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.
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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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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