Chicago Industry Trends

As Chicago industries evolve, Chicago is welcoming an expanding variety of new business and real development projects. Office leasing activity is increasing even as construction costs are rising according to the BOMA/Chicago Study; tenants place greater importance on amenities and the location-making, thereby transferring them away from imposing new construction and towards more collaborative spaces; this trend can also be seen with retrofitting of existing buildings to facilitate flexibility for businesses who are relocating or downsizing to smaller areas.

IT (Information Technology) has quickly become one of the fastest-growing sectors in Chicago due to the rise of shared workspace operators like WeWork and Regus in addition to the fact that IT companies benefit from Chicago's strong infrastructure and its proximity to other talent pools within different sectors. Furthermore, the 1871 incubator has been ranked as one of the premier incubators worldwide.

Chicago is among the three most productive cities in the US with a high concentration of food and plastics, as well as metals. Manufacturing firms benefit from the centrality of Chicago, which allows them to easily move their goods across the nation or globe. In addition, innovation in this sector is rapidly progressing thus Chicago has many incubators like the mHub.

Logistics and transportation are the main economic drivers in the Chicago region, especially when companies shift away from traditional retail and move to online sales. Chicago is home to a broad shipping fleet including container ports airports, air cargo hubs airports, inland waterways, and rail yards. It also has well-developed intermodal facilities which provide access to the whole US the supply chain.

Chicago remains well positioned to continue to be a major economic force with the recent expansion that has seen the Chicago Mercantile Exchange - a world-class trading center and processing commodities - coming into effect. Union Station serves thousands of Amtrak travelers every day. The port plays a vital role in the flow of regional commerce by handling bulk and container items.

Tourism in Chicago area is also seeing an increase, and it is expected to be back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this summer because of a number of major events like NASCAR races, Lollapalooza festival, Democratic National Convention and the International Manufacturing Technology Show. O'Hare airport should see improved flow of passengers as more airlines resume service and the government reduces travel restrictions. However, consumer confidence may suffer because the prices for homes are extremely volatile and real estate professionals are able to assist buyers in understanding these complexities and ensure informed decisions are being made by buyers.