Publisher’s note: Chicago, here we go

It’s fitting as we approach our 15th anniversary covering the real estate beat that we move into a market as fascinating, as complex and as important as Chicago.

The city seems poised for considerable growth. Sales volume in the residential market has nearly doubled over the last three years, and big national players have realized having a presence here is mandatory. On the commercial side, Chicago is ranked sixth nationally for cross-border flows, and while it may not yet be a gateway market at the scale of London or New York, most signs point to it getting there.

It’s important that the city gets the narratively rich coverage it deserves. We’re thrilled to welcome senior reporter and proud Chicago native Scott Klocksin (sk@therealdeal.com) to the team. Scott, who joined us after many years on the New York real estate beat, will be the point person for a team of reporters, editors, and researchers who will strive to deliver the type of journalistically sound, data-driven stories that The Real Deal has come to be acclaimed for.

We started out in New York, and then branched out to Miami and Los Angeles. All our markets have their unique flavors and quirks, but have one thing in common with each other and with Chicago: real estate is the perfect lens through which to understand how money and power work in them.

Chicago’s real estate market has all the ingredients to support our style of journalism: rich history, an intriguing cast of characters, and many underreported issues.

It’s an exciting time for us as a publication. How we cover the beat has changed tremendously in the past few years: though you will always find in-depth coverage on the business of brokerage and brokers, you’re now just as likely to read stories on the flow of global capital, industry-changing technologies, and the gritty tales of the hardhats and politicos who put our cities together. We’re now bringing in about 2.7 million visits per month, and have the wealthiest audience on the web, as per Quantcast. Our work continues to get recognized; we just bagged a general excellence award from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors  and last year, scored a record 13 awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.

We look forward to feedback from our readers on what they’d like to see covered. If you have any news to share, please let us know at chicagonews@therealdeal.com. For advertising inquiries, please reach out to advertising@therealdeal.com. And if you’d like to recommend your favorite deep-dish pizza spots, drop me a line at ak@therealdeal.com

Cheers,
Amir Korangy