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Chicago Industrial Summit

Tight Vacancy, Big Land, Real Power: A Rebounded Region's Playbook for the Year Ahead

Coming in November 2026

Speakers and Panels

Austin Rabine

Austin Rabine

CEO, SITE

WHY YOU CAN'T MISS THIS EVENT

DISCUSSIONS ON DEVELOPMENT, CAPITAL, COLD STORAGE, AND MORE

1. State of the Industrial Market

  - Where Chicagoland and the Midwest stand on vacancy, rents, and the road ahead

2. Development in a Disciplined Market

  - How developers are picking sites, managing costs, and getting projects out of the ground

3. Investment and Capital Markets

  - Assembling the optimal capital stack as investors return to the market

4. The Infill Advantage and Last-Mile Demand

  - Why Chicago's core submarkets stay tight and how owners compete for tenants

5. Powered Land: Cold Storage, IOS, and Data Center Conversions

  - How power-hungry uses are redefining industrial land values across the region

6. Leasing, Occupancy, and Tenant Services

  - Identifying and retaining tenants in a competitive market

7. Public-Private Partnership and Policy

  - The incentives, infrastructure, and local leadership driving industrial growth

 

HOW YOU'LL DO MORE BUSINESS:

Bisnow's annual midwest industrial program explores the latest trends shaping logistics, manufacturing, cold storage, and more, convening the region's key leaders for a conversation on modern industrial real estate at the crossroads of North American commerce. Featuring discussions on everything from capital stacks to powered land, we'll hear from the top owners, developers, and investors in this fast-moving asset class as they share where the market goes next.

 

WHO YOU'LL MEET DURING NETWORKING:

Owners, developers, investors, brokers, public officials, and providers moving the industrial market forward.

 

PROJECTS TO BE DISCUSSED AND IN THE NEWS

- Hillwood and Clarius Partners break ground on the 970,123 SF University Park Logistics Center, one of Chicagoland's largest speculative starts in years

- Trammell Crow lands a full-building 788,000 SF lease with RJW Logistics at Plainfield Business Center and preps its next spec phase

- NorthPoint Development buys a Chicago-area industrial portfolio for $270 million

- Bridge Industrial rebrands as Kurv Industrial as the Chicago-born developer expands into new markets

- Prologis pushes deeper into data centers with massive Illinois campuses proposed in Yorkville and beyond

- Chicago industrial is having a moment as investors look to get back in

 

Interested in Getting Involved?

Contact z@bisnow.com to get more info on sponsorship, pricing and availability at this event.

 

For questions, recommendations, comments or press inquiries please email our Chicago event producer Will Follett at will.follett@bisnow.com. To request disability-related accommodations, please contact janet.fernandez@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

Agenda

Time Activity
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
Breakfast and Networking
9:00 AM
9:45 AM
The Crossroads of America: How policies shaping new developments, reshoring, and shifting supply chains are driving demand
9:45 AM
10:30 AM
Capital, Construction, and the Coming Squeeze: Where capital is flowing as build-to-suit replaces spec
10:30 AM
10:45 AM
Networking Break
10:45 AM
11:30 AM
Tenant leverage, the flight to quality, and the demand actually filling space today
Who's Signing, and Who's Winning?
11:30 AM
12:15 PM
Build, Power, Deliver: Site readiness, energy, and getting projects out of the ground
12:15 PM
12:30 PM
Closing Networking

Want to get a recap of everything covered at the event?

Purchase the post-event summary and get the highlights sent to you in a post-event summary. Purchase here.