In one week as many as 1,000 real estate industry experts will convene for what has become the largest, longest running event of its kind in Chicago: the 13th Annual Commercial Real Estate Forecast Conference.
Commercial real estate firms like Colliers, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield are out with their year-end numbers showing how the market continues to recover. Those statistics along with the perspectives of developers, owners and brokers will provide an insightful morning of programming. Featured experts in the industrial market, as part of the general state of the market session, the teching of Chicago and an industrial and investment breakout session will frame the industrial marketplace in a variety of different ways.
This year’s conference, produced by the Real Estate Publishing Group and Chicago Industrial Properties, and co-hosted by Cushman & Wakefield, the National Association of Realtors and the Wall Street Journal, takes place on Tuesday, January 20th at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, on Wacker Drive.
The conference kicks off with a one—2—one conversation between Shawn Mobley of Cushman & Wakefield and Howard Tullman, the CEO of Chicago’s 1871 tech incubator. Following that conversation, representatives from virtually all product types, including Ryan O’Leary with Duke Realty, will discuss the state of the Chicago real estate market and the issues and trends likely to be making headlines in 2015.
Following a panel led by Geoff Kasselman on the Teching of Chicago Real Estate, a panel of six industrial experts will take a more in-depth look at the Chicago marketplace and how it has fared in 2015. From the 1.7 million Michelin build to suit in Wilmington to the wave of development for tenants Amazon in a Kenosha, it promises to be a lively and insightful discussion.
Participating in the breakout session will be moderator Elise Couston, SIOR, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank; John Coleman, SIOR, Transwestern; Fred Regnery, SIOR, Colliers; Chris Zubel, CBRE; Adam Moore, First Industrial; and Chris Gary, NAI. Simultaneously, at an investment market breakout panel, Erik Foster of Avison Yoiung will moderate a panel that will delve into, among other things, investor appetite for industrial property in Chicago. The conference begins with registration, continental breakfast and networking with sponsors at 7 am. Master of Ceremonies Jerry Sullivan of Paine Wetzel/TCN Worldwide will kick things off at approximately 8 am. Registration for the event is $99 at rejournals.com//conferences, through Sunday, January 18. After that walk-ins will be accepted for a registration of $129.
The Hyatt Regency Chicago is located at 151 East Wacker Drive. The 13th Annual Commercial Real Estate Forecast will take place in the Grand Ballroom which is two levels down from the lobby and at the same level as the valet parking.
