Joe Smazal sits down with Barry Misner (CEO, Misner Group) and Larry Goldwasser (Executive VP, CBRE) inside a brand-new industrial building in Chicago’s Union Stockyards — the geographic center of the city and one of the most constrained, high-barrier industrial submarkets in the country.

Barry leads a third-generation, 81-year-old development firm with over 750 projects and $3B+ in completed work. Larry has 25+ years and 650+ transactions specializing in industrial land and redevelopment across Chicago, Western Cook, O’Hare, and Northwest Indiana.

Together they break down why modern infill industrial is so hard to deliver — and why only a handful of developers in the city can actually pull it off.

In this episode:

Why the Union Stockyards is an A+ industrial submarket and how it’s transforming

What separates a modern industrial building from the 1970s stock most tenants are stuck in (clear height, column spacing, truck courts, power, sprinkler systems)

Land scarcity, environmental cleanup, soil conditions, and the new Chicago air quality ordinance

Why industrial rents in Chicago are up 175% over the last decade

Build-to-suit vs speculative development, and why 58% of new construction is now

BTS Northwest Indiana maturing as an industrial market — and the $27B data center investment in Hobart and New Carlisle

The real story behind NIMBYism against industrial and data centers

Why Chicago’s economic diversity keeps the industrial market steadier than markets like Houston

Up-and-coming Chicago real estate talent worth watching

A great listen for developers, brokers, investors, and anyone trying to understand how the buildings that supply the city actually get built. Real Estate Chicago Style is hosted by Joe Smazal, multifamily broker and owner-operator on Chicago’s north side.

#ChicagoRealEstate #IndustrialRealEstate #CRE #Stockyards #ChicagoDevelopment