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Downtown offices kept emptying out during the third quarter as post-pandemic work trends continued to hamper demand. But owners of the newest and most-updated properties actually saw their corner of the market improve.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Meanwhile, Lori Lightfoot teaches at the University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in Ann Arbor.
Yikes, you’re right, the University of Michigan is giving her a platform. The real scam is revealed in an announcement in which Lori says a “large cadre of consultants” is necessary to promote community efforts. In other words, paying the club of consultants big money to swoop in and harvest dollars off the top to manage a flow of tax dollars without actually giving the community strength and independence. And note that U of M has also hired Bill DeBlasio for the same role. That’s a real brain trust they’ve assembled, experts on how to destroy modern American cities. I’m… Read more »
This is a very telling article because it reveals that what is happening in Chicago is happening in all other big city markets, but what it doesn’t say is how much harder it will be for Chicago to recover, if ever. Everyone across the country knows full well about Chicago’s dysfunctional leadership and crime. Business CEOs who sign these office leases have to manage risk for their companies, and not only is Chicago a huge future financial risk, it’s an even worse safety risk for the CEO’s employees. Understand that the actual crime numbers don’t matter, all that matters is… Read more »
Great comments and insight. Also, remember that BJ is trying to convert as many downtown office buildings into residential buildings as he can. That’s yet another reason why the bustling business environment downtown might not return in many years, if ever.
Thanks. The plans for residential housing won’t work because they want the developers to reserve 20-30 percent of the units for low income or subsidized housing. At that percentage, the buildings are not luxury apartment buildings, they’re public housing projects. The Dems know this and the developers don’t care once they get their government money. I used to work in the old 1934 Field Building at 135 S. LaSalle Street. I walked through it a few weeks ago and there was no one in the beautiful lobby except me and the security guard. There are exterior signs posted about its… Read more »
“Infeasible” and “cost-prohibitive” are not words in mismanagers’ vocabularies.
Perhaps public safety is a concern for employers and their workers, and this is contributing to the exodus from downtown?
I note for the record that there are TWO (2) “random” punchers on the loose in the Loop.
However, from Tim Evans perspective, the problem is that the public isn’t sufficiently “aware” of their surroundings.
https://cwbchicago.com/2025/10/chief-judge-warns-of-random-loop-attacks-as-accused-man-walks-free-under-cashless-bail-system-he-supports.html
Check out all the small lunch restaurants that have closed. Not enough business to survive. This tells you how many people are going to DEAD TOWN now. Destroyed by high costs driven by the public sector unending lust for money.
Some high volume places like Starbucks have also closed some outlets.
It’s not a surprise. Ask any business owner, recruiter or office manager and they will tell you, often off the record, that the only employees that work downtown are those that have to. Almost no one consciously wants to work down there. Public transit stinks. Parking rates are a joke. You don’t feel safe day or night. Lunch and cocktail prices are out of sight. And the empty storefronts create an atmosphere of depression and emptiness. It is going to take some brand new leadership and some bold tax and law enforcement changes to turn around the Loop.
Building on your last sentence, when these far leftists dig in their heels and implement some of their ill-conceived ideas, it would take huge sums of money for new leadership to reverse course. For example, how much money would it take to convert a downtown office building made residential back to an office building?
Google is set to reopen the former Thompson Center as their new office space in the Loop. Will they even be able to fill it halfway, given the ability of tech employees to work at home for any company in the world?