CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Part of it might be marketing, but last time I was in Chicago (2 weekends ago) and walking around West Loop I could not help but day dream about what it would be like to work in that neighborhood. I work at Hudson Yards, which is overrated and another huge marketing ploy but there is no doubt that the vast majority of my coworkers in their 20s and 30s would take West Loop anyday over that.

Yes, there is a ton of promotion going on but I would take working in various parts of West Loop anyday over both places in Manhattan my office has been. Now if we were talking about East Village, then maybe it wouldn't win over that..

What a $250 million 15 floor glorified selfie stick and monument to narcissism and questionable ADA compliance isn't doing it for you?

God I'm not sure which is a more pathetic attempt to ape the experience of the Bean: Vessel or that actual knock off of the Bean in China...

There may not me another comparable work environment to the West Loop anywhere else in the US. It's closer to something you'd find in Europe, let's say Shoreditch in London, than anything else in the US.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

What a $250 million 15 floor glorified selfie stick and monument to narcissism and questionable ADA compliance isn't doing it for you?

God I'm not sure which is a more pathetic attempt to ape the experience of the Bean: Vessel or that actual knock off of the Bean in China...

There may not me another comparable work environment to the West Loop anywhere else in the US. It's closer to something you'd find in Europe, let's say Shoreditch in London, than anything else in the US.

Vessel looks cool but LOL at it. I mean, at least make it so there's a nice view at the top. Basically most sides views are into the skyscrapers around it. And then the one view that isn't basically looks on the Hudson into Hoboken, NJ and Weehawken, NJ which aren't exactly pretty to look at skyline wise from there. Such a waste of money. The other hilarious part is that somehow the mall has become a tourist attraction. It looks like every mall I've ever been to in Asia - it's nice but okay you have Muji, H&M, a few restaurants, and some high end retailers like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chanel, etc. It's just so weird because there's throngs of tourists crawling in that place. I don't understand.

West Loop is so much better as a place to work nowadays I imagine as a 20s or 30s something it's not even funny. Whenever we want to do a fun event through a handful of my teams, we end up going to lower Manhattan and even people I work with in their 40s and 50s with kids think Hudson Yards is lame.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

There may not me another comparable work environment to the West Loop anywhere else in the US. It's closer to something you'd find in Europe, let's say Shoreditch in London, than anything else in the US.

SoMa?

[the urban politician]

Rivian gets a huge order from Amazon

Not Chicago news, but great manufacturing news for Normal, IL:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manu...ehicles-rivian

[intrepidDesign]

Sort of an odd question, and feel free to PM me with the answer, but does anyone know of, or can rattle off a list of developers for all the larger buildings around Chicago? I'm the creative director at a media production agency that's chalk full of architecture enthusiasts and we're all chomping at the bit to do some work for a big development. Here's something we did for the CAC this spring.

https://bit.ly/2ml7yCf

[bnk]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Rivian gets a huge order from Amazon

Not Chicago news, but great manufacturing news for Normal, IL:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manu...ehicles-rivian

Yeah that's a big order. I think Normal had a Mitzubti plant down there or some other similar plant. I wonder if its the same one.

Anyway a 100,000 order for electric vans is a large order, really large if you think about how the distributers of the Midwest will benefit not necessarily the line workers only.

100,000 emission-free delivery vans, all to be built at the company's assembly plant in Normal. The first of the vehicles is expected to hit American roadways in 2021

[emathias]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

What a $250 million 15 floor glorified selfie stick and monument to narcissism and questionable ADA compliance isn't doing it for you?

God I'm not sure which is a more pathetic attempt to ape the experience of the Bean: Vessel or that actual knock off of the Bean in China...

There may not me another comparable work environment to the West Loop anywhere else in the US. It's closer to something you'd find in Europe, let's say Shoreditch in London, than anything else in the US.

Actually, I think it has a lot on common with South Lake Union and the north end of Belltown in Seattle, at least in regard to a lot of tech companies and midrises and a relatively young workforce.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by bnk

Yeah that's a big order. I think Normal had a Mitzubti plant down there or some other similar plant. I wonder if its the same one.

Anyway a 100,000 order for electric vans is a large order, really large if you think about how the distributers of the Midwest will benefit not necessarily the line workers only.

True about the distributors.

I don’t know anything about automobile manufacturing, so I haven’t a clue about how many jobs this will create. But if it’s 100k vehicles I can imagine it will be a lot. Along with upstream suppliers, as you mentioned.

Not only that, but with big names like Ford and Amazon backing this venture, I can only imagine and hope that 100k vehicles is just the beginning.

This is great news because these are modern battery powered vehicles. This could potentially be the beginnings of an electric car manufacturing ecosystem in the State and Midwest if all goes well.

I’m also glad that Rivian is based in metro Detroit instead of Silicon Valley. We need to share in the spoils of the high tech economy much more around here than we have been. We’ve been slow to come around, but it’s due time.

[animositisomina]

Originally Posted by bnk

Yeah that's a big order. I think Normal had a Mitzubti plant down there or some other similar plant. I wonder if its the same one.

Anyway a 100,000 order for electric vans is a large order, really large if you think about how the distributers of the Midwest will benefit not necessarily the line workers only.

It is the same plant. Mitsubishi shutting down production there was a massive loss for Normal as they employed up to 1,200 people during peak production.

It remains to be seen whether or not Rivian will end up employing 1,000 workers by 2024 in order to qualify for EDGE credits but production is scheduled to start early next year.

I know there is some skepticism about this company but I'd imagine Amazon is doing their due diligence here.

These jobs pay about $24/hour which is good for Central Illinois where the COL is pretty low.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Rivian also has plans to produce this awesome looking electric pickup:



I would consider buying one in a few years if the reviews are good in terms of quality when they start coming out. Supposed to have a huge battery with 400+ mile range.

[the urban politician]

Chicago not looking too strong as an investment target, but I found this to be quite noteworthy (see bolded portion):

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...g-survey-finds

In short, the Chicago market is a mixed bag, says the survey by PwC and the Urban Land Institute. The report points out that investors have poured money into its industrial and apartment sectors. But it knocks the area for its “widely publicized challenges,” including crime and fiscal problems stemming from underfunded public pensions.

“It is a city with both great strengths and great weaknesses,” the report says. “One thing that Chicago has going for it is its job density. A recent Brookings Institution study showed that 90 percent of the increase in post-2005 job density occurred in just four metro areas: Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. Whether this will eclipse Chicago’s reputation for gun violence remains to be seen.”

Chicago also scores poorly as a market for homebuilders, ranking 78th out of the 80 metro areas for “homebuilding prospects.”

And Evanston getting some love:

But the report gives suburban Evanston a shout-out, citing it as an example of “hipsturbia”: suburbs that have a vibrancy and cool factor, along with an abundance of retail, restaurants and recreation.

It helps that Evanston is a college town, with Northwestern University providing “a constant supply of young adults.”

“Rooftop bars, Lake Michigan beaches, downtown shopping and access to and from the Chicago Loop via the Chicago Transit Authority’s Purple Line help round out the elements of coolness in one of the Midwest’s oldest suburbs,” the report says.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

And Evanston getting some love:

but i though Evanston was too ritzy, too North Shore-y, no different than Winnetka.

[marothisu]

^ I'm 0% surprised about any of that data. Maybe slightly about the density part, but then again a large percentage of jobs that have been added in the city of Chicago in the last decade were in just a few square mile area.

Also in case anybody cares, the 2018 ACS 1 year will be released on Thursday sometime. This is the city level data - we won't be able to see what's going on in the neighborhoods until December (5 year ACS).

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

but i though Evanston was too ritzy, too North Shore-y, no different than Winnetka.

Yeah it's not like those other North Shore towns.

Somehow, however, I still like Oak Park's vibe more. Hard to explain...

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

^ I'm 0% surprised about any of that data. Maybe slightly about the density part, but then again a large percentage of jobs that have been added in the city of Chicago in the last decade were in just a few square mile area.

Also in case anybody cares, the 2018 ACS 1 year will be released on Thursday sometime. This is the city level data - we won't be able to see what's going on in the neighborhoods until December (5 year ACS).

Cool! I look forward to your posts with updated demographics...

[IrishIllini]

Shall we start line? I’m thinking the city will come in at 2.75m. If we can get back up to 2.8 by 2020 that would be

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Shall we start line? I’m thinking the city will come in at 2.75m. If we can get back up to 2.8 by 2020 that would be

In the 2018 ACS? not a chance it's 2.75M. It'll be just over 2.7M. I'm more interested in what the other numbers say anyway

[the urban politician]

UST Global, a fast growing tech company, opening a Chicago office in the Loop:

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/...chicago-office

Starting with 100 IT and engineering jobs, with “hundreds” more to be added within the next few years

[IrishIllini]

City was at 2.722 in 2016. I think we were adding about 15k per year. We’ll find out soon.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

City was at 2.722 in 2016. I think we were adding about 15k per year. We’ll find out soon.

It has not been adding lately. It's been subtracting. My guess is between 2705000 and 2710000.