CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Chicago seems to be doing sorta par for the course here. Not great, but not bad

From a growth standpoint, at 26.5%, better than New York and Washington, not far behind LA and Boston, but nowhere near as fast as the rest on the list, which all grew their $100k+ households at greater than 30%. Particularly Dallas, which grew at 35.2%! From the list, Chicago has the sixth highest percentage of six figure households, unless I've miscounted.

[the urban politician]

It's looking more and more like Dallas is Texas' star city rather than Houston

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Chicago seems to be doing sorta par for the course here. Not great, but not bad

Disagree. Chicago area's household changes and population changes are far less than most metros yet it's still out performing them in terms of this metric.

For example, Dallas MSA gained just under 300,000 households total from 2010 to 2017 and Chicago MSA gained just under 73,000 households YET Chicago outgained Dallas MSA in 6+ figure households by just over 8,000 (full disclosure: Dallas fared very well with this too). Or better yet, look at the Houston MSA which gained just over 300,000 households in the same period yet Chicago MSA outgained the Houston MSA in 6+ figure household gain by 62,000.

You could argue that with the 3rd largest economy, maybe there's more room for growth but then again - metros like Dallas, Houston, DC, etc are well outperforming the GDP growth of the Chicago area for the last decade on paper, yet Chicago is still out performing them in metrics like this.

I think it's very telling and not really par for the course when you consider that Chicago area's population growth and GDP growth is lagging behind most areas yet outperforming them in the increase of households making 6+ figure incomes.

[the urban politician]

^ Ok, I’ll take that....

[SIGSEGV]

Treasure Island closing all stores by Oct 12. I've only been to the HP location and it wasnt great. I bet WF is eating their lunch.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Treasure Island closing all stores by Oct 12. I've only been to the HP location and if wasnt great. I bet WF is eating their lunch.

Well, hopefully that Treasure Island on Broadway in Lakeview gets redeveloped. Such a suburban site plan...

[HowardL]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, hopefully that Treasure Island on Broadway in Lakeview gets redeveloped. Such a suburban site plan...

Yep. I'm in there almost every day after work. I would LOVE to see some nice dense replacement. I'm also across the street at Rock's many days of the week. I would love something more interesting to look at. A more animated streetscape would rock.

[marothisu]

More random data from the 2017 1 year ACS...

Median Household Income where main householder is Asian alone, by MSA
1. San Jose: $141,922
2. Bridgeport, CT: $121,727
3. San Francisco: $113,731
4. Washington DC: $113,608
5. Raleigh: $99,882
6. San Diego: $95,631
7. Seattle: $94,408
8. Dallas: $91,180
9. Detroit: $91,082
10. Charlotte: $90,781
11. Boston: $90,742
12. Baltimore: $90,709
13. Austin: $90,093
14. Chicago: $87,226
15. NYC: $87,203
16. Houston: $85,886
17. Portland: $85,115
18. Honolulu: $82,852
19. Philadelphia: $82,388
20. Atlanta: $81,871
21. Phoenix: $80,888
22. Cincinnati: $80,845
23. Denver: $80,157
24. Nashville: $79,364
25. Pittsburgh: $78,799
26. Los Angeles: $78,371
27. Minneapolis: $76,945
28. Riverside, CA: $76,871
39. Albuquerque: $76,459
30. St. Louis: $76,407
31. Birmingham, AL: $76,219
32. Columbus, OH: $74,700
33. Memphis: $74,648
34. Jacksonville: $74,328
35. Sacramento: $74,254
36. New Orleans: $73,922
37. Salt Lake City: $71,301
38. Miami: $71,265
39. Tampa: $70,850
40. San Antonio: $70,847
41. Kansas City: $70,794
42 Rochester, NY: $70,611
43. Louisville: $70,326
44. Orlando: $69,948
45. Indianapolis: $69,837
46. Milwaukee: $67,171
47. Oklahoma City: $66,779
48. Cleveland: $65,851
49. Las Vegas: $64,279
50. Tucson: $60,214
51. Grand Rapids, MI: $58,061
52. Omaha: $57,135
53. Fresno: $57,097
54. Lexington, KY: $52,912
55. Greensboro, NC: $46,861
56. Buffalo: $45,967

[emathias]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Treasure Island closing all stores by Oct 12. I've only been to the HP location and it wasnt great. I bet WF is eating their lunch.

I think it's probably Mariano's more than Whole Foods. But, in general, the grocer segment is much more competitive than it was in the 1960s when Treasure Island probably had a corner on places you could get "fancy" foods in a European format from more than just a single ethnic group. Speaking of European format, it wasn't that long ago where you had to weigh your produce in the produce department before heading to the checkout lines. When I wasn't in a hurry is was a quaint oddity but when I was in a hurry it was simply obnoxious if I forgot until I was already at the checkout line.

[the urban politician]

^ It’s kind of sad, really, for family owned grocers to be going out of business for these chains. Joe Caputo and Sons also closed a few years back.

But once again, I’m curious what will happen to the real estate, particularly the ones in Lakeview (as mentioned earlier) and the Gold Coast.

I really hope that another retailer doesn’t simply move in on Broadway. I mean, that shopping center wastes so much space for parking in a dense urban area

[tjp]

They were also supposed to anchor the retail in that newly built high rise at Montrose and Clarendon. Would be fantastic if Trader Joe’s took their place...

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Donnie77

Something tells me Boeing is going to need a new office tower in Chicago!

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...t-trainer-deal

Sure this is just pure speculation but this would be the perfect thing to get the Tribune tower moving!

i heard on local public radio in st. louis that this means at least 1,000 new jobs at the st. louis facilities, may have been more. not sure what kind of aerospace footprint (mfg) chicagoland has but there's going to be more jobs than that around st. louis, and i'd presume chicagoland from parts vendors (and any other centralized cities that have an aerospace footprint like tulsa that feed the st. louis assembly operations).

[marothisu]

Project44 raises $45 million from new, existing investors

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...ting-investors

Logistics software company Project44 continues to load up on cash, raising another $45 million.

The Chicago-based tech company raised $35 million less than six months ago. It’s part of a wave of investment rushing into logistics-technology companies in the past couple of years, as Amazon has raised the stakes for retailers and even business-to-business suppliers with expectations of ever-faster delivery times.

...

Project44 is on track to add about 100 jobs this year and likely will have nearly 200 employees by the end of 2018. The company has 60 openings, about half of which are tech jobs.

“We’ve almost tripled the size of the company since February,” said CEO Jett McCandless, though he declined to disclose its revenue.

...
Project44 has about 200 customers, including ULine, Steelcase, Echo Global Logistics, R.R. Donnelly and Owens Corning.

..

“We had enough cash for two years, but we want to be sure we can be opportunistic, look for expansion opportunities,” McCandless said.

--


'Internet of things' startup raises $3.1 million

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...ses-31-million

Rohit Pasam has been working on a way to make the internet of things safer, and he’s got another $3.1 million to do it.

His startup, Xaptum, has built a secure cloud that would keep devices, such as sensors and smartphones, from being hacked or being used to break into the closed networks to which they’re connected via the internet.

...

The company expects to add 10 jobs by the end of the year, bringing headcount to more than 20, said Pasam

[rgolch]

Chicago’s startups continue to lead the nation in returns :

https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/03/c...on-investment/

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by rgolch

Chicago’s startups continue to lead the nation in returns :

https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/03/c...on-investment/

Pretty impressive

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by rgolch

Chicago’s startups continue to lead the nation in returns :

https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/03/c...on-investment/

That's pretty great. I think there is a definite difference in things like work ethic in Chicago versus some other places that makes things like this possible.


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We used these guys for awhile - not anymore, hopefully soon but miss them especially since the lunch options within 5 minute walk of my office suck for the most part.


Pop-up lunch service Fooda plans to triple its office space and hire 175 next year

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...001-story.html

ffice lunch service Fooda plans to hire 175 people next year and is preparing to move into a Chicago office nearly three times larger than its current space to accommodate the growth.

The Chicago-based company, launched in 2011, brings a rotating lineup of pop-up restaurants into office buildings. Fooda works with about 1,500 restaurants to serve roughly 1,200 locations in 17 cities — including Willis Tower, AMA Plaza and The Shops at North Bridge in Chicago. The service adds a new city about once every two months, founder and CEO Orazio Buzza said.

...

Fooda has 320 employees, including about 160 in Chicago. About 40 percent of the new hires will be in Chicago, Buzza said.

Much of the growth in Fooda’s Chicago office will be on the technology side, Buzza said. Fooda rolled out its own point-of-sale system last year, which has allowed the company to gather data on customers so it can minimize food waste and help prevent the pop-up restaurants from selling out of items.

...

The company is set to move into its new 20,000-square-foot office in the Loop in November. A relocation from Fooda’s current 7,000-square-foot River North office was overdue, Buzza said.

“We outgrew our office probably five to six months ago,” he said. “We had already started subletting next door.”

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Marijuana firm Cresco Labs gets $100 million cash infusion

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/heal...-cash-infusion

Its founders may prefer the term “cannabis,” but it’s safe to say that Cresco Labs, one of three major Illinois marijuana companies, is growing like a weed.

The River North-based startup has just closed a $100 million round of Series D funding, bringing total investment to $185 million. The round is believed to be the second-largest private funding raise in U.S. marijuana history, behind a $119 million round announced in July by Acreage Holdings, a New York company.

Three-year-old Cresco has also announced its intent to execute a reverse takeover of a public Canadian company, a move that would allow it to go public without the time and expense associated with launching an initial public offering. Taken in conjunction with similar recent moves by Chicago’s Green Thumb Industries, Cresco’s growth and decision to go public indicates that after moving slowly for years, Chicago’s marijuana business is rapidly picking up speed.

The company now employs 300 people, up from 100 at the beginning of 2018, and is straining its River North headquarters, its leaders say. In addition to executives from Abbott, AbbVie and McDermott Will & Emery, Cresco employs Matt Rowbotham, a former sous chef at Next—Grant Achatz’s themed tasting-menu restaurant—and named Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph, a prominent orthopedic surgeon affiliated with Rush University Medical Center, to its medical advisory board.

[the urban politician]

Readers of Condé Nast Traveler vote Chicago best big city in the US for a second year in a row.

Well, duh..........

[bnk]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Readers of Condé Nast Traveler vote Chicago best big city in the US for a second year in a row.

Well, duh..........

Good timing, I'm sure Rahm sent it Bezos already. There is nothing in the national media on this so we got to toot our own horn once in a while.

I recently took the water taxi to Chinatown. Ping Tom park is nice.

For HQ2 there is no better place in the city for what they want IMO than the 78 in the photo below. So much potential and so close to downtown.






https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/10/9...ar-conde-naste

Chicago voted best big city for a second time by Condé Nast Traveler readers



By Sara Freund Oct 9, 2018, 11:56am CDT


...

Second City? Not by our count. Chicago is world-class in so many categories—magnificent architecture, stunning museums, brilliant chefs, a massive brewing scene, and so much to do that you’ll never see it all. Scratch the surface in the Loop and on the Gold Coast, then go deeper into the city’s 77 neighborhoods, where you’ll find cutting-edge restaurants (like Parachute), chilled out corner bars (Sportsman’s Club), and some of the most pleasant people you’ll find anywhere. It’s no wonder Chicago tops this list again.

...

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/best-cities-us






Something extra, I think Amazon is aware of Chicago...




https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/10/8...stores-chicago



Chicago will get three Amazon Go stores

A second location opened today, a third is on the way

Amazon first opened its cashierless stores earlier this year in Seattle. Chicago was the first city outside the company’s home base to get one of the high-tech stores. Soon after Amazon Go opened in Seattle, it looked like Chicago would be the next city to get one.

...

chad_winters


So we’re the first city outside Seattle Amazon chose to aggressively pilot their new stores in … coupled with being one of only two cities that got a second look from the HQ2 team? Perhaps our lack-luster chances have been under-hyped by the haters?

Posted on Oct 8, 2018 | 4:57 PM

Just fulfillment jobs but still


https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...496274351.html

Amazon Hiring More Than 6,000 Employees in the Chicago Area

By Kye Martin
Published at 11:43 AM CDT on Oct 9, 2018 | Updated at 12:54 PM CDT on Oct 9, 2018

The company operates 10 fulfillment and delivery centers in the Chicago area. It also has four campus pick-up locations, an Amazon Books store and several other facilities. It employs more than 12,000, full-time workers at those locations, said Amazon spokeswoman Amanda Ip.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...009-story.html
...

[marothisu]

Speaking of Amazon. They apparently took a second visit to Miami for HQ2. Chicago and Miami are the only 2 known places they've taken more than 1 visit to for HQ2.

[the urban politician]

^ Miami?!

MIAMI?!

MIAMI?!

We got this in the BAG!!!!!