News & Market Updates
Market updates, deal news, and recognition from Jason Bitton — RE/MAX Commercial. Covering Lake County, the North Shore, and Chicago's northwest suburbs.
Lake County & North Suburbs CRE Update
IKEA's Gurnee Mills store is closing in on its fall opening, one of the country's biggest net-lease buyers paid $176.5 million for industrial real estate in Glenview, and a split Federal Reserve held rates steady while Amazon shops for Chicago warehouse space. Here's what the past two weeks mean for property owners, buyers, and investors in our market.
Lake County spotlight
IKEA's Gurnee store opens this fall. The 66,000-square-foot small-format IKEA at Gurnee Mills — the chain's third Illinois location, filling part of the former Sears Grand space at 6136 W. Grand Ave. — is set to open this fall, backed by up to $2 million in village incentives and roughly $12 million in private investment from mall owner Simon Property Group and the retailer, with a wave of other new stores and entertainment tenants lined up alongside it. An anchor with this kind of pull lifts traffic, rents, and land values along the Grand Avenue corridor well before the doors open.
Lake County industrial keeps drawing bigger tenants north of Route 60. REjournals notes that recent large-scale leasing has been concentrated in Waukegan, Libertyville, Gurnee and neighboring towns north of Illinois Route 60, where several users have signed leases of 100,000 square feet or larger and newer Class-A product — like HSA Commercial's 218,500-square-foot Delany Commerce Center in Waukegan, the county's first 30-foot-clear Class-A distribution building since 2005 — is capturing the top-tier demand. If you own older flex or warehouse space, the rent gap between vintage and modern product is where your upside — or your competition — lives.
Northern Cook County
A $176.5 million vote of confidence in north-suburb industrial. Net-lease giant Realty Income paid $176.5 million for two industrial properties totaling roughly 678,000 square feet in Glenview — one of the north suburbs' largest industrial trades of the year. When a buyer of that caliber places institutional money in our backyard, it firms up pricing for every well-leased industrial asset nearby.
Medical tenants are quietly driving demand. In Bisnow's July 21 Chicago Deal Sheet: Illinois Retina renewed and expanded into 16,000 square feet at Concourse Office Plaza in Skokie, an investor paid $21.7 million for a fully leased three-property veterinary portfolio in the western suburbs, and Sonica International bought a 40,000-square-foot Elk Grove Village industrial building for $5.2 million — roughly $130 per square foot for small-bay product. Medical office, veterinary, and small-bay industrial remain the stickiest, most contested niches in this market.
Around the region
Amazon is buying again — and the industrial momentum is real. Amazon is reportedly close to a deal to buy a 571,000-square-foot Goose Island warehouse at 1237 W. Division St. in Chicago. Zoom out and Cushman & Wakefield's mid-year numbers back up the headlines: 21.8 million square feet of new leasing through June — up 11.1% year-over-year and the best first half since 2022 — with vacancy steady at 4.8% for a third straight quarter, net absorption up 146%, and average asking rents at $7.55 per square foot.
The Fed held — but it was a split decision. At its July 29 meeting, the Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate at 3.5%–3.75% in a 9-3 vote — with the three dissenters pushing for a quarter-point hike, not a cut. Borrowing costs are staying put for now, and the dissents are a signal not to bank on cheaper debt this year. Investment capital hasn't slowed, though: Highland Real Estate Partners paid $119 million — about $399,000 a unit — for the 298-unit Exhibit on Superior apartments in River North, a reminder that well-located multifamily still commands aggressive pricing.
What this means for you
Sellers: Institutional buyers are writing large checks close to home — $176.5 million in Glenview, $21.7 million for a leased veterinary portfolio — and with the Fed split on its next move, waiting for lower rates to lift your price is a coin flip. If you own stabilized industrial, medical, or service retail, the demand is here now — and near Gurnee Mills, IKEA's opening is a marketing tailwind worth using.
Buyers: Plan around today's rates, not hoped-for cuts — lock terms early and stress-test every deal at a higher rate. Fully leased industrial and medical assets are priced for perfection, so the better value is in properties with solvable problems: short leases, dated buildouts, or older flex space that can be repositioned against the new Class-A supply north of Route 60.
Investors: Follow the credit tenants. Amazon, IKEA, Realty Income, and medical users are all pointing at where durable demand sits — logistics, small-bay industrial, and healthcare-anchored real estate. With a heavy refinancing calendar still working through the market, keep capital ready for owners who need to transact before year-end.
Thinking about your next move? Get a read on your property's value with the free Property Value Estimator, or get started with a no-obligation market consultation — Jason Bitton, RE/MAX Commercial, Libertyville.
Earlier updates
Jul 21, 2026Lake County & North Suburbs CRE Update — Vernon Hills OKs a million-SF industrial park, record mid-year leasing, rate outlook flipsRead ›Close ×
Vernon Hills cleared the way for up to a million square feet of new industrial space, the Chicago-area industrial market ran its hottest mid-year in years, and the interest-rate story quietly flipped from “cuts are coming” to “hikes are possible” — here's what the period meant for property owners, buyers, and investors in our market.
Lake County spotlight
Vernon Hills approved a 70-acre industrial park. On July 7, the village board signed off on the Vernon Hills Industrial Park at the former American Hotel Register property, 100–230 S. Milwaukee Ave. — up to 1 million square feet of new building space, and roughly 1.2 million square feet total across five buildings once the existing warehouse is counted. Developer JCA Hayes LLC plans three speculative buildings plus a nearly 700,000-square-foot build-to-suit for hand2mind, a sister company of longtime Vernon Hills employer Learning Resources. An approval this size resets land and flex values up and down the Milwaukee Avenue corridor — and puts a major new block of modern industrial supply on the map for central Lake County.
Mundelein keeps backfilling older space. Just up the road, Ryse Athletic Club is taking a long-vacant building at 333 Washington Blvd. in the Allanson Industrial Park, per the Daily Herald, while downtown's AREA Apartments and a 155-home Pulte subdivision at Winchester Road and Route 83 add the rooftops that support neighborhood retail, according to the village's development updates. Adaptive reuse of industrial buildings plus infill housing is exactly what keeps secondary corridors healthy.
Northern Cook County
The Bears' Arlington Heights site is still the region's biggest wild card. In June, the team's board voted to advance a Northwest Indiana stadium plan even as Springfield weighs a “megaprojects” incentive package that could keep the 326-acre former Arlington Park redevelopment in Illinois. For owners and investors near the site, the takeaway is patience: entitlement and infrastructure uncertainty of this magnitude keeps speculative land bets risky. Underwrite the property in front of you — not the rendering.
Around the region
Industrial demand is the strongest in years. The Chicago area logged about 21.8 million square feet of new leasing through mid-2026 — up roughly 11% year-over-year and the best mid-year total since 2022, with vacancy holding near 4.8%, per Connect CRE. Big-box construction is chasing that demand: Mapletree just broke ground on a 419,520-square-foot logistics facility in the Joliet submarket for 2027 delivery.
The rate picture flipped. The federal funds target sits at 3.5%–3.75%, but after the June meeting under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, markets have swung from pricing rate cuts to bracing for possible hikes later this year. Commercial mortgage rates now start around 5.70% as of mid-July, and with roughly $1 trillion in commercial real estate loans maturing in 2026, refinancing math — not cheap new debt — is the story for most owners.
What this means for you
Sellers: Industrial and stabilized retail demand is strong, pricing is holding, and the Vernon Hills approval just lifted values along that corridor. If you've been waiting for lower rates to bring buyers back, that may not happen this year — testing the market now, while demand is hot, looks smarter than betting on cheaper debt.
Buyers: Financing costs aren't falling and could rise, so lock terms early and stress-test every deal at a higher rate. The better value is still in fixable assets — short leases, deferred maintenance, or re-tenanting plays — rather than fully priced big-box industrial or grocery-anchored retail.
Investors: Follow the build-to-suit and logistics demand, but underwrite entitlement risk carefully — the Bears saga is a live reminder that even marquee projects can stall. With roughly $1 trillion in loans coming due, refinance-driven and lightly distressed opportunities should surface through year-end for buyers with capital ready.
Thinking about your next move? Get a read on your property's value with the free Property Value Estimator, or get started with a no-obligation market consultation — Jason Bitton, RE/MAX Commercial, Libertyville.
Jul 6, 2026Lake County & North Suburbs CRE Update — Waukegan casino groundbreaking, retail trades, tight industrialRead ›Close ×
Waukegan broke ground on the $302 million permanent American Place Casino, local retail centers traded at healthy prices, and Chicago-area industrial vacancy held near historic lows — here's what the period meant for property owners, buyers, and investors in our market.
Lake County spotlight
Waukegan's $302 million casino is officially underway. On June 3, Full House Resorts broke ground on the permanent American Place Casino at Fountain Square Place — roughly 200,000 square feet of gaming space, three restaurants and bars, about 1,300 slots and 80 table games, with opening targeted in about two years. Projects of this scale pull traffic, jobs, and spending into the surrounding corridor, and nearby retail, hospitality, and service properties stand to benefit first.
Waukegan retail is trading. A private investor paid $2.8 million for Grand Plaza East, a 36,000-square-foot, five-suite retail center at 2201 Grand Ave. anchored by Domino's Pizza, per Bisnow's June 30 Chicago Deal Sheet. Stabilized, service-tenant retail in Lake County is finding buyers — a good signal for owners of similar centers.
National tenants keep committing to central Lake County. The new Raising Cane's on Townline Road in Vernon Hills wrapped construction in May on a 15-year ground lease, and IKEA has a 66,000-square-foot Gurnee store in the works — long-term credit-tenant capital flowing into our retail corridors.
Northern Cook County
Institutional money bought grocery-anchored retail in Park Ridge. An institutional investment manager acquired The Shops of Uptown, a 70,000-square-foot Trader Joe's-anchored center, from Phillips Edison Co., per Bisnow — and in the same Deal Sheet, a six-suite service-retail strip in Schiller Park sold for $3.5 million. When institutions compete for suburban retail, pricing firms up across the category, including here in Lake County.
Around the region
Industrial stays tight. Chicago-area industrial vacancy is holding in the roughly 4.7%–5.3% range depending on the tracker — well below the 20-year average, per Newmark — and big players keep buying: Prologis acquired 26 acres in Glendale Heights for 454,000 square feet of new logistics space, and a 443,000-square-foot Elgin building traded for $24.8 million in mid-June.
Downtown office pain is a suburban story too. A West Loop tower sold at a reported 76% discount and another defaulted on a $343 million loan in late June. Capital rotating out of downtown office keeps finding its way into suburban industrial, retail, and medical assets — part of why local pricing has held up.
Rates and taxes moved. The Fed's cuts have brought the federal funds target down to the 3.5%–3.75% range, and analysts expect lower rates to support CRE values, though CBRE cautions cap rates will ease more slowly than in past cycles. In Springfield, lawmakers passed a major overhaul of Illinois' tax-sale system — delinquent commercial properties and vacant lots run through that system too, so owners with tax issues should understand the new auction process and longer repayment window.
What this means for you
Sellers: Buyers are paying real prices for stabilized Lake County retail and industrial right now — the Grand Plaza East and Park Ridge sales prove it. With rates down and institutional capital moving into suburban assets, this is one of the better windows in several years to test the market, especially near the Waukegan casino corridor.
Buyers: Lower borrowing costs help, but don't expect bargains in industrial or grocery-anchored retail — competition is stiff. The better value plays are properties with fixable problems: short leases, deferred maintenance, or re-tenanting opportunities in improving corridors like Waukegan.
Investors: Watch the ripple effects of the American Place project — casino-adjacent hospitality and service retail tends to appreciate as construction progresses. And the entitlement setbacks making headlines elsewhere in the region are a reminder to underwrite zoning risk on any land deal, no matter how hot the end use.
Thinking about your next move? Get a read on your property's value with the free Property Value Estimator, or get started with a no-obligation market consultation — Jason Bitton, RE/MAX Commercial, Libertyville.
Jun 23, 2026Jason Bitton named #1 RE/MAX Commercial Broker in Illinois for 2025, inducted into RE/MAX Hall of FameRead ›Close ×
The Libertyville-based broker earns the state's top RE/MAX Commercial ranking for the third time — 2022, 2024, and 2025 — cementing his standing as a leading Lake County commercial real estate broker.
For Immediate Release
LIBERTYVILLE, IL — June 23, 2026 — Jason Bitton of RE/MAX Commercial has been named the #1 RE/MAX Commercial broker in Illinois for 2025 — his third time holding the state's top ranking, following 2022 and 2024 — and has been inducted into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame.
A leading Lake County commercial real estate broker, Bitton works exclusively in commercial property — retail, industrial, office, multifamily, mixed-use, NNN net-lease investment, and land — across Lake County, Chicago's North Shore, the Northwest Suburbs, and the O'Hare corridor. His practice is 100% commercial, with no residential.
— Jason Bitton, RE/MAX Commercial
Over more than a decade in commercial brokerage, Bitton has built a reputation for complex transactions — navigating zoning, entitlement, inspection contingencies, and multi-party negotiations involving attorneys, lenders, municipal officials, and 1031 exchange specialists. His listings receive continuous syndication across CoStar, LoopNet, Crexi Pro, and MLS.
Bitton holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business. He serves commercial property owners, investors, landlords, and tenants throughout Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Mundelein, Grayslake, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, Barrington, Arlington Heights, and the greater Lake County and Chicagoland market.
About Jason Bitton — RE/MAX Commercial. Jason Bitton is the #1 RE/MAX Commercial broker in Illinois (2022, 2024, 2025) and a RE/MAX Hall of Fame member (2025), based in Libertyville. He provides commercial real estate brokerage — sales, leasing, valuation, and transaction management — across retail, industrial, office, multifamily, mixed-use, NNN investment, and land throughout Lake County and Chicagoland. Learn more at JasonCRE.com.
Contact: Jason Bitton, RE/MAX Commercial · 1344 S Milwaukee Ave, Libertyville, IL 60048 · (847) 858-2909 · Jason@JasonCRE.com
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