Chicago Industry Trends

As Chicago changes in the industry, Chicago is welcoming an expanding variety of new business and real development projects. Office leasing is booming even as construction costs are rising according to the BOMA/Chicago Study tenants place greater value on amenities and spacemaking, causing them to move away from extravagant new constructions to more collaborative areas. This trend can also be seen through retrofitting of existing buildings, illinois Ecosystem News (pressez.substack.com) allowing for more flexibility in the use of firms when they reduce their size or move to smaller spaces.

IT (Information Technology) has quickly become one of the fastest-growing industries in Chicago due to the rise of shared workspace companies such as WeWork and Regus, but also because IT firms take advantage of Chicago's infrastructure that is strong and its proximity to talent pools in other industries. In addition, the 1871 incubator has been ranked as one of the premier incubators worldwide.

Chicago is among the three most productive cities of the US with a high concentration of food and plastics, as well as metals. Manufacturing companies benefit from Chicago's central location which makes their products easy to transport across the country or around the world. In addition, innovation in this industry is rapidly increasing thus Chicago offers numerous incubators like mHub.

Transportation and logistics are key economic drivers for the Chicago region, especially when businesses shift away from traditional retail to online sales. Chicago is home to a broad shipping fleet including container ports, air cargo hubs, airports, waterways inland and rail yards. It also has robust intermodal facilities providing access to the whole US supply chain.

Chicago remains well positioned for a long-term economic success thanks to the recent expansion to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange - a global center for trading and processing of commodities - going into effect. Union Station serves thousands of Amtrak passengers daily while its port plays a vital role in the flow of regional trade by handling both containers and bulk merchandise.

Tourism in Chicago region is also seeing expansion, and is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this summer as a result of several major events such as NASCAR races, Lollapalooza Festival, Democratic National Convention and International Manufacturing Technology Show. O'Hare airport will see an increase in travel as more airlines resume service and the government relaxes travel restrictions; however consumer trust could be affected as the it is extremely unpredictable in the housing market Real estate agents can assist buyers in understanding these complexities and ensure informed decisions are being made by buyers.