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.
Building Class A Offices Right: Lessons from Soho’s Best
What does it take to build office space that tenants don’t just tolerate, but love? According to Rod Kritsberg of...
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Key Aurora Developments in 2025
Aurora, Illinois — the second-largest city in the state, continues to emerge as a vital growth hub for developers and...
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Key Addison Developments in 2025
How Emerging Land Projects Are Shaping the Market for Investors and Occupiers Tucked in the heart of DuPage County and...
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Key Naperville Developments in 2025
How Strategic Land Sites Are Reshaping the Market for Investors and Occupiers Naperville has long been one of the premier...
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Key Hoffman Estates Developments in 2025
Hoffman Estates continues to evolve into one of the most dynamic commercial markets in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, balancing Class A...
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Chicagoland Office Market Update – June 5, 2025
Demolitions and Conversions Now Outpace New Office Development for the First Time in Decades For the first time in nearly...
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Key Rolling Meadows Developments in 2025
Rolling Meadows, located in the heart of the Schaumburg-area submarket, is drawing increased attention in 2025 from office, flex, and...
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Chicagoland Industrial Market Update – June 4, 2025
Chicagoland Industrial Market Update – June 4, 2025 From Frenzy to Fundamentals: The Industrial Market Rebalances After more than a...
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Most Landlords Get Office Design Wrong – Rod Kritsberg – RFP 64
In this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, host Gordon Lamphere welcomes Rod Kritsberg, managing partner of KPG Funds and...
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Key Palatine Developments in 2025
Palatine, Illinois—anchored between the Northwest Suburbs and the Schaumburg employment corridor is experiencing renewed attention from investors, developers, and owner-users....
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The $650M Power Move That May Revive The 78 and South Loop
On June 3, 2025, the Chicago Fire Football Club unveiled plans for a privately funded, $650 million, 22,000-seat soccer-specific stadium...
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Key Elkhorn Developments in 2025
Shaping Commercial Real Estate Opportunities in Walworth County, WI Elkhorn, WI—known for its strategic location near I-43 and its position...
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Key Whitewater Developments in 2025
Whitewater, Wisconsin, is emerging as a dynamic submarket in Walworth County. Development-ready parcels, infill retail lots, and large-scale industrial land...
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Why Power Quality Matters for Data Center?
Why Power Quality Matters for Data Centers and What It Means for Commercial Real Estate Investors In the digital economy,...
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Key Niles Developments in 2025
How Land Sites and Redevelopment Will Shape the Real Estate Market for Investors and Occupiers Niles, Illinois is no longer...
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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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