Chicago Industry Trends

As Chicago industries evolve, Chicago is welcoming an increasing diversity of new business and real estate development projects. Office leasing is booming even as construction costs are rising as per the BOMA/Chicago Study and tenants place greater value on amenities and spacemaking, causing them to move away from extravagant new construction to more collaborative spaces. This trend can be observed with retrofitting of existing buildings to allow for flexibility for businesses as they downsize or relocate into smaller spaces.

IT (Information Technology) has quickly become one of the fastest-growing sectors in Chicago due to the growth of shared workspace companies like WeWork and Regus as well as the fact that IT companies benefit from Chicago's extensive infrastructure and proximity to other talent pools in different sectors; furthermore, 1871 incubator has been recognized as one of the premier incubators worldwide.

Chicago is one of the top three manufacturing city in the US with a high concentration of food production, plastics and metals. Manufacturing firms benefit due to the city's central location, which makes their products easy to transport across the country or around the world. Furthermore, innovation within this sector is rapidly progressing which is why Chicago provides numerous incubators, such as mHub.

Logistics and transportation remain major economic drivers in Chicago area, particularly when companies shift away from traditional retailing and towards online sales. Chicago has a wide shipping fleet, including container ports airports, air cargo hubs airports, inland waterways and rail yards. It also has strong intermodal facilities that provide access to the entire US supply chain.

Chicago remains well placed for a long-term economic success with the recent expansion to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange - a global hub for trading and processing commodities - coming into effect. Union Station serves thousands of Amtrak passengers daily while its port provides another important part of regional commerce, handling both containers and bulk merchandise.

Tourism in Chicago region is also seeing an increase, and it is expected to get back to pre-pandemic numbers this summer due to several major press release vs pitch (https://pressez.substack.com) events including NASCAR race, Lollapalooza celebration, Democratic National Convention and International Manufacturing Technology Show. O'Hare airport should see improved travel as more airlines resume service, and the government eases travel restrictions. However, consumers' confidence could suffer due to the fact that the markets for housing are highly volatile Real estate agents can help buyers navigate these nuances and ensure that informed choices are being made by buyers.