Chicago, IL

Chicago has had a relatively strong market over the last few months, despite declining trends overall. The city has seen an increase in both new construction projects and renovations of older buildings.

The overall market has been declining since 2008, but this is more due to demographics than economics. Chicago has roughly the same number of residents as it did 100 years ago and there just isn’t the same need for new projects here as there is out West. Chicago has instead focused on upgrading and modernizing existing facilities, with renovations making up a large share of the volume.

Chicago’s residential sector is a small part of the overall market. The commercial sector is one of the largest, thanks to the city’s location at the center of America’s railroad network. Businesses are investing in warehouses across the area to accommodate the increasingly online nature of shopping, and this is expected to drive growth here in the coming years. The city’s labor pool has steadily added workers to meet some of this new demand although Chicago’s overall construction volume has been declining. This should keep labor costs low going forward.

* Other structures include religious buildings, amusement, government communications, and public recreation projects.