- Introduction to Virtual Offices in Chicago
- Key Benefits of a Virtual Office in 2025
- Why Chicago is a Strategic Business Hub
- How to Set Up a Virtual Office in Chicago
- Best Virtual Office Providers in Chicago
Q: Why get a virtual office in Chicago?
A: A Chicago virtual office provides an array of cost-effective office solutions for as low as $50 per month, allowing you to establish a credible business presence and exploit the Windy City’s fast-rising economic growth, thriving startup scene, global business appeal, and a cluster of major industries in the U.S.
In 2023, 53.6% of all the business formation applications filed in Illinois were in Cook County. Most of these business applications go to Chicago, the county seat of Cook County.
As of January 2025, the state of Illinois had received 11,903 business formation applications. One could safely conclude that about half of those are targeting the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights metro area.
Interestingly, there is no significant office development in Chicago. In fact, the rate of office development in Chicago has reduced by half since January 2024, and the city is experiencing an 18.5% office vacancy rate, according to the 2025 National Office Market Report by CommercialEdge.
Given the fact that office rates in Chicago are $6.21 cheaper than the national average and that more businesses are establishing in Chicago, you’d expect that all the office spaces would be occupied and there would be fervent efforts to build more offices.
However, that’s not the case, as most entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking business expansion in Chicago are opting to get a virtual office in Chicago instead.
And for a number of good reasons, too.
This post explores the concepts and factors surrounding Chicago virtual offices as the most flexible and cost-effective office solution for a hybrid or remote business setup in Chicago.
By exploring these factors and the virtual office benefits in 2025, we see why modern entrepreneurs and small business owners are transitioning to virtual offices in Chicago.
First, what does a Chicago virtual office entail?
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Introduction to Virtual Offices in Chicago
Fundamentally, virtual offices are physical office spaces minus the stifling overhead.
Broadly, Chicago virtual offices are flexible office solutions that provide businesses with a professional business address, professional mail handling, on-demand meeting rooms and private office spaces, and virtual receptionists, all without the high costs of renting and maintaining a full-time office space in Chicago.
Virtual offices in Chicago mainly help business owners, entrepreneurs, startups, digital nomads, and consultants establish a credible, professional business presence in Chicago.
Their services are designed to enable businesses to access essential office amenities on demand and flexibly.
Although “virtual,” virtual offices comprise key physical aspects of a traditional office space, including:
- A professional business address (a real street address and suite number) eligible for business registration, licensing, and marketing and branding purposes.
- Access to on-demand meeting rooms and private office spaces at the given address, as well as all the applicable office amenities.
- Professional mail handling, including mail receipt, processing, and forwarding from the virtual office address.
Top virtual office providers, like Alliance Virtual Offices, also provide virtual receptionist services and powerful VoIP phone systems that enhance customer service and administrative support.
Looking at all these virtual office services and possible benefits, it makes more business sense to go for a virtual office and save the tens of thousands of dollars squandered on traditional office spaces annually.
Well, forward-thinking business owners and entrepreneurs in Chicago already do that; they choose virtual offices while redirecting saved costs into other business expenses that boost their productivity and competitiveness.
What are the key benefits driving the shift to virtual offices in Chicago?
Key Virtual Office Benefits in 2025
If you ask Chicago entrepreneurs why they use Chicago virtual offices instead of traditional ones, nearly all would likely mention cost savings among other virtual office benefits.
So, let’s talk about these benefits, starting with the cost savings.
Cost Savings Compared to Traditional Office Space
Although traditional office rates in Chicago are lower than the national average, the costs of renting and maintaining an office space remain substantial and could inflict a remarkable dent on the budget of small businesses and startups.
One thing is certain about the Chicago startup ecosystem—the Windy City is becoming increasingly competitive. And businesses have to properly channel their resources—especially monetary—towards taking a formidable stand in Chicago’s thriving market.
How much money can you save with a Chicago virtual office?
An office space for rent at W. Higgins Rd. could cost you as much as $4,400 per month for a space moderately big enough for a small business or startup. Bigger office spaces could cost as high as $31,000 per month for an office space you hardly use as a remote or hybrid startup.
This means businesses could be spending $52,800 to $372,000 per year on rent alone. Besides that, they’d still have to account for utilities, furniture, supplies, and maintenance, driving the costs even higher.
Meanwhile, it costs as low as $59 per month for a W. Higgins Rd. virtual office space.
Generally, it costs $50-$99 to get a virtual office in the following prime business locations in Chicago:
- Office space in North Michigan Ave., with up to 16 hours of meeting room or private office time.
With any of these offices, you will easily save at least $50,000 on office rent annually.
What can you do with $50,000 in savings on rent? Surely a lot!
Flexibility for Remote and Hybrid Work Models
One of the strategic advantages of having a virtual office in Chicago is the flexibility and freedom to grow your business with ease.
It is the ease of:
- Only paying for the office services you need when you need them
- Not being tied down by a long-term lease
- Being able to respond to seasonal changes, market shifts, and changing business needs in an agile manner
Chicago virtual offices from reputable virtual office providers allow businesses and startups to increase or reduce their services on demand.
This flexibility provides enough wiggle room for entities with a remote business setup in Chicago to optimize and scale their operations sustainably and within budget at any given phase.
Professional Business Address for Credibility
In general, American consumers have a low regard for businesses operating without an address, as well as those operating with a residential address.
It doesn’t matter that you are a hybrid or remote business. If you want your business, startup, or consultancy to be taken seriously in Chicago, you must have a professional business address.
Thankfully, with virtual offices, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars trying to get a professional business address.
The best part is that virtual offices from the best virtual office providers in Chicago are usually located in the most prestigious business centers. These are centers you might have yearned for but chose to ignore because of budgetary constraints.
Now, with as little as $50 per month, you can get a business address in Chicago’s prime business locations and cement a credible presence in the market.
Access to On-Demand Meeting Rooms and Business Services
You can enrich your hybrid work strategies with on-demand meeting rooms, private offices, professional mail handling and forwarding, live call answering, and other business services.
Full-suite virtual offices comprising all these services are the perfect option for businesses and startups keen on leveraging essential office resources for business growth without bothering with renting an office space.
Business Expansion in Chicago for Startups and Enterprises
Virtual offices in Chicago lower the barriers of entry into the Chicago market. Being incredibly cost-effective also means businesses can quickly set up multiple office locations across the city to widen their SEO target area and attract more customers.
Essentially, virtual offices make business expansion in Chicago a walk in the park. You can scale quickly and easily with multiple virtual offices while optimizing each office by adding only the services necessary to meet your business goals in that particular location.
Why expand your business in Chicago? Well, to start with, it is one of the key strategic business hubs in the U.S., attracting local and foreign markets from far and near.
Why Chicago Is a Strategic Business Hub
Chicago is a strategic business hub in every sense. It is the most centrally located major city in the U.S., boasting a logistics and transport infrastructure that easily links it to all parts of the country.
Hence, it hosts a thriving, diverse business ecosystem that spurs its economic growth and makes it stand out as a choice city for new businesses and startups.
Below are other key factors that fortify Chicago’s business landscape.
Access to Major Industries
Chicago’s business landscape involves many major industries, including manufacturing, finance, healthcare, food processing, commerce, and technology. And these industries continue to grow in Chicago’s business-friendly environment.
Focusing on tech, Chicago ranked #4 alongside Boston in KPMG’s ranking of top cities seen as leading tech innovations outside Silicon Valley in 2021. Chicago lives up to the expectations, recording about a 19% rise in tech startups since 2019.
A Growing Startup Scene with Access to Venture Capital
Chicago hosts many exciting and profitable startups. A position it has held for nearly a decade.
As the startup space in Silicon Valley became more saturated, many startups and venture capitalists also started looking for a more favorable business environment. Chicago was, by far, the next best thing.
As far back as 2016, 45% of investments in Chicago startups produced 10 times ROI with a total of 80% yielding at least 3% ROI, according to Inc. Raleigh follows far behind with only 26% achieving the same result.
Unsurprisingly, venture capitalists still troop to Chicago with hopes of finding and funding Chicago startups that can guarantee a return on their investments. In 2023, the city attracted $6 billion in VC funding, making it the #5 U.S. city with the most VC investment, according to Startup Savant.
If you want to be closer to VCs, turn your compass toward Chicago. A virtual office in Chicago will help you get established faster and attract notable investors.
Chicago’s Global Business Appeal for Expansion and Investment
Chicago’s central geographic location and state-of-the-art transportation and logistics network do a lot in attracting international businesses.
So much so that the city established World Business Chicago (WBC), a development agency that aims to aid global businesses in tapping into Chicago’s thriving business ecosystem and make profitable investments.
Whether you are an out-of-state business seeking business expansion in Chicago or a global enterprise looking to make informed investments, Chicagoland offers a plethora of resources to help you succeed and expand without hassle.
Chicago virtual offices comprise cost-effective office solutions that help you exploit all the advantages while staying within budget.
So how do you set up your virtual office in Chicago to enjoy all the virtual office benefits in 2025?
How to Set Up a Virtual Office in Chicago
Setting up a Chicago virtual office is quite easy. However, as with most services, the chances of having a smooth and pleasant experience starts with having a reliable service provider.
Therefore, you have to first choose a reliable virtual office provider.
To choose the right virtual office provider in Chicago, you have to consider each provider on the following merits:
- Customer reviews: You can quickly narrow your search by going for providers with at least a 4-star rating on Consumer Affairs and Trustpilot. Once selected, you can assess each based on the other criteria below.
- Locations: How prestigious are their locations? Do they offer virtual offices at prestigious business locations in Chicago?
- Legitimate business addresses: Can you use their virtual office address to complete your business registration, licensing, business bank account opening, and other formal documentation? Be sure the address you are getting meets legal and registration compliances. Moreover, a legitimate business address (with a real street address and suite number) signals business professionalism and credibility that will enrich your marketing strategies for better outcomes.
- Services: Do they offer a comprehensive suite of virtual office services? The best providers offer all the virtual office services: professional business address, mail handling and forwarding, on-demand meeting rooms and private offices, and virtual receptionist services (providing call answering and phone services).
- Customer support: The best virtual office providers make multiple customer support channels available to ensure that clients’ needs are met at all times.
Once you find a provider that meets all these criteria, setting up your virtual business address in Chicago easy.
- Choose a location that is relevant to your target market, ensuring it suits your business goals.
- Select your preferred virtual office plan or blend of flexible office solutions available at the location.
- Sign up and proceed to checkout.
Really, it’s that simple!
Best Virtual Office Providers in Chicago
So, based on the above-listed criteria, which virtual office providers are the best in Chicago?
Well, there is no talking about virtual offices in Chicago and Illinois as a whole without mentioning Alliance Virtual Offices.
According to Carla, a Chicago entrepreneur:
“When I did my research, many people and entrepreneurs consider Alliance to be the best virtual office option in comparison with the others. Setting up with them was very easy. I like that it (Alliance Virtual Offices’ virtual office Chicago) is an actual space and not just getting to use an address and have my mail sent there. I can go into the space and utilize it.”
On this alone, it is easy to conclude that Alliance Virtual Offices is the best virtual office provider for startups, businesses, enterprises, and freelancers in Chicago.
However, it helps to compare with other top providers using certain conditions.
Provision of Key Services
Alliance Virtual Offices, alongside Davinci and Regus, are the top providers offering all the key virtual office services in Chicago. Opus misses the mark by far as it offers only business addresses and call-answering services.
Alliance Virtual Offices, Davinci, and Regus are the only providers that offer full-suite virtual office plans, giving clients the option to get all their services in one plan without the distraction of confusing add-ons.
Alliance Virtual Offices is also the only provider that explicitly states the services it offers at each of its business addresses in Chicago.
Pricing: Affordability, Flexibility, and Transparency
With Alliance Virtual Offices, there are no hidden charges. What you pay for is what you get; you only have to pay for what you need when you need it.
According to Jakyrrah, Alliance Virtual Offices:
“Lets us rent out office space for by the hour. And I plan on having a couple of meetings there. I paid only 50. So, $50 a month is nothing. They don’t charge extra tax. It’s just $50.”
One of the common complaints entrepreneurs have about Davinci often stems from the seeming lack of pricing transparency during onboarding.
Most of all, Alliance Virtual Offices stands out for having the most affordable virtual office services while offering similar or more than others. This is something you’d quickly notice when you compare the price of similar office locations offered by Alliance Virtual Offices, Regus, and Davinci.
Additionally, Alliance Virtual Offices offers various promotions throughout the year, driving costs further down.
Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Alliance Virtual Offices maintains a strong reputation as an industry leader with over 25,000 small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups in its client base.
Its reputation is backed by highly positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers across various review platforms, including Consumer Affairs. The same cannot be said for other providers.
Alliance Virtual Offices stands out as the best virtual office provider in Chicago, with Davinci, Regus, and Opus trailing behind.
Conclusion: Getting a Virtual Office in Chicago
From substantial cost savings and flexible remote business setup in Chicago to access to a thriving startup economy and notable venture capitalists, there are many reasons to have a virtual office in Chicago, the 3rd largest U.S. metro economy.
Alliance Virtual Offices provides reliable and affordable virtual offices in Chicago, with comprehensive services that ensure seamless business expansion in Chicago.
Setting up an Alliance Virtual Offices’ virtual office in Chicago is easy!
All you have to do is click here to choose your preferred location, and you’ll have your virtual office running and ready to take the Chicago market by storm in the next few hours!
