As previously expected, developers will be delivering thousands of new rental units throughout the greater downtown area this year, and thousands more are on the way in the next couple of years. Many of the towers under construction at the moment are making way for rentals, but there has been a plethora of other new proposals awaiting action. Crain's has taken another look at Chicago's downtown apartment boom and has crunched the numbers: nearly 3,000 units will be delivered in 2015, another 3,200 will be delivered next year and then finally, 2017 could set a big record if the 4,500 units that are planned move forward. In total, we're looking at 10,000 new rental units on the horizon in the next couple of years. And while it seems like a new apartment tower proposal surfaces every week, Crain's is only looking at projects that are complete, under construction or have financing lined up.
No matter how you look at it, the numbers are staggering. Clearly, developers are able to get the zoning changes and financing they need to build these projects, but has the rental market become too saturated? A rental and hotel bubble has been a concern since at least year, as developers rush to construction new projects. Recent news about big job cuts at Motorola Mobility, CME Group and others should be enough to spook speculative developers into giving new projects a second thought. However, for now, it seems that the apartment boom has no end in sight.
·New apartments galore [Crain's]
·That giant sucking sound in Chicago comes from these HQs [Crain's]
·Developers to Deliver 3,000 New Downtown Apartments in 2015 [Curbed Chicago]
·Take a Tour of the Building Boom Currently Underway in Downtown Chicago [Curbed Chicago]
·Apartment Boom Town archives [Curbed Chicago]
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