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.
The Demographic Cliff: Are We in a College Real Estate Bubble?
Are We in a College Real Estate Bubble? The Demographic Cliff and Its Impact on Local Real Estate Investing For...
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The Hidden Real Estate Crisis in Higher Ed With Chris Morett PHD – RFP 75
How Universities Really Use Space And What Commercial Real Estate Can Learn (A conversation with campus space strategist Chris Morett...
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Designing Efficient Workflow Layouts for Industrial Spaces
https://youtu.be/zUi4lOR8kOA Designing Efficient Workflow Layouts for Industrial Spaces Designing efficient workflow layouts for industrial spaces is one of the most...
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10 Tips for Designing Spec Office Spaces For Decision Makers
10 Tips for Designing Spec Office Spaces That Win Over Decision Makers Spec office suites have become one of the...
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Bad Meetings Are More Expensive Than You Think
The Hidden Meeting Tax: How Pointless Meetings Cripple Office Productivity Meetings are supposed to be a way for teams to...
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Defining Short-Term Renovation and Resale Targets
https://youtu.be/KgcPYvVnBeE How to Define Short-Term Renovation and Resale Targets in Real Estate Short-term renovation and resale projects, often called property...
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Creating Competition: How to Leverage Other Office Spaces for Lease Renewal
https://youtu.be/cEXGrnZFAMk How to Use Competition to Your Advantage in Office Lease Renewals When it comes time to renew your office...
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How Do We Make Work Suck Less? With Sara Escobar & Corinne Murray – RFP 74
Work, Then Place: Designing Office Spaces That Actually Work https://youtu.be/Rdi5UCEypWg What is work really supposed to look like in the...
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Not Everyone Is Going Back to the Office
Not Everyone Is Going Back to the Office And Why Early-Career Gen Z May Need It the Most Three things...
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Coordinating A Move-In for Your Subtenant
https://youtu.be/8SVRn0TaW4A Coordinating a Subtenant Move-In: A Complete Playbook Securing a subtenant is an important milestone in a lease cycle, but...
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Can ADUs Solve the Housing Crisis?
As housing affordability challenges deepen across the United States, policymakers, planners, and homeowners are increasingly looking at Accessory Dwelling Units...
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Zoning, Permits, and Politics: Why Illinois Housing Costs Keep Rising With Joshua Bandoch – RFP 73
Illinois Housing Crisis: Why the Nation’s Worst Housing Shortage Starts Here Illinois has long been home to world-class universities, two...
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Why Ceiling Heights and Custom Doors Matter in the Modern Workspace
Why Verticality Matters in the Modern Workspace In today’s workplace, design is no longer just an afterthought. Employers and landlords...
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What the 301 S. Wacker Drive Proposal Reveals About the Commercial Real Estate Market in the Loop?
What Does The 301 S. Wacker Drive Proposal Reveal? https://youtu.be/25ctzNlnxCo Chicago’s Loop has long been a barometer for the health...
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The 78’s Chicago Fire Stadium: A Catalyst for Urban Design and Commercial Real Estate in Chicago
Later this month, the Chicago Plan Commission will review an ambitious proposal that could reshape the southern edge of downtown....
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The Walgreen’s Office Campus Demolition Trade-Off: Eyesore Vs Opportunity
https://youtu.be/5B65c-Bh27E The suburban office reckoning continues. In Deerfield, Orion Office REIT has made the decision to demolish the long-empty former...
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Conducting Medical Office Due Diligence on Buildings and Tenants
https://youtu.be/bOI5UzQjWQg Conducting Medical Office Due Diligence on Buildings and Tenants: A Complete Guide for Investors Investing in medical office buildings...
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Vernon Hills’ Hawthorn Mall Redevelopment Looks To Expand With More Apartments and Retail
Developers behind the $252 million transformation of Hawthorn Mall are seeking Vernon Hills’ approval for additional apartments and retail, underscoring...
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