Recognizing Chicago's strong appetite for multifamily development, we've decided to hold an event on the topic on Thursday, March 14. Tom Murphy, one of our speakers, is president and CEO of JSQ Commercial, which contributed $36.5M to a JV with Indianapolis-based Watermark Residential. The plan: build 1,500 to 2,000 units in suburban markets around the country (the 220-unit Louisville project above broke ground in July 2012). While many developers are gravitating toward city hot spots like River North, Tom believes there's great opportunity in identifying high barrier to entry suburban sites. The headaches of rezoning have ensured a restriction on supply in those markets and minimal competition.

CBRE SVP John Jaeger says there is a plethora of capital wanting to invest in multifamily. Why the lack of supply? A lot of investors don't know where to put their money, according to John. The sector is returning such good IRRs and it's hard to replace that cash flow and return. Other than having a debt maturity or some other initiative to sell, investors want to "Hold On" (one of our favorite Alabama Shakes songs). Speaking of music, John tells us his daughter Jayne was on American Idolthis year and got all her talents from him.