Will Chicago Host the 2016 Olympics?

Chicago is one of the competing cities to host the Olympic Games in 2016.  Months of planning goes into one presentation as a city prepares to compete for this honor.  One of the main components in a winning bid is the detailed construction timeline and plans for the Olympic center that will host the festivities.  It is a general rule of thumb that about 20 years of construction occurs over a period of a few years.  Cities that have hosted the Olympics in the past have seen a dramatic effect on their real estate markets in the commercial and retail sectors.  Much planning is involved as one of the crucial pieces of location analysis is finding a place that is centrally located and easily accessible through all transit systems.  The athletes must be able to travel to and from the games stress free and still have access to enjoy the city during the two week period.

"The Olympics has its core in sport, but it touches many professions, including real estate, architecture, media and others," said David Roberts of Jones Lang LaSalle, who outlined the ways in which a successful Olympic bid on the part of Chicago would affect local real estate before and after 2016. Facility construction would be a direct and highly visible impact, he said, but he also pointed to "the multiplier effect" of an accelerated pace of infrastructure renovation and development.

This is an interesting study and it will be even more interesting to see what this does to the housing industry.  Generally, home builders and Chicago condo developers follow the trend when there is a drastic increase in retail and infrastructure.  This simply paves the way for more high density urban condo development.  We’ll see what happens!