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 regardless of the rising cost of construction, as per the BOMA/Chicago Study and tenants place greater importance on amenities and location-making, thereby transferring them away from lavish new construction and towards more collaborative areas. This trend can be observed with retrofitting of existing buildings to facilitate flexibility in the use of firms that are looking to reduce or move into smaller space.

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

Chicago is among the three most productive cities of the US with a high concentration of food manufacturing, plastics and metals. Manufacturing firms benefit from the centrality of Chicago, which makes their products easy to transport across the nation or globe. Furthermore, technology in this sector is rapidly progressing thus Chicago offers numerous incubators like the mHub.

Transportation and logistics are key economic drivers in Chicago area, particularly when companies shift away from traditional retailing and towards online sales. Chicago boasts a diverse shipping fleet, including container ports airports, air cargo hubs airports, inland waterways, and rail yards as well as robust intermodal facilities providing access to the whole US supply chain.

Chicago is well-positioned to remain an economic powerhouse due to the recent expansions of Chicago Mercantile Exchange - a international 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 by handling both containers and bulk products.

Tourism in Chicago region is also experiencing growth, and should increase to pre-pandemic levels later this summer due to several important events, including NASCAR events, yrp press release (Pressez.blog.fc2.com) 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, consumers' confidence could suffer as it is extremely unpredictable in the housing market and real estate professionals are able to assist buyers in understanding these complexities and make sure informed decisions are being taken by buyers.