Chicago Industry Trends

As Chicago industry trends change, Chicago is welcoming an increasing diversity of new business and real estate development projects. Office leasing is booming despite rising construction costs as per the BOMA/Chicago Study and tenants place greater value on amenities and placemaking, leading them away from imposing new construction and towards more collaborative space; this trend can be observed through retrofitting of existing buildings to allow for companies to use them in a variety of ways when they reduce their size or move into smaller spaces.

IT (Information Technology) has quickly become one of the fastest growing industries in Chicago due to the growth of shared workspace companies such as WeWork and Regus as well as the fact that IT firms take advantage of Chicago's infrastructure that is strong and press release ups, start.me, its proximity to other talent pools in different industries. In addition, the 1871 incubator is rated as the top incubators globally.

Chicago is among the top three manufacturing city in the US and has a strong presence in food and plastics, as well as metals. Manufacturing firms benefit due to the city's central location, which makes their products easy to transport across the nation or globe. Additionally, the innovation in this industry is rapidly increasing so Chicago provides numerous incubators, such as the mHub.

Transportation and logistics remain key economic drivers for the Chicago area, especially when businesses shift away from traditional retailing and towards online sales. Chicago has a wide shipping fleet, including container ports, air cargo hubs, airports, waterways inland and rail yards. There are also extensive intermodal facilities that connect to the entire US supply chain.

Chicago remains well positioned to remain a leading economic engine thanks to the recent expansion of Chicago Mercantile Exchange - a global center for trading and processing commodities – taking effect. Union Station serves thousands of Amtrak passengers daily while its port provides another important part of regional commerce through handling bulk and container merchandise.

Tourism in Chicago region is also experiencing expansion, and is expected to get back to pre-pandemic numbers this summer as a result of several important events, including NASCAR race, Lollapalooza festival, Democratic National Convention and the International Manufacturing Technology Show. O'Hare airport is expected to see increased travel as more airlines resume service and the government decreases travel restrictions. However, consumers' confidence could suffer as markets for housing are highly volatile Real estate agents can assist buyers in understanding these complexities and ensure that informed choices are being made by buyers.