2016 is the Year of the Crane in Downtown Chicago

Development around downtown Chicago and beyond has been booming in 2016, and much of this upward trend certainly started before this year. But as pointed out by the Chicago Tribune this morning, we’re actually seeing an extraordinary amount of new construction happening around the Windy City, which makes now a very exciting time in the world of Chicago real estate.  

As noted by The Tribune, there are currently 33 high-rises being built right now, which is easily the most development we’ve seen since the recession essentially brought construction to a standstill back in 2008. The activity was even noted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel during a visit to the building site of One Bennett Park, one of Streeterville’s newest and most spectacular skyscrapers to start construction in recent memory.  

According to the Tribune piece, 33 developments are using cranes right now, and seven additional projects that are expected to begin construction this year are still awaiting building permits. But aside from just bringing more condos, apartments, hotel rooms, and offices to the city, what all those cranes really represent are jobs. In fact, for every crane you see, roughly 800 to 1,200 workers are filling those job sites everyday, which continues to have a major impact on the local economy. 

Downtown Chicago has seen 48 new developments either start or finish construction this year, which are broken down into 31 residential projects, 6 office towers, and six hotel towers.