Chicago tech boom really on the way? (Northbrook, Libertyville: leases, lawyers)

[chet everett]

Funny how the city if 6th but the state is 4th... America's Top States for Business 2012 - Technology & Innovation Rankings - CNBC

[rparz]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

Seems Chicago is reinventing itself like it always does.
Chicaogo should boast about being able get up and wipe the dust off it's shoulders and rebound.
At any rate , Nice post and thank you for sharing.

This is what I expect the city to do. Always has been a scrappy little city, always in NYC's shadow.

[chet everett]

There is nothing "reinventive" (if that is even a word...) about leasing out office space cheaply. There is a MASSIVE glut of office space in Chicago. Vornado (who bought the Mart from the Kennedys) is thisclose to getting sucked under and no doubt the concessions they had to line up to get google out of their motorola problem is largely driven by their desire to get somebody / anybody to help fill that monstrous amount of space. The story on ALL those other real estate announcements is similar to the sorts of "oops we ordered too many cars, please come buy one from us this weekend" type ads that desperate auto dealerships run...

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad thing that businesses are FINALLY a little less paralyzed by fear to sing leases but the rate-driven / tax incentive fueled environment is not a sign of any kind of "boom", merely a small step out of the HUGE hole that that the massive collapse of 2008 has to eventually deal with.

We are long way from seeing any meaningful growth of real wages and the spectre of horrendous tax increases to deal with unresolved pension issue will continue to make the overall Illinois business climate in the BOTTOM HALF of the country: Illinois ranked 26th overall for business climate

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There is nothing "reinventive" (if that is even a word...) about leasing out office space cheaply. There is a MASSIVE glut of office space in Chicago. Vornado (who bought the Mart from the Kennedys) is thisclose to getting sucked under and no doubt the concessions they had to line up to get google out of their motorola problem is largely driven by their desire to get somebody / anybody to help fill that monstrous amount of space. The story on ALL those other real estate announcements is similar to the sorts of "oops we ordered too many cars, please come buy one from us this weekend" type ads that desperate auto dealerships run...

Wow, way to try and look for the absolute worst possible spin on 20+ recent announcements.

The announcements and the topic of that post are of headquarters moving jobs into downtown and or new job hires downtown. The office vacancy downtown has gone down for 7 quarters now - not counting the 600K Motorola lease.

Downtown Office Rents Spike 28% Since 2006

Downtown Office Vanancy Dips Again

Retail Vacancy Improves for 9th Quarter

Not trying to say everything is amazing and we don't have problems - but you're completely downplaying valid information just to stick to everything being bogus and negative.

To post from a story tonight on how everyone is ignoring the positive to focus only on gang violence in certain areas of the city:

Which city led the country in job growth in the past year and experienced the largest drop in unemployment at 14.8 percent? Chicago.

Which city saw the greatest rise in home prices, 4.5 percent, in the latest Case-Schiller survey of 20 major metro areas? Chicago.

Which city is building 1,400 new hotel rooms and seeing the second biggest jump in hotel construction nationwide? Chicago.

Where did hotel occupancy rise to 90 percent in June and tourist spending set records by rising to
$12 billion in the past year? Chicago.

Where is demand for retail, manufacturing and shipping space higher than at any time in the past four years? Chicago.

Which downtown is seeing its first office tower built on spec since 1998 and seeing building sales rise to the highest level in five years? Chicago.

Where have seven companies moved their corporate headquarters and 33 companies expanded, creating 20,000 more jobs, all in a little over a year? You probably know by now: Chicago.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Wow, way to try and look for the absolute worst possible spin on 20+ recent announcements.

The announcements and the topic of that post are of headquarters moving jobs into downtown and or new job hires downtown. The office vacancy downtown has gone down for 7 quarters now - not counting the 600K Motorola lease.

[chet everett]

Like I said, this is not bad news, and after the "neutron bomb" of 2008 there were literally tens if not hundreds of millions of sq ft of vacant office space so it is nice to see that being absorbed but believe me until wages rise and the "overhanging precipice of doom" that has been fostered by decades of neglect in the pensions of state and local government workers is addressed the downsides of business expansion in Illinois is not going to be overcome...

[rparz]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There is nothing "reinventive" (if that is even a word...) about leasing out office space cheaply. There is a MASSIVE glut of office space in Chicago. Vornado (who bought the Mart from the Kennedys) is thisclose to getting sucked under and no doubt the concessions they had to line up to get google out of their motorola problem is largely driven by their desire to get somebody / anybody to help fill that monstrous amount of space. The story on ALL those other real estate announcements is similar to the sorts of "oops we ordered too many cars, please come buy one from us this weekend" type ads that desperate auto dealerships run...

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad thing that businesses are FINALLY a little less paralyzed by fear to sing leases but the rate-driven / tax incentive fueled environment is not a sign of any kind of "boom", merely a small step out of the HUGE hole that that the massive collapse of 2008 has to eventually deal with.

We are long way from seeing any meaningful growth of real wages and the spectre of horrendous tax increases to deal with unresolved pension issue will continue to make the overall Illinois business climate in the BOTTOM HALF of the country: Illinois ranked 26th overall for business climate

If it were all about that, at the end of the day I could find you twice as much space for half the price in Detroit. Settle down, not all at once, the line forms to the left.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by rparz

If it were all about that, at the end of the day I could find you twice as much space for half the price in Detroit. Settle down, not all at once, the line forms to the left.

Moving offices from Libertyville to the north loop still allows peoples at least live in the same town(s) and substitute excellent Metra service for driving in their own vehicle. Detroit is a total uproot.

Are sure you wanna equate the Merchandise Mart with the "Renaissance Centre" Renaissance Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I wonder if Rahm will buy the Joe Louis scuplture for some fire sale price? 'Monument To Joe Louis': 25 Years Later, Detroit Fist Sculpture Still Incites Controversy

[rparz]

Well, what's the driver then? Cheap office space, or location? If it's price, there's plenty of empty suburban complexes, or Detroit.

If you want to stay in the area, there's plenty of suburban office space available. There's a huge allstate campus in South Barrington that has sat empty for years. I'm sure they'd cut any decent party a killer deal.

[deliz]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Funny how the city if 6th but the state is 4th... America's Top States for Business 2012 - Technology & Innovation Rankings - CNBC

Well Chet I guess we looked at different google sites. Still even if your link is accurate it's not bad odds for the guy to get a job