Crain's Chicago Business

Chicago doesn't have a single housing market. It has two. One is reaching new heights. The other is flat as an Illinois prairie. In the uppermost echelon of home prices, sales took only until early November to pass the record number of homes sold in a full year. And one sale among them, a Winnetka estate that sold for $31.25 million, was the highest-priced sale of an existing home ever in the Chicago metro area (other homes have been built new for more). Meanwhile, in the market for homes at all prices, the number of sales is running only slightly higher than even with 2024, a year that ended with the fewest homes sold since 2011. For the past year and a half, Chicago-area home prices have been rising faster than the national average and faster than in nearly every major US city, accelerating the local affordability crunch right alongside interest rates that have remained relatively high. Rising prices and mortgage interest rates that are twice what they were a few years ago take a one-two punch at affordability, and uncertainty about future financial well-being amid mass layoffs and the creeping hegemony of AI makes the hit feel even harder. "As the cost of housing has gone up dramatically," Simpkins says, "people are feeling more challenged with being able to keep good-paying employment." The divergence of Chicago's two housing markets is a clear manifestation of today's K-shaped economy. High-net-worth households grow both their earning and their spending, pointing one arm of the K upward, while most other people have trouble keeping pace with inflation on stagnant incomes, putting a downward slope on the K's other arm. Read more in this month's Crain's Forum: https://lnkd.in/gAsx22Au

America’s oldest brewing school is relocating from Chicago to Montréal, citing difficulties with student visas and operating costs. The Siebel Institute of Technology announced recently on Facebook that it plans to relocate its operations Jan. 1. Its new Canadian home will be near Molson’s original brewery site. The decision came after the institute, which has trained many of Chicago’s craft brewery owners and operators, reviewed operational costs and industry trends. The institute needed to maintain its educational quality and keep programming affordable, John Hannafan, the Siebel Institute’s general manager and director of education, said in the announcement. The Trump administration has made and proposed several policy changes that have affected student visa holders, including proposals to limit visa durations. The loss of the Siebel Institute will be a blow for Chicago’s craft beer community. Many of the founders and head brewers at some of the city’s longstanding breweries took classes at the institute. Not only that, Siebel drew beer executives and industry operators to the city from all over the world. And while they were here, they drank Chicago beer. “Chicago has been the gathering place for some of the world’s best beer minds,” Ray Stout, former executive director of Illinois’ Craft Brewers Guild, said in a text message to Crain's. “(The institute’s) departure is going to leave a bit of a hole.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gqD4BjwK

A former professional race car driver who's now a real estate developer is revving the engine of his latest project, a plan to build luxurious garage condos where car buffs can house and show off their vehicles. Romeo Kapudija's proposal to put 121 garage condos, a clubhouse and a niche brand car dealership on a 21-acre site on Rand Road received approval from Lake Zurich's village board Nov. 17. He expects to start construction in early spring and have a little less than half the units, with prices starting at $549,000, and the dealership ready for occupancy by the end of 2026. Luxe Corsa, as the project is called, won't be the first garage condos in the Chicago area. There are already similar developments in Naperville, Mundelein and Joliet, and more proposed in Barrington and far west suburban Gilberts. Designed by OKW, a Chicago architecture firm, the 13-building complex "will feel like you're in Las Vegas, not Lake Zurich," Kapudija said. The panelized exteriors will have abundant lighting and sizzle, and each garage condo's interior will have ground-level space for cars and a mezzanine level above that owners can finish with a kitchen or other features (separate from the purchase price). Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gex_qjkd

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When you think of a presidential library and museum, most folks envision display cases filled with memorabilia and cloistered rooms filled with researchers poring over important papers to decipher history. There will be a bit of that at the Obama Presidential Center in Hyde Park, writes columnist Greg Hinz. But after touring the now largely complete center the other day, it’s clear the 19.3-acre complex in reality will be something else. Think Millennium Park meets “yes we can” political rally, with a touch of ancient Egypt tossed in for spice. The $850 million, privately funded center will be much like the Chicagoan who became president. It’s different and unique and very reflective of his personality, with research largely confined to computers that will be able to access the now digitalized papers. Will it work? At least in part, yes, especially as a gleaming and accessible public space for a South Side neighborhood that could use them. And the rest, specifically the political organizing center for the world that Obama envisions? The jury is still out. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gH4UTi85

Charlie McKenna of Lillie's Q fame is teaming up with the Fifty/50 Group to open a butcher shop, sandwich market, grocer and caterer in the Loop. The multi-faceted business will be called Fatback and is expected to open in January 2026. It will fill a storefront next to Prime + Provisions near the corner of LaSalle Street and Wacker Drive. The butcher promises to serve "locally sourced meat and charcuterie," per a bare-bones "coming soon" website. The catering aspect of the business seems targeted to office lunches. The liquor license application for Fatback lists the address as 222 N. La Salle St., while the business' website puts it at 176 W. Wacker Drive. The store will look out at the Chicago River. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g67bGKJY