See 10 Years of Chicago Real Estate Development in One Video
Sure, we could tell you we've had a busy decade—lots of construction and demolition. But it's more fun to explode it in your face, with this cool heat map and video.
KIG created the time lapse heat map video showing the rise of new construction and demolition permits issued from 2006 through April 2015. KIG data analytics officer Marc Rutzen says it gives developers a sense of what has transpired in local real estate development before, during and after the 2008 recession. Marc obtained the permits from the City’s open data portal and felt creating a time lapse heat map was more intuitive than a static map. Based on the data, the Loop and its nearby neighborhoods were ripe for development before and after the recession, but for different reasons.
Marc (pictured) says the post-recession boom in construction permits has been mostly fueled by hotel and multifamily apartment development, though nowhere near the levels of 2006-08. Based on the available data, Marc says West Town is a great investment for developers, based on land cost and building height. West Town has more vacant land as developers inch closer to downtown and the denser areas of development. Demolition, meanwhile, is active across Chicago during this time period but is at its heaviest in Englewood.
Marc is working on other data plans, including one tracking the effect of extending designated bike paths into neighborhoods with positive demographic changes farther out from the city's center. Marc believes this would be beneficial for the city and developers planning transit-oriented developments.
Click here to watch the video.
