Future of Urban Commercial Real Estate
The city of Chicago has long been regarded as one of America’s great commercial centres, its skyline a monument to ambition and enterprise. Yet, in recent years, the office market has faced unprecedented challenges. The rise of remote work, fiscal strains upon Illinois, and shifting investor appetites have conspired to reshape demand for urban office space. To grasp the scale of the transformation, one must examine both the economic forces and the policy frameworks that govern this sector. The Structural Shock of Remote Work Few events in recent memory have so dramatically unsettled commercial real estate as the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2022, surveys suggested that nearly 30% of American office workers were operating on a hybrid schedule, with Chicago mirroring national trends. Vacancy rates across Chicago’s central business district (CBD) surged, reaching over 20% in 2023 — among the highest in the city’s recorded history. This was not merely a cyclical downturn but a structu...