These days, our growing appetite for eating at home, buying prepared meals and ordering groceries online is accelerating demand for cold-storage space, which had a mere 2.5% vacancy rate in Chicagoland in the second quarter per CoStar data. Knowing Chicago real estate reporters would want to learn more about demand and projections for the segment, we reached out to the Chicago Sun-Times and offered insights from John Basile, executive vice president at Taylor Johnson client NAI Hiffman and an expert in the space. In the resulting article, Basile detailed what’s driving demand for more cold storage (and jobs), especially in submarkets close to downtown – and why his phone is ringing with interested investors. Read the story here.

Last-mile food delivery demand is driving the need for more cold storage space in proximity to downtown Chicago, like this building at 5115 S. Millard in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood.