CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

that completely mirrors my experiences as well.

maybe the people who coupled-off early and started making kids right away and then bolted for the burbs simply saw city-living as some very temporary place to go play for several years after graduating from college, whereas those of us who waited to do the family thing, waited because we fundamentally love city living and wanted to enjoy more of it before setting the monumental and all-encompassing responsibility of parenthood upon our shoulders?

and now that the responsibility is finally there, it's like "fuck it, i still don't want to live in some god-forsaken burb. we'll make this work".

I think also that someone under 30 is less likely to have the income yet to really make raising a family in the City work, even if they're on a career path where it could work once they're in their 30s. Two earners, each with $60k/yr jobs at 25 earn $120k, which is a nice income but could be a stretch with kids, especially if they don't like their public-school options. But that same couple might each be earning $100k/year by the time they're 35, and $200k/yr as a family makes staying in the City a lot easier, even if they don't like their public school options. And, really, 35-year-olds with a combined income of $300k/year really aren't that uncommon, and $300k/yr is really the international standard of what constitutes "upper-middle-class" for a family - at that level they can really afford to live in nearly any city in the world with kids, with very few exceptions.

[rlw777]

Google, Facebook expanding Chicago offices from Crain's

In one deal, Facebook is finalizing an agreement for more than 200,000 square feet at 151 N. Franklin St., according to a Chicago Tribune report.

In the other, Google is lining up a deal to add about 100,000 square feet at the 12-story office building developer Sterling Bay is putting up in the Fulton Market District at 210 N. Carpenter St....

At 151 N. Franklin, the 35-story tower from developer John Buck that recently opened as the new home of CNA Financial, Facebook would fill almost all of the remaining available space in the 800,000 square foot building.

[the urban politician]

^ Any chance you can move your discussion to a different thread?

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

These kinds of announcements are not only going to add a ton of jobs, but they are going to at least help the launch of smaller office tower projects, if not a larger one

Ideally we’d get rid of at least one of the vacant/surface parking lots on Franklin between Washington and Randolph. What a stupid decision to demo the old exchange.

[emathias]

So I've seen ranges of 100 to 200 square feet per tech employee as the "rule of thumb" for square feet to employee ratios, which means Google plans to add 1,000 to 2,000 employees and Facebook 500 to 1,000 new employees. Add to that employees at supportive third-party businesses, and that's probably easily in the 2,000 to 5,000 range for new Central Area jobs extrapolated from those announcements. Add in "significant others," and we're talking nearly a whole year's worth of residential inventory expansion if they all resided in the Central Area (of course not all will, though). Pretty cool!

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I've seen this list before. It's methodology is bizarre. LA has lower incomes and higher COL than Chicago according to the US government.

While not the entire answer to they question, with California's progressive income taxes, lower-income people actually have more take-home pay in LA than they do in Chicago. I know I'd pay more in taxes in California, but a friend of mine who mostly works as a waiter says he has more take-home pay in LA even earning about the same gross income. Hollywood also has a lot of working-class and lower-middle-class jobs, the unglamorous jobs supporting the film industry, and base scale actors who few people think about when they think about high-paid producers, directors, and star-level actors.

[k1052]

IIRC this should put 210 N Carpenter close or at fully leased.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by emathias

While not the entire answer to they question, with California's progressive income taxes, lower-income people actually have more take-home pay in LA than they do in Chicago. I know I'd pay more in taxes in California, but a friend of mine who mostly works as a waiter says he has more take-home pay in LA even earning about the same gross income.

What does his bank account look like after rent, transportation, and insurance?

[the urban politician]

^ This is going to keep West Loop office projects going.

That was supposed to be the McDonald's "vendor village".

But with other tenants filling that space, there is still tons of space out there that will need to be built out just for the McD's vendors alone, let alone other companies who want to be in this area.

[nergie]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

that completely mirrors my experiences as well.

maybe the people who coupled-off early and started making kids right away and then bolted for the burbs simply saw city-living as some very temporary place to go play for several years after graduating from college, whereas those of us who waited to do the family thing, waited because we fundamentally love city living and wanted to enjoy more of it before setting the monumental and all-encompassing responsibility of parenthood upon our shoulders?

and now that the responsibility is finally there, it's like "fuck it, i still don't want to live in some god-forsaken burb. we'll make this work".

That sure as hell sounds like my wife and I.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ This is going to keep West Loop office projects going.

That was supposed to be the McDonald's "vendor village".

But with other tenants filling that space, there is still tons of space out there that will need to be built out just for the McD's vendors alone, let alone other companies who want to be in this area.

If Facebook is on N Wacker, the two lots on Franklin are right around the corner. Excited to see more office space in the West Loop though.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by emathias

While not the entire answer to they question, with California's progressive income taxes, lower-income people actually have more take-home pay in LA than they do in Chicago. I know I'd pay more in taxes in California, but a friend of mine who mostly works as a waiter says he has more take-home pay in LA even earning about the same gross income. Hollywood also has a lot of working-class and lower-middle-class jobs, the unglamorous jobs supporting the film industry, and base scale actors who few people think about when they think about high-paid producers, directors, and star-level actors.

A lot of my family is from LA and we were talking about COL a few months ago when I was there. They were saying things are ridiculous there for the most part - and of course not everywhere, and not as bad as SF due to size, but for the most part they were very worried, most of my family being life-long angelenos. A number of my family members in LA are well-paid lawyers and still say these things. It's big enough to kind of weather the storm for awhile, but on average, LA is not more affordable than Chicago by any stretch of the imagination. You will find pockets of affordability but you can find that anywhere. A cheaper neighborhood in LA might still be around $1300/mo for a 1 bedroom which isn't terrible but the more desireable places are going to be in the $3000s average for a 1 bedroom which is more expensive than Chicago (and then if you go to a suburb like Santa Monica it's even worse).

By the way, since you mention un-glamorous Hollywood jobs. I have a cousin who is a truck driver for movie studios - he just drives around set pieces. His sister (also my cousin of course) is a long time lawyer in LA. She was joking about how her brother gets paid around the same as she does. He lives well - some of these un-glamorous jobs get paid surprisingly well. My aunt and uncle also live in a quiet bedroom neighborhood in NW LA that is next to suburbs. You can't walk anywhere really and I wouldn't call much there hip or desireable for the standards of younger people. They have pretty good schools though. Their 1900 sq ft home with a patio but almost no grass in the back yard is worth $1M. The house my father grew up in, in Pasadena (a suburb), is now 1600 sq ft and worth around $1M as well. I spent a lot of time in that house and it's shocking to me it's worth that much. If it was in a comparable suburb of Chicago it would be worth no more than $400K right now.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Google at 210 is f-ing great, same with FB on Franklin. Time to load up on some more buildings in little village!

[marothisu]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...2014-heres-why

Why we chose Chicago as our American HQ

There I was in New York City, minding my company's business (the U.S. operations of a British software firm), and the next thing I know, I'm hired to head American operations for a rapidly growing firm based in Sydney. The first thing I did was to make Chicago our headquarters.

Not New York, where I was already working. Not Miami, which I called home for 13 years. Not Silicon Valley, the so-called logical choice, where I worked for a year. And not Boston, my hometown. Chicago. It was a no-brainer.

The story wasn't exactly that tidy, but pretty close. (Full disclosure: The HQ choice wasn't only my decision, and we already had a small team here. But I did have a say in where we would do business.) I quickly understood that Chicago is the ideal place for the company, Ansarada, to grow. Great business climate. Rich talent pool. Perfect location, especially when needing to communicate with people on both coasts, not to mention our Sydney home base and colleagues in EMEA. Attractive cost of living and of doing business. It's a wonderfully livable city, a few frigid winter days notwithstanding.

And there really is something to be said about that Midwestern friendliness. Initiating contact with other senior executives isn't so easy in L.A., New York or the Bay Area. But here, people have been so open to introducing me to their colleagues and helping me get into the fold. Much appreciated.

The pool of talent is also unparalleled, with so many top-notch universities in the area. People from here like to stay here. That's important in terms of building continuity.

We're at 25 people now and expect to triple our headcount by the end of the year, helped by $18 million in Series A funding we recently secured. Within two years, we'll be at 150 people. We're rapidly building out a huge, appealing office in River North—9,000 square feet with a rooftop deck!—that would cost so much more in New York or California.

So yes, Chicago is the best place for Ansarada to mind its business.

[the urban politician]

^ Was just gonna post that

[bnk]

Lots of good press out there today on the official opening of McDonalds.



Fortune Mag

https://news.google.com/articles/CBM...S&ceid=US%3Aen

...

The new headquarters is located within blocks of restaurants owned by famous chefs such as Grant Achatz, Graham Elliot, and Stephanie Izard in an area known for its night life.

...

The new office will play host to about 2,000 McDonalds employees. It features “work neighborhoods” to give employees their choice in what environment will suit their work best, with open floor plans, communal tables, huddle rooms, and even an on-site “IT Tech Bar” modelled after Apple’s Genius Bar.

...

[left of center]

Chicago-based USG to be acquired by Knauf in $7 billion deal
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...611-story.html

German manufacturer Knauf has agreed to buy Chicago-based USG for $7 billion, the companies announced Monday.

Under the terms of the deal, Knauf will pay USG shareholders $44 per share, which represents a 31 percent premium to Friday’s closing price.

The transaction, which is expected to close in early 2019, brings together two building materials giants. USG will continue to be headquartered in Chicago after the merger, according to a joint news release issued by the companies.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by marothisu

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...2014-heres-why

Why we chose Chicago as our American HQ

I feel like I read either this same story or a very similar one last year. I hope it was a different story because having multiple people saying the same thing would be great!

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by emathias

I feel like I read either this same story or a very similar one last year. I hope it was a different story because having multiple people saying the same thing would be great!

Yeah, I have a foggy recollection of what you're talking about. It's a different company though - I think this company opened an official Chicago office only within the last few months.

[bnk]

Win or lose Rahm is going full tilt for H2


If it does not pan out Its still a good run for Boring and Chicago's PR. But Musk does not like to lose. He has lost Billions initially on Space X and Tesla and he is not giving up on either of them. I think this guy can work on more than a few projects at the same time. He is some kind of savant.

His passion and actually delivering on Space X is the most aggressive and fast private space lifting project and company that I have ever witnessed and he saves his spent stage rocktets that have been proven to land on moving ships for Christ sake.


One could laugh at him but he proves the doubters wrong eventually.

Even if he takes a bath on the O'Hare deal he would be inundated with new works that would be more economical in scale and therefore the only simple loop system out there for express access to distant airports.


Musk is taking a risk, Chicago less of a risk even if we have to eventually pay several hundreds of millions of dollars to finish this project. That is peanuts to the amount dedicated to the O'Hare rebuild.

They can or cannot prove their worth here.

Obviously every single opposition candidate opposes this effort.

Rahm needs another 4 years before.... ???





https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/6/14...-ohare-express








Drilling to begin in ‘3 to 4 months’ on Elon Musk’s O’Hare Express


4 comments

Chicago will be the first real, ‘useful’ example of The Boring Company’s technology

By Sara Freund Jun 14, 2018, 4:03pm CDT




…

Billionaire entrepreneur, Elon Musk joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel at a news conference to officially announce The Boring Company’s high-speed transit system from Block 37 to O’Hare airport.

“Chicago is known as the city of the L, and from this day forward we’ll also be known as the city with the X,” the mayor said in his opening remarks.

He sold the 12-minute ride as a way to merge the central business district with a global airport—following in the footsteps of London‘s high speed train. Emanuel sees this as step towards making Chicago a “city of the future,” he said.

…

Drilling on both ends from the airport and Block 37 will begin in 3 to 4 months, pending environmental and other regulatory approvals, Musk said. Ideally, he said the tunnel will be operational 18 to 24 months after rigorous safety testing. One advantage to working in Chicago is that there are fewer agencies needed for project clearance, he said, which allows for a more streamlined process.

Eventually, there could be a TSA security clearance downtown so that the Tesla railcars could deliver people to directly to their terminal. While that’s not part of current plan, Musk said it was included in the original idea.

The mayor and Musk both...

….














this either could be an ok thing to a massive impressive advancement on new tech travel IMO... I will await the results in 2.5 years if everything goes to plan... I also think Billionaires follow the news of other Billionaires...