Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
^ I've read all of those, and that is by far the most optimistic take on the situation.
I'm sorry, but I am thoroughly unconvinced. There is simply zero precedent to build 3000 units in 1 neighborhood in 3 years by 1 developer at this point in time.
I hope to be proven wrong by how things play out this summer. Trust me (as a Chicago landlord).
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I dont disagree that you should be skeptical. 3000 units is pretty crazy. However, there's a lot going towards continuing urban development.
1) downtown rental vacancies are coming back to pre pandemic levels, apparently.
2) Companies are pushing for full office work like before, or hybrid. Even with a hybrid model, I think that a lot of workers will opt for the city.
Your average 20 something or even newer 30 somethings aren't going to magically want to abandon a city environment. A lot of people made knee jerseys reactions because for some reason they thought thought companies would go 100% remote even. A lot of them even so wouldn't move anyway. Look for more companies to open up in places like Chicago which offer much better housing prices than the coasts.
3) Articles about people who moved to the suburbs (not just Chicago but also nyc, sf, etc) wanting to move back. I've even seen articles about people from NYC moving to Florida and TX wanting to ditch it and move back to NYC again.
4) Tech roles and companies in Chicago continuing to hire. VC funding in Chicago already well over $1B for the year. Last year was the highest year in VC funding in Chicago in 15+ years. Roles like management consulting I think are still increasing in the city. There's also companies like Google still planning to hire hundreds (or more) new people in West Loop alone.. These are are types of jobs that bring these types of luxury or luxuryish new developments whether small 3 unit buildings like Lakeview or 300 unit buildings in West Loop, RN, etc.
5) with #4 above, the West Loop is increasingly becoming a go to neighborhood for tech companies. Especially those who do not want to associate themselves with old school stiff corporate culture.
I think its easy to be skeptical and i don't blame it. It's important to not be overly optimistic either but some of the new developments going on now do make sense.