Jameson Sotheby's International Realty and Jameson Commercial recently hosted their Real Estate Mingle at the Ravenswood Event Center. More than 450 in the real estate industry enjoyed rare cars, cigars, and liquors while raising funds for the Brain Research Foundation and honoring the memory of Jake Huzenis, son of Jameson co-founder Charley Huzenis. When we asked Jameson CEO Chris Feurer (above right, with Torque's Kevin Masi) for his top market trends, he told us more than a handful of Jameson clients that have to do 1031 exchanges between $5M and $20M are sitting on the sidelines right now, since it’s so tough to find feasible acquisitions. (That’s across all product types, from single-tenant to strip centers to industrial.)

Some cool rides from the event. On the multifamily front, Chris is seeing a development shift from rentals to condos (in A-plus neighborhoods) for the first time since ’08. That means apartment conversions are on the horizon, since condo inventory remains sparse. Condos may be harder to finance, but they make for a more definitive exit strategy, he says. (We prefer the fire escape.) About half of the developers are fresh faces, he’s noticed, from both local and out-of-state shops. Some have never built a building before but now have funds to divert into real estate, and it remains to be seen what kind of learning curve these newbies face, he says.