What’s driving the Chicago market?

With a $847 billion economy and strong corporate migration, Chicago stands out as a top-performing market with compelling investment opportunities across asset classes. But before you invest, you need to truly understand what's driving the Windy City to guide your decisions.

We've gathered the need-to-know insights across apartments, office, industrial and retail that will give you a crash course in the trends shaping the Chicago metro.

• Chicago's apartment market outperforms national averages with a 95.2% occupancy rate, exceeding the rest of the country by over 80 basis points. The market's strength is further evidenced by rent growth surpassing national rates, driven primarily by constrained new supply.
• The city ranks 4th for planned office-to-residential conversions, allowing investors to reposition underutilized assets into income-producing multifamily amid rental demand
  
• As the electric vehicle manufacturing sector emerges, demand for modern industrial space near suppliers and spur speculative development to accommodate these unique space needs
  
• Chicago absorbed 1.9M square feet of retail space since the second half of 2023 – the fifth highest in the U.S. -- with rates 20% below average and a limited 0.2% retail vacancy rate pointing to room for rent growth