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.
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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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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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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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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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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U.S. Office Leasing Rebounds in 2025, With Chicago Positioned for a Measured, Strategic Recovery
U.S. office space leasing activity regained momentum in 2025, rising more than 5% year over year as tenants signed an...
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Key Antioch Development Opportunities In 2026
2026 Antioch Development Opportunities Antioch in 2026 represents a very different type of development opportunity than inner-ring North Shore communities....
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State of the Commercial Real Estate Market – 2026 Q1 – RFP 87
Chicago's Commercial Real Estate Market – 2026 Q1 – RFP 87 As we move through the first quarter of 2026,...
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Key Arlington Heights Development Opportunities In 2026
Arlington Heights Development Opportunities In 2026 Arlington Heights in 2026 stands out as one of the most strategically positioned communities...
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Key Chicago Development Opportunities In 2026
Chicago in 2026 is a market reshaping itself in real time. The city continues to evolve block by block, asset...
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Van Vlissingen & Co. Achieves 100% Occupancy in Lake Zurich, IL After Leasing Unit H at 100 Oakwood
Van Vlissingen & Co. is proud to share our first 2026 leasing milestone. In Lake Zurich, Illinois, our portfolio is...
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Key Waukegan Development Opportunities In 2026
Waukegan in 2026 represents one of the most compelling value-driven development stories in Chicagoland. Positioned along Lake Michigan with direct...
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Key Schaumburg Development Opportunities In 2026
Schaumburg Development Opportunities In 2026 Schaumburg in 2026 is a rare case study in stability meeting transformation. While many suburbs...
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6 Commercial Real Estate Trends In 2026
6 Commercial Real Estate Trends In 2026 The commercial real estate market entering 2026 looks materially different than it did...
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Designing Offices for 2030: How to Build Class A Workspaces That Will Still Perform
How to Build Office Spaces That Will Still Perform In 2030? Designing a Class A office building today requires an...
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Preparing Commercial Real Estate for a Driverless or Mostly Driverless Future
The shift toward a driverless or mostly driverless transportation system is no longer theoretical. Autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems,...
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Your Office Needs To Match Your Corporate Brand
Aligning Workspaces With Your Corporate Brand For years, office space was treated as a neutral container. Square footage was optimized,...
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The Power of Natural Elements in Commercial Real Estate: Mass Timber and the Evolving Built Environment
In an era where tenant experience, sustainability, and long-term asset value increasingly drive underwriting decisions, developers are rethinking what makes...
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