Chicago Office Market: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

A common question Chicago office brokers are hearing from clients these days is, “When is the best time to start negotiating with my landlord?” In fact, it is also a question brokers are asking themselves, contemplating when they should advise their clients to get into the market. The truth is: 1) it’s very hard to say, and 2) it depends on the situation. Let’s explore what we do know. This is a historically tenant-favorable office market. Vacancy rates have increased from 13.8 …

November 4, 2021Illinois, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Office

Condo Deconversions Will Continue in Chicagoland Area

If we consider that 2017 was the year that deconversion sales in Chicago began in earnest, we are now four years into the cycle. I’m frequently asked my opinion of how much longer this cycle will last, and what it will look like going forward. To me, that comes down mainly to supply and demand, with an eye on change in the relevant state and city statutes governing these sales. The supply of condominiums in Chicago is still plentiful, especially condominiums that were converted from …

October 28, 2021Illinois, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Multifamily

Chicago Industrial: Full Speed Ahead at End of Second Quarter

By Adam Haefner, Avison Young The Chicago industrial market continues to move at full speed at mid-year 2021, with strong tenant demand keeping vacancy around 6 percent, despite 64.7 million square feet of new construction added since 2018. At this stage in the pandemic recovery, large corporate healthcare, retail, logistics and e-commerce businesses continue to drive much of the leasing activity, which totaled 27.5 million square feet near the mid-point of 2021. Companies such as Wayfair, …

July 15, 2021Illinois, Industrial, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports

Chicago Market Experiences Surge in Retail Sales as COVID Restrictions Loosen

By Chris Irwin, Colliers International As we begin to lower our masks, breathe fresh air and see smiles on everyone’s faces, there are strong signs that better than pre-COVID retail activity in Chicago is here. With the expanded vaccine rollout, a decrease in unemployment plus the added boost of stimulus checks, the surge in retail sales in the city and surrounding areas has been measurable. The demand for retail space increased in fourth-quarter 2020 and first-quarter 2021 significantly, …

July 8, 2021Illinois, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Retail

Tenants, Landlords Analyze Future of Chicago’s Fulton Market District

By Allen Rogoway, Cresa Chicago Over the past seven years, the Fulton Market office submarket has changed the landscape, and boundaries, of Chicago’s central business district (CBD) and what a “live-work” ecosystem can look like. Whereas the River North office submarket evolved over 30 years to become a low-cost alternative to the Loop for creative, boot-strapped companies requiring mostly small footprints, Fulton Market was developed for tech-centric, multinationals willing to pay …

April 8, 2021Illinois, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Office

The Future of Chicago’s CBD Is Slowly Coming into Focus

By Jeff Mulder, Colliers International Chicago By now, we all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, affecting life as we knew it in the most unexpected ways. Our business, the business of office space, has been hit hard as companies almost instantly deferred or canceled real estate decisions and switched to work-from-home. The average occupancy of buildings in Chicago’s central business district (CBD) is currently 8.2 percent, according to the Building Owners …

April 1, 2021Illinois, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Office

Missouri, Illinois Ports Collaborate to Grow Business on Inland Waterways

By Mary Lamie, Bi-State Development The key to current and future success for four ports in Missouri and Illinois is collaboration. As ports continue to play a critical role in the global supply chain, the special working relationship between the directors of the ports in St. Louis and Kansas City is helping to keep operations flowing on the inland waterways, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant investments in each port are also fueling growth at each facility. “Like many …

October 15, 2020Illinois, Industrial, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Missouri

Pandemic Shines Light on Lack of Cold Storage Space

By Brian Niven As we begin to reopen most parts of our society following the COVID-19 pandemic that devastated our country and economy earlier this year, many in the commercial real estate industry are beginning to take stock of the massive shifts it may have put into motion. While the pandemic has decimated many sectors — shuttering retail shops, leaving offices empty and setting off an exodus of urban apartment dwellers — prospects for industrial properties have remained strong. Demand …

August 6, 2020Illinois, Industrial, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports

Now Is the Time to Invest in Chicago’s Office Market

There is a widely held belief that investing in the Chicago office real estate market in 2020 is potentially a bad bet. While some investors are concerned by headlines decrying the fiscal health of Illinois, the supposed overvaluing of Cook County tax assessments and softening of the Chicago market, our experience tells us those fears will create opportunities for contrarian investors willing to dig deeper. Because these misperceptions are scaring away some institutional investors, the time is …

March 12, 2020Illinois, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports, Office

Industrial Landlord Consolidation Means Chicago-Area Tenants Should Be Ready to Negotiate

In December 2019, Prologis, the largest industrial landlord in the world, announced its acquisition of Liberty Property Trust, another publicly traded REIT with a large industrial portfolio of its own. This deal, valued at $12.6 billion, seems to have become the norm in recent months. Companies such as Prologis and Blackstone Group, as well as regional ownership groups, have gobbled up industrial investment opportunities whenever they can. Just 10 years ago, the industrial real estate asset …

March 5, 2020Illinois, Industrial, Market Reports, Midwest, Midwest Market Reports