Chicago Commercial Real Estate: One Hundred Years of History in the MB Financial Building
Owners of Chicago commercial real estate often see tenants come and go over the years. But the
MB Financial Building at Halsted and Madison has had only one tenant in nearly a century: MB Financial. Back in 1911, the company signed a 99-year lease on the property, and it's been using the building as its base of operations ever since.
Now MB Financial has moved out, and the right to be the next tenant in this vintage Chicago commercial real estate property is up for sale.
The building is huge, with 86,000 square feet available. The building is a good fit for anyone looking to develop retail or office Chicago commercial real estate in the Near West section of Chicago.
Chicago Neighborhood Rallies Around Roosevelt Square Development
Residents of a near-west Chicago neighborhood have helped a new public housing development, called
Roosevelt Square, rise up to become a beacon of hope for low-income Chicagoans.
The development offers its residents a high quality of life, with beautiful new living spaces, complete with dishwasher, carpeting and central air. Rents are subsidized, and tenants are required to work at least 30 hours per week.
Tenants receive help finding work and getting the job-training they need.
Roosevelt Square is a new sign of progress on the near-west side. It is rising from the ashes of the crumbling ABLA public housing structure. The Chicago neighborhood surrounding the development really pitched in to help make the project a success.
Chicago Neighborhood Profile: Bucktown
The Chicago neighborhood of Bucktown is located just northwest of the downtown Chicago Loop area. It's a congregating point for those who want to see and be seen. While it had long been a haven for artists and musicians, this Chicago neighborhood has grown in popularity over the past few years, and is now one of the trendiest places for young, affluent Chicagoans to make their residence.
Bucktown is bordered by Ashland Avenue to the east, Western Avenue to the west, North Avenue to the south, and Fullerton Avenue to the north. It is easily accessible by the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line.
People thinking of moving to this hot Chicago neighborhood will find a variety of condominiums, single-family homes and multi-unit buildings.
A recently rehabbed, 3 bedroom condo for sale in the Chicago neighborhood of Bucktown is currently listed for $434,500. It is located near Damen and Paulina. Another 3 bedroon condo closer to Ashland and North Avenues is currently listed with @ properties for $550,000. Both are excellent examples of beautiful properties in this thriving Chicago neighborhood.
Chicago Neighborhoods Celebrate Summer's End
Chicago neighborhoods come alive in the summertime. With families grilling along the lake and young couples dining in outdoor cafes, the city takes on a whole new life and vitality.
With Labor Day weekend celebrations going on, many residents of
Chicago neighborhoods are looking to send out the summer in style. Some of the last
Chicago neighborhood festivals of the year are happening right now, so be sure to catch them if you can.
In
Washington Park, the annual African Festival of the Arts is taking place. On the northwest side in the
Chicago neighborhood of
Jefferson Park, residents from across the city are gathering to enjoy “Taste of Polonia,” a celebration of Polish arts, food and culture.
And of course, summer in Chicago neighborhoods wouldn’t be the same without the annual Chicago Jazz Fest in Grant Park.
So grab some sunscreen and get out there, before Old Man Winter returns to drive us back inside!
Condition of Chicago Neighborhoods High on Constituents' Minds
Chicago neighborhoods on the South Side need more new schools, more police officers, cleaner, safer alleys, and all sorts of other improvements. Local residents want police cameras remove from certain street corners in their Chicago neighborhoods, and that is just the beginning of a whole laundry list of concerns.
Mayor Richard Daley heard from residents of a variety of South Side Chicago neighborhoods yesterday, and all of them seemed to have some kind of local improvement in mind. What they did not have in mind, according to the Chicago Tribune's report on the meeting, was the cloud of corruption surrounding the mayor's office over the past couple of months.
While corruption will be a major issue in the next mayoral election, these Chicagoans appear to indicate that the needs of Chicago neighborhoods are likely to come first.
Downtown Chicago Revitalized, Expanding
Downtown Chicago used to consist of the famous Loop area, and maybe a couple of surrounding blocks.
Now, with an increasing focus on the downtown Chicago area, new businesses, banks, schools and homes are pushing on the boundaries of what has always been considered the downtown district. The Chicago Sun-Times this week proposed new boundaries for downtown Chicago, positing that the area spans from Division Street on the north to Roosevelt Ave on the south. Further, it now runs from Halsted on the west all the way to the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan on its eastern side.
The population of downtown Chicago has been rising steadily. Attitudes have been changing, and the crowded streets and towering skyscrapers are now seen as the cool place to live. Even without declaring new borders for the downtown area, the Loop has seen its population rise three-fold in the last 25 years.
In 1970, 4953 people lived in the Loop. As of the 2000 census, 16,388 people resided in the downtown Chicago Loop.
In 1970, 46,820 people lived in the expanded downtown Chicago area. In the year 2000, 70,137 people lived there.
Good job prospects and a booming residential real estate market have both served to improve the image of downtown Chicago. Expect the area to keep gaining in popularity as more and more people seize this opportunity to live in one of the greatest cities in the world.
Chicago Neighborhoods Ask Residents to be Good Neighbors, Look Out for Elderly During Heat Wave
Chicago neighborhoods are patrolling to make sure that the sick and elderly can find relief during the current heat wave. Yesterday, temperatures rose into the triple digits, soaring up near record highs.
City workers began checking in on people in their Chicago area homes, to make sure they were OK and that they knew their options for getting to Chicago neighborhood cooling centers. WSB-TV reported that "An automated calling system began contacting 40,000 elderly residents at 9 a.m. to inform them about the heat."
Preparedness across the many Chicago neighborhoods affected by the heat wave seems to be paying off. Calls for emergency personnel and reports of heat-related deaths were low compared with the much publicized heat wave of 1995, which killed 700 people.
