Welcome To The Real Finds Blog: Commercial Real Estate Insights for Chicago and the Midwest
Welcome to The Real Finds Blog, your daily briefing on commercial real estate trends across Chicagoland and the Midwest. Published by Gordon Lamphere, a fourth-generation commercial real estate broker at Van Vlissingen & Co., this blog delivers sharp, actionable insights for CRE professionals navigating a changing market. Every article connects macro trends—interest rates, automation, supply chains, policy shifts—to local real estate strategy across high-demand submarkets, including:
- Downtown Chicago – office space, adaptive reuse, capital markets
- Elk Grove & O’Hare – industrial leasing, logistics infrastructure
- Kenosha & SE Wisconsin – warehouse development and distribution hubs
- Oak Brook & Schaumburg – suburban office leasing and reinvestment
- Naperville & the I-88 Corridor – flex space, R&D, life sciences
- Bolingbrook & the I-55 Corridor – fulfillment centers and industrial site selection
- Lake, DuPage, Will, Kane, and McHenry Counties – land use, entitlements, development opportunities, and tenant migration
From daily blog posts to in-depth strategy guides and transcribed podcast interviews, Real Finds turns global uncertainty into hyper-local market intelligence for investors, landlords, tenants, developers, and brokers New posts are published every weekday.
U.S. Logistics & Ports At A Breaking Point With Kent Gourdin – RFP 63
In this powerhouse episode of The Real Finds Podcast, host Gordon Lamphere welcomes Kent Gourdin, professor and director of Global...
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Return To Office Is About Trust
Return to Office Is Not About Control. It’s About Trust. Over the last few years, debates over remote work have...
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The Data vs. How We Actually Work: Why Office Space Efficiency Is Broken and How to Fix It
Walk into a typical office tower on a Tuesday morning, and you might see a few employees trickling in, scattered...
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Waukegan’s Museum Project Hints at Broader Revitalization
A long-vacant landmark in downtown Waukegan is coming back to life. The historic 1903 Carnegie Library is being transformed into...
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Fixing Return To Office: Productivity Data & The Future of Work With Andrew Farah – RFP 62
In this episode, Andrew Farah, CEO and co-founder of Density, joins us to unpack what’s actually going on inside modern...
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SIOR Honors Nicholas Panarese For Top Industrial Transaction
We’re proud to share that Nicholas Panarese, Executive Vice President at Van Vlissingen & Co., has been recognized by the...
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What a 42% Drop in Willis Tower’s Value Means for Chicago Office Market Valuations
The recent revelation that the Willis Tower, arguably the city’s most iconic skyscraper, has lost 42% of its value is...
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GEICO’s New Corporate Hub at the Merchandise Mart: A Strategic Signal for the Chicago Office Market
In a notable development for Chicago’s central business district, GEICO has officially opened a new corporate office at the Merchandise...
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What Cedar Street’s 300-Unit Apartment Project Tells Us About Fulton Market’s Value
Cedar Street Companies is doubling down on Fulton Market with the $12.7 million acquisition of a development site at 370...
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Can Investors Profit From Specialized Industrial Nearshoring?
How Real Estate Investors Can Profit From Specialized Industrial Nearshoring The world of manufacturing is undergoing a structural realignment. Global...
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Tariffs & Real Estate: How Supply Chain Shocks Reshape the Market With Kristian O’Meara – RFP 61
In the latest episode of The Real Finds Podcast, host and commercial real estate agent Gordon Lamphere sits down with...
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Data Centers Power Grayslake’s Industrial Developement
Grayslake, Illinois, is emerging as a significant hub in the Chicago-area industrial real estate landscape. A notable development is T5...
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$8.1M Sale at 132 Conference Point Drive Highlights Lake Geneva’s Market Momentum
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, long celebrated for its picturesque lakefront and upscale residential properties, is experiencing a notable surge in its...
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The Data Center Arms Race: From Natural Gas To Nuclear Power With Pete DiSanto – RFP 60
In a world increasingly driven by digital infrastructure, industrial space is being redefined—not just by location or zoning, but by...
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Chicagoland Industrial Market Update May 5, 2025
🌿 Vertical Farming at 125 South Wacker Drive Farm Zero, an urban agriculture startup, has signed a five-year lease for...
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Why I Love Mondays With Jimmie Brennan -RFP 59
On Episode 59 of The Real Finds Podcast, host Gordon Lamphere welcomes Jimmie Brennan, founder of Love Mondays Office Space,...
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State of the Chicago Office Market: Sublease Activity at 110 North Wacker Drive
Chicago’s office market remains under pressure in 2025, with new sublease listings at even the most prestigious buildings signaling ongoing...
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Vantive’s Deerfield HQ Decision: A Signal for Chicagoland’s Life Sciences and Office Space Markets
https://youtu.be/0VoJ6DoPMPI In a significant announcement for the Chicagoland business community, Vantive, the newly spun-off kidney care company from Baxter International,...
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