — is now better maintained than what was generally true a few years ago, he added.