CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by marothisu

That tool is really interesting - definitely needs an update from a UI perspective but I think I figured it out. However, when I look at category it just said most of these are removal cases...so of course they're in these places but they're also having cases to be deported so I'm not sure I 100% follow.

I had to consult their glossary to understanding what they're defining as a case in immigration court, and I think I've figured it out. The cases listed under removal are instances of people crossing and surrendering themselves at the border, which is how many migrants seeking asylum arrive in the past few years. Let's call that group (1). Group (2) refers to several scenarios. There are asylum cases, which are differ from removal cases, where one submits a petition arguing they can't return to their home country and is requesting to live in the US. Refugee cases are the same thing, except someone petitions from a country outside the US. Then there are cases where someone is requesting a green card.

So this data set covers what I've listed as groups (1) & (2), with (1) being much higher than (2) in recent years. Of course, there are other means of people immigrating to the US such as government sponsor programs, visas, undocumented crossings, etc. Those are much harder to find data for, but I wouldn't be surprised if they also point towards Chicago rising as an immigration hub in recent years

Glossary: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/glossary/

[marothisu]

2023 ACS is out -- here's the 10 best cities for lowest percentage of house poor renters (30%+ income on rent) of all US cities with 250K+ population (101 cities). Chicago is top 10 - which is actually ridiculous.

1. SF: 41%
2. Seattle: 42.9%
3. DC: 44.7%
4. Lincoln, NE: 44.9%
5. Minneapolis: 45%
6. Chandler, AZ: 45.1%
7T. Anchorage: 45.6%
7T. Jersey City: 45.6%
9. Wichita: 45.9%
10. Chicago: 46.1%

..

Bottom 15 worst:
101. Port St. Lucie, FL: 68.3%
100. Fresno: 63%
99. North Las Vegas: 62.4%
98. Glendale, AZ: 62.2%
97. Orlando: 61.8%
96. St. Petersburg, FL: 61.2%
95. Miami: 61%
94. Anaheim: 60.3%
93. Tampa: 59.8%
92. Arlington, TX: 59.7%
91. Chula Vista, CA: 59.6%
90. Detroit: 59.5%
89. Chesapeake, VA: 59.3%
88. Riverside, CA: 59%
87. New Orleans: 58.8%

[pullmanman]

Found an article that helps explain why Blommer Chocolate closed its Chicago plant.

Costly US sugar tariffs drive candy makers over the border to Canada

Last fall, Hershey Co. repurchased a factory outside Ottawa that it closed more than a decade earlier. Blommer Chocolate Co., a US rival, is expanding in Ontario while it shutters an 85-year-old Chicago plant. Oreo-maker Mondelez International Inc. says it has invested $250 million in Ontario manufacturing facilities just in the last few year.

Although Canada ​​​​is far too cold to grow enough sugar for its candy industry, it has managed to attract hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in recent years to expand capacity. Some of that can be attributed to a rising population, but many in the industry say it’s the long-standing protectionist measures in place south of the border that are sweetening Canada’s appeal.

“High US sugar prices over the long term is the driver of chocolate and candy production in Canada,” said Sébastien Pouliot, an agricultural economist and consultant based in Québec…

In 2013, the difference between US and global sugar prices was only a couple of pennies per pound. But production challenges at home and in neighboring Mexico have driven US sugar futures to almost twice the global benchmark price. That makes it increasingly attractive for companies to make candy and cookies in Canada instead, then ship some of their production to US consumers. Many of those finished goods can enter the US and avoid quotas that dictate the more “tightly managed” trade in refined and raw sugar, said Alex Smith, a project leader at consulting firm Agralytica.

So due to tariffs protecting US sugar producers, sugar costs about 20¢ more per pound here than abroad. Makes it hard to justify making big, necessary capital investments to keep old plants running instead of just moving across the border. On top of the redevelopment potential for their Chicago facility, which has already been discussed in detail.

[pullmanman]

Swedish pharma brings on Horizon execs to launch U.S. HQ in Chicago

Immedica Pharma, a rare disease-focused pharmaceutical company based in Stockholm, has made Chicago its U.S. headquarters and brought on former Horizon Therapeutics executives to lead business development here.

Immedica appointed Daniel Camardo as president of Immedica North America earlier this month. Camardo was an executive vice president at the former rare disease pharmaceutical company Horizon Therapeutics and held executive roles at Clarus Therapeutics and Astellas Pharma… Another Horizon executive, Joe Whalen, is also joining the Chicago office's business development team…

Camardo will be responsible for establishing a commercial infrastructure for Immedica in North America and recruiting a team, the release said.

Nice to have a new pharmaceutical company in the area. Curious to see where they’ll locate. Important to note their employee count is tiny (around 120) and they focus on rare diseases, so it’s vastly different than something like Takeda, which employed 1000 people in Deerfield before moving to Boston.

[Chisouthside]

saw this about another quantum operation setting up shop in humboldt park
https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/09...tech-facility/

[VKChaz]

Gotham Greens branches out in Pullman, adds spinach to new greenhouse

https://chicago.suntimes.com/real-es...new-greenhouse

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Chisouthside

saw this about another quantum operation setting up shop in humboldt park
https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/09...tech-facility/

They announced they were relocating to Chicago in 2022, so I'm a little confused unless it really took that small of a company that long to relocate..

[sentinel]

ChiYimby has more information about EeroQ's headquarters, with images of the renovated incubator space:

https://chicagoyimby.com/2024/09/qua...oldt-park.html

"Becoming the first tenant of the massive central building, the company has slowly been building out its offices and computer for the last two years. The new announcement represents a $1.1 million investment into the space including added headcount. This is being supported by various programs from the state including a 10-year incentive...

Utilizing a new technology invented in Michigan where electrons float on top of liquid helium, the company hopes to bring its quantum computer offering in a cloud environment in 18 to 24 months. Leasing roughly 9,000 square feet of space, the company hopes to build on the recently announced Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park on the far South Side."

I understand that many people doubt quantum computing as the next big thing (especially opinions posted in this very thread), and while the technology is still very much in it's infancy, I would love nothing more than for Chicago to be the primary global hub for quantum computing over the next 30-40 years as the technology advances and scales appropriately. Who knows, maybe this will eventually lead to duotronic or even biomimetic gel tech in the far future

[twister244]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I understand that many people doubt quantum computing as the next big thing (especially opinions posted in this very thread), and while the technology is still very much in it's infancy, I would love nothing more than for Chicago to be the primary global hub for quantum computing over the next 30-40 years as the technology advances and scales appropriately. Who knows, maybe this will eventually lead to duotronic or even biomimetic gel tech in the far future

Count me as someone fully onboard with it.... And a potential user of the technology in the future.....

[twister244]

Nothing too newsworthy here, but some very interesting tidbits that really highlight the potential scale of this project....

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...gNews-20241004

Lifting the hood on the scale of its vision for the 440-acre lakefront property at 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the Chicago developer is seeking the right to build as much as 59.3 million square feet of buildings on the long-fallow land, according to a zoning application set to be introduced to the City Council next week. That total master plan — likely built out over a long period of time — is larger than the size of planned campuses at Lincoln Yards, The 78, the United Center and the former Michael Reese Hospital site put together.

Makes me wonder if this thing will need it's own thread at some point....

EDIT - Maybe this is actually newsworthy? Did we know the full extent of the Quantum Campus buildout would be nearly 60 million squared feet?.......

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by twister244

Nothing too newsworthy here, but some very interesting tidbits that really highlight the potential scale of this project....

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...gNews-20241004



Makes me wonder if this thing will need it's own thread at some point....

EDIT - Maybe this is actually newsworthy? Did we know the full extent of the Quantum Campus buildout would be nearly 60 million squared feet?.......

I'm more than a little skeptical. First of all, 440 acres--the whole site--is only about 19,000,000 square feet.

Even if we covered most of the property with three to five story buildings to get 60,000,000 square feet, what could they possibly need it for? The Pentagon is 6.5-million square feet. The Boeing factory in Everett Washington is 4-milllion.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

I'm more than a little skeptical. First of all, 440 acres--the whole site--is only about 19,000,000 square feet.

Even if we covered most of the property with three to five story buildings to get 60,000,000 square feet, what could they possibly need it for? The Pentagon is 6.5-million square feet. The Boeing factory in Everett Washington is 4-milllion.

Then either Crains has a typo, or there's some vertical aspects of this project we aren't aware of.......

[Randomguy34]

Found the zoning app, it confirms that they're seeking 59 million sq ft for commercial and industrial uses (not residential). To put in perspective how much space that is: the total office space in all parts of downtown Chicago is 160 million sq ft. Not sure what they're gonna do with that much allowed space, considering residential isn't allowed.

https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov...1-001DD809A88D

[Via Chicago]

i really do wish there was a little more architectural ambitions to this plan. i know some of this is a placeholder and the main component essentially amounts to a data center. but so much potential what "could be" in terms of integration of prairie, lakefront, post industrial, and future forward use. is it too much to wish for our own Salk Institute?

[twister244]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i really do wish there was a little more architectural ambitions to this plan. i know some of this is a placeholder and the main component essentially amounts to a data center. but so much potential what "could be" in terms of integration of prairie, lakefront, post industrial, and future forward use. is it too much to wish for our own Salk Institute?

I'm sure some aspects of this will be refined with time.... Especially if there's nearly 60 million sq ft involved......

With that said - I also keep the bar low here. It's a tech campus.... Have you seen Silicon Valley? It's not exactly a bastion of marvelous urban architecture.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i really do wish there was a little more architectural ambitions to this plan. i know some of this is a placeholder and the main component essentially amounts to a data center. but so much potential what "could be" in terms of integration of prairie, lakefront, post industrial, and future forward use. is it too much to wish for our own Salk Institute?

Well, Argonne employs about 3x as many people as Salk. Fermilab about 2x as many.

[Via Chicago]

That wasnt really the point I was making but ok. I'm talking about the melding of a research institute on a location where land meets water, and putting a bit of significance behind that in terms of design. Along with the rest of the underlying industrial symbolism of the locations rebirth. But maybe I'm asking too much