CRE in Chicago - so few opportunities??

Was just searching around LinkedIn, and shocked how few cre roles/firms there are in Chicago. Even in this shitty market, NYC has 10-fold more cre postings and firms.

Is this just how it is in a Midwest city? Do you have to move to NYC if you want a high paying role? I know some guys in good seats in Chicago, but getting those jobs seems like a crapshoot as there’s barely any of them.

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JLL is HQ’ed in Chicago and CBRE, WD, and Berkadia have a strong presence as well.

Can’t speak to Newmark, CW, or Colliers but assuming at least 2 of them have a presence, if not all 3.

Then there’s a multitude of principal side shops such as Blue Owl (previously Oak Street), Harrison Street, Walton Street, Heitman, Ventas, Waterton, JLL IM, PGIM, Hines, Brookfield, BREIT, Green Courte, Blue Vista

There’s jobs available, however you need to be tapped into the recruiting network. Almost all of my interviews came from “off market” listings which the recruiters handle. Very few are on LinkedIn

 

I have found Chicago fuckin sucks for the exact reason I read somewhere in here about there don’t seem to be a lot of the really good positions

 

Interesting...someone told me that UW alum RE are actually oversaturated. Could see it hurting and helping

 

Like everything in CRE, need to be connected.  Lived in Chicago for almost 5 years, can easily make $175k+ as an associate on either side of the aisle buying or selling.  Lots of roles get filled to people connected via family in the business or hustled to make relationships before anyone ever sees it.  Left because the city is deteriorating rapidly from bad leadership, but overwhelmingly enjoyed my time there.  Lots of wild nights on the broker side

 

Where'd you head to? Visited Chi for the first time a few weeks ago and was blown away. I never had any personal connection or reason to visit so I was kind of carried away in the Fox News talking points on the city and just assumed it was mediocre at best and a shithole at worst. I found downtown and the northern neighborhoods to be significantly nicer than any sunbelt city, but as I understand the south side is basically rotting out and the city leadership is atrocious, plus the pension burden. Love to hear your thoughts.

 

Incredibly fun place for a young post-grad, many pockets of downtown and the northern/western suburbs are extremely nice.  Unfortunately even the suburbs still fall under atrocious Cook County leadership and taxes.  They keep raising taxes for both commercial (even office while values tank) and residential, absolutely nuking RE values and institutional interest. I have seen trophy office buildings with tax bills north of $20 PSF annually.  Had fun but man I would not buy property there. 

I split most of my time between the Midwest and Southeast now.  

 

Southern_cre

Visited Chi for the first time a few weeks ago and was blown away. I never had any personal connection or reason to visit so I was kind of carried away in the Fox News talking points on the city and just assumed it was mediocre at best and a shithole at worst. 

Incredible. And this was in the middle of the winter - you'll end up moving there if you visit in summer. Now Imagine what else Fox News has been lying to you about all these years...

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

I mean, this may or may not have something to do with, you know, Chicago being blacklisted by tons of shops and capital for being, well uh you know, corrupt as shit and creating a horrifying, uninvestable tax environment in terms of risk. No capital being interested in the city means little work for local shops, so the only roles i'd expect you find are national shops that have an office presence there. We by example, will invest almost anywhere but we auto delete any opportunities that hit our inbox from Chicago.  

 
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