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.
Chicago Loop Hotel Foreclosure Clouds Conversion Market
The foreclosure of a is the latest signal of stress in downtown commercial real estate. While hotels have faced their...
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$11M Refinance for River North’s Kingsbury Center
In one of the more notable transactions in Chicago’s turbulent office market this year, Next Realty has successfully refinanced the...
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The 10 Keys to Developing, Buying, and Investing in Cold Storage Facilities
Cold storage is one of the most misunderstood corners of commercial real estate and, as a consequence, one of the...
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Cold Storage, Industrial Growth & The Future Of Value-Add Real Estate With Clifford Booth – RFP 72
When most investors think about commercial real estate, their minds go to familiar asset classes: office towers, multifamily apartments, or...
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How Walkability Shapes Housing Affordability?
How Walkability Shapes Cost-Efficient Housing When most people think about housing affordability, they immediately consider property prices, mortgage rates, and...
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Avoiding AI Traps: Supply Chain Tech That Works With Rob Kress – RFP 71
In today’s volatile trade environment, supply chain resilience has become a boardroom priority. Tariff fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainty, labor shortages, and...
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Conducting a Final Walkthrough of Your Industrial Space
https://youtu.be/MAetM69lkck Conducting a Final Walkthrough of Your Industrial Space: A Step-by-Step Guide Whether you’re preparing to take possession of a...
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Comparing Moving Estimates for Industrial Spaces
https://youtu.be/U-tNoWrBv_c How to Compare Moving Estimates for Industrial Relocations Relocating an industrial facility, whether a manufacturing plant, warehouse, or distribution...
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What Commercial Real Estate Asset Classes Can Learn from Hospitality?
The hospitality industry operates in one of the most competitive and customer-driven sectors of commercial real estate. Hotels and resorts...
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Common Area Rules: What You Need to Know
https://youtu.be/5vtT1JFH-U4 Understanding Common Area Rules in Commercial Properties: A Guide for Tenants and Landlords Common areas are the unsung heroes...
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Does A Healthier Building Improve An Office Investment’s Financial Health?
Is a Healthier Building a More Profitable Investment? Across the commercial real estate landscape, one question is gaining urgency: can...
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Commercial Property Management For Office Spaces
https://youtu.be/fOd8W3dIRLQ How to Develop a Long-Term Management Plan for Office Investment Properties? Investing in commercial office buildings is only half...
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Strategic Sale and Seamless Office Transition for Meridian Home Health Care Services
On August 8, Gordon Lamphere and Nick Panarese of Van Vlissingen and Co. successfully completed the sale of 4 N...
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Tax Benefits of Public vs. Private Real Estate Investments
When evaluating the benefits of public versus private commercial real estate investments, one of the most important factors to consider...
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Commercial Property Management for Industrial Investment Properties
https://youtu.be/nXjlVMPWOvY A Complete Guide to Managing Industrial Investment Properties Investing in industrial real estate can deliver stable income, long-term appreciation,...
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Choosing Between Greenfield Vs Brownfield Industrial Space Automation
When investors think about warehouse automation or AI-driven logistics, their minds often jump to gleaming greenfield facilities built from scratch...
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What Real Estate Investors Get Wrong About Robotics With A.K. Schultz – RFP 70
The Hidden Complexity of Warehouse Automation and What Real Estate Investors Are Getting Wrong? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZdAalY1QfA In the latest episode of...
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Common Types of Office Leases Explained
https://youtu.be/5GcA0WrfZpg A Comprehensive Guide to Office Lease Types: What Tenants Need to Know Before Signing Securing office space is...
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