(Photo by Christina Estes - KJZZ)

JLL reports rising demand and rents among law firms for Class A office space.

Phoenix has overtaken Chicago to claim the top spot in new office space so far this year. Commercial real estate firm JLL said the Valley has absorbed more than 2.6 million square feet of space through September and one company gets a lot of credit.

Without State Farm’s 1.2 million square feet of space at its regional headquarters in Tempe, the Valley wouldn’t reach the top five markets.  

JLL said metro Phoenix is on pace to exceed 3 million square feet of new office leasing this year and for the first time since the recession, vacancy has dipped below 20 percent to 19.7 percent. In 2011, vacancy peaked at 28.1 percent.

According to the firm’s research, asking rates for the newest buildings in the most desirable areas are up 5.2 percent from one year ago to $28.04 per square foot. Class B asking rates increased 6.4 percent to $21.72.

Source: JLL Research