This year I will remember as the year of our extended “Spring & Summer Tour” to visit with our most valuable clients, and to nurture future client prospects. So far, it has stretched from New York, Boston, Hartford and Washington DC to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and with colleagues joining me in Chicago. In addition, I personally re-visited Abu Dhabi and Dubai and made a first visit to Oman and Kuwait. The atmosphere at all the meetings was filled with a common thread of “braving the current storm”. The combined investment of these clients represented hundreds of billions…

  Memorial Day Monday gave me a perfect first opportunity to visit the recently opened Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago. How lucky are Chicagoans to live in a city with a rich civic awareness supported by its citizens who share that vision and benevolently contributed to the contribution of this new wing. As incredible as is Renzo Piano’s design, the ability he has afforded all visitors to this masterpiece of contemporary museums so is the view from the galleries that face north in capturing a vision of architecture that spans from Michigan Avenue to the Lakefront. It…

 Is the bottom of the market approaching? Is it already there, and we have been submerged for too long to avoid the effects of the storm, and for too long we have been drifting just off the bottom without realizing we could navigate to improved waters? As the residential market preceded the commercial market decline, it now seems evident that the residential market, in all but the most depressed locations, is evidencing an uptick in the sales of existing homes. What does this mean? It is in my viewpoint the first and necessary step of infusing some money into the…

  Wikipedia explains “the doldrums” as a reference to being in a state of listlessness, despondency, inactivity, stagnation, or a slump. Sound familiar? It surely is representative of our economy and the last six months in Chicago Metro real estate. I would hazard to guess that most of our existing, or potential new clients, have felt just like the sailors of old, stranded in a calm, waiting for the winds of change to rise once again, so they can begin to see the skies clear, and offer a glimpse of hope to guide them back on course. There are signs…

  Tamara Kos, a colleague in our office who specializes in leasing representation for owner clients in downtown Chicago, shared with me some interesting recent observations as follows. As we all know and as we are all aware, the recent events in the capital and financial markets have drastically impacted businesses and their decision making process. What has been unusual about the recession of 2008/2009 has been its significant impact on virtually every industry, and we are seeing very high levels of workforce job losses so early on in this business down-cycle.   As a result, many businesses have been…

  The last major and protracted crisis that specifically affected our industry was during the period from 1991 to 1995. How many of you were around to remember a phrase that permeated the industry – “Stay alive to 95”? Well, there has been one long-term effect emanating from that period of time. Have you ever noticed that there are fewer professionals in our industry today between the ages of thirty-five and thirty nine years of age? This will have a serious impact on succession planning for our industry for the near term future. It is all too easy to look…

As the Dow Index dipped below 7000, so did the majority of consumers’ confidence and expectation for an early bounce back and return to economic recovery, especially in our own real estate industry. However, yesterday was also one of the most special days in my personal career, and also for all my colleagues, as we were recognized as the number one firm to work for in Chicago. It is each individual that makes the difference. As the reporter, and his camera man who visited with us noted: “With all the dismal news we report upon these days, it is gratifying…

  Don’t you wonder what will be the lasting accomplishments of the federal stimulus package? As well as the intended and immediate impact on individuals? I believe it could greatly enhance the economy of states that agree to strategically allocate their respective share. Today, we discuss stimulus packages not in hundreds of millions but in hundreds of billions and even a trillion or more dollars. I advocate using a fraction of those billions to statewide and nationally endorse Chicago’s pursuit to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. Let’s use a tiny fraction of those available billions to…

  It is February 17th, and we are more than half way through the “Winter of our Real Estate Indecision”.  Two or three warmer days teased us earlier this month, only to hear that frigid conditions will be returning to Chicago this week.  However, we have learned that spring does return, and that is what motivates all of us to anticipate baseball, outdoor dining, golf and hot August nights.      Wow, does it not read like a page from the Wall Street Journal, or a current economic overview?  It appears that every piece of good economic news is “blasted”…

Welcome to the first edition of my blog that will be addressing real estate issues and shared perspectives on Chicago.  I do intend, in future editions, to include discussions, not only with my colleagues, but also with respected Chicago real estate icons, on their perspective of this current economic cycle, and its effect upon our commercial real estate marketplace.   I was reminded yesterday, during a visit to 35 East Wacker Drive, what a world class, and architecturally diverse city Chicago truly is, and how pleased I am that it became my choice for a new home and extension of…