MARKETS & TRENDS
METRO REPORT
Chicago: The Rise of Silicon Prairie A THRIVING MARKET WITH ROOM TO GROW.
by Yardi Matrix
he overall demand for multifamily housing in Chicago is strong, but the market’s performance is bifurcated. A steady increase in high-paying jobs has boosted the number of households earning more than $100,000, while the number of households earning less than $100,000 has declined. As a result, Lifestyle units are performing better, with higher rent growth than Renter-by-Necessity units. The metro’s hiring pace intensified in the 12 months ending in July, marking 1.4 percent year-over-year growth with the addition of 66,700 jobs. Leisure and hospitality led gains with 22,200 jobs, following re- cord-breaking tourism activity in 2018, when nearly 58 million people visited Chicago, an increase of 2.4 million tourists over the previous year and the eighth straight year of improvement. T
Education and health services gained 18,400 jobs, boosted by increased venture funding, especially in education, and growth in the city’s healthcare clus- ters: The 12-story Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center, which opened on the downtown campus of Northwestern University this year, is set to host 1,500 researchers, while Sterling Bay purchased the former Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute with plans to create a hub called Prysm Life Sciences. Meanwhile, professional and business services added 11,500 positions, strongly boosted by tech powerhouses such as Google, Facebook, and Salesforce. Uber is also bringing its Freight headquarters to the old post office building, where it signed a 10-year lease for its engi- neering operations and is placing 2,000 jobs in 2020.
74 | think realty magazine :: february 2020
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter