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.

Industrial Space Real Estate

Scheduling Regular Inspections for Industrial Facilities

How To Schedule And Conduct Regular Inspections For Industrial Facilities Regular inspections are the unglamorous backbone of every well-run industrial...
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Insurance Real Estate Real Finds Podcast

Insurance, Development Risk & The Hidden Economics Of Real Estate With Lisa Holt – RFP 90

For most of the past century, commercial real estate operators treated insurance the way they treated utility bills: an unavoidable...
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Real Estate

Preparing Your Commercial Real Estate Portfolio For AI Disruption

Artificial intelligence is not a future threat to commercial real estate. It is already reshaping how space is used, how...
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Chicago Elk Grove Village Industrial Space Real Estate Rolling Meadows Schaumburg

Chicago’s Truck Parking Problem Is Reshaping Industrial Real Estate

Why the truck parking crisis is driving up IOS values across Chicagoland The United States is short roughly 40,000 to...
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Office Space Real Estate

The Myth That Built The Modern Office (And Why It Is Finally Collapsing)

Your Office Was Designed For Someone Who Does Not Exist There has always been a ghost living inside the modern...
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Real Estate Real Finds Podcast

Caregiving, Building For A Longevity Society, And The Future Of Work With Marisa Toldo — RFP 89

Caregiving, Building For A Longevity Society, And The Future Of Work With Marisa Toldo — RFP 89 The office vacancy...
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Industrial Space Real Estate

Boosting Your Industrial Property’s Curb Appeal

Boosting Your Industrial Property's Curb Appeal Industrial real estate has a reputation for being purely functional. Four walls, a roof,...
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Office Space Real Estate

How to Design the Ideal Office Space for Knowledge Workers

The office market has spent the better part of four years trying to answer the wrong question. Most of the...
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Real Estate Real Finds Podcast

From Mötley Crüe to Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Real Estate Deals With Mike Herl SIOR – RFP 88

On this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, I sat down with Mike Herl, SIOR and partner at Madison Commercial...
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Chicago Real Estate

Rick Owens To Open Chicago Flagship In Fulton Market, Cementing The Corridor’s Luxury Retail Momentum

Rick Owens To Open Chicago Flagship At 932 W. Fulton Street, Chicago Global fashion designer Rick Owens is bringing his...
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Chicago Office Space Real Estate

105 West Adams St In Chicago Positioned For Office Conversion?

Office Conversion At 105 West Adams St, Chicago A vintage Loop office building at 105 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL,...
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Conversion Highland Park multifamily Real Estate

Highland Park Clears Way For Redevelopment Of Former Solo Cup Site

The long-vacant former Solo Cup property at has officially moved one step closer to transformation. City officials in Highland Park...
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Arlington Heights Chicago Lake Forest Real Estate

Are the Bears Really Ditching Arlington Heights for Gary?

Recent reporting has reignited speculation that the Chicago Bears could abandon Arlington Heights in favor of a new stadium site...
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Chicago Real Estate

LNR Partners Files Foreclosure On Gold Coast Property

LNR Partners Files Foreclosure On Gold Coast Retail Distress is resurfacing in one of Chicago’s most historically resilient neighborhoods. LNR...
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Chicago Office Space Real Estate

AI Ambitions Meet Chicago’s Office Reset: University of Illinois System Targets 250 S. Wacker Drive

AI Resets Chicago's Office Space Market? Chicago’s evolving Office Space market just landed another high-profile data point, and this one...
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multifamily Real Estate Wheeling

FPA Multifamily Expands Suburban Chicago Footprint With Another Apartment Acquisition

A national apartment investor is doubling down on suburban Chicago. FPA Multifamily has acquired another suburban Chicago apartment complex, continuing...
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Chicago Real Estate

Nicholas D. Panarese, SIOR, Named to SIOR Chicago Chapter Board

Van Vlissingen & Company is pleased to announce that Nicholas D. Panarese, SIOR, has been named to the SIOR Chicago...
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Chicago Real Estate

DePaul Layoffs Signal Change In University Real Estate Across Chicagoland

DePaul Layoffs Could Signal A Shift In Chicagoland Educational Real Estate The layoffs announced at DePaul University this fall are...
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