Chicago Industry Trends

As Chicago industry trends change, Chicago is welcoming an growing variety of business and real estate development projects. Office leasing is booming regardless of the rising cost of construction, according to the BOMA/Chicago Study Tenants place more value on amenities and placemaking, leading them away from lavish new constructions to more collaborative areas. This trend can also be seen with retrofitting of existing buildings, allowing for more flexibility for businesses when they reduce their size or move to smaller areas.

IT (Information Technology) has quickly become one of the fastest growing industries in Chicago because of the proliferation 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 talent pools in other sectors; furthermore, 1871 incubator has been ranked as one of the premier incubators in the world.

Chicago is one of the three top manufacturing cities across the US that has high concentrations of food and plastics, as well as metals. Manufacturing companies benefit from Chicago's central location which allows them to easily move their goods across the globe or across the nation. Furthermore, innovation within this sector is rapidly progressing which is why Chicago provides numerous incubators, such as mHub.

Transportation and logistics remain key economic drivers in Chicago area, especially in the process of transitioning businesses away from traditional retail and move to online sales. Chicago has a varied shipping fleet that includes container ports, air cargo hubs, k press (pressez.substack.com) airports, inland waterways and rail yards. It also has robust intermodal facilities providing access to the whole US logistics chain.

Chicago is well-positioned to remain an economic powerhouse due to the recent expansion to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange - a global center for trading 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, handling bulk and container items.

Tourism in Chicago region is also seeing expansion, and is expected to be back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this summer as a result of several major events such as NASCAR events, Lollapalooza festival, Democratic National Convention and International Manufacturing Technology Show. O'Hare airport could see a boost in travel as more airlines resume service and the government decreases travel restrictions. Nevertheless, consumer confidence could suffer due to the fact that the markets for housing are highly volatile Realtors can aid buyers to navigate these complexities and ensure that informed choices are made by buyers.