Author: Alby Gallun

Alby Gallun is a senior reporter with Crain's Chicago Business. A Milwaukee native, Gallun spent more than three years at the Milwaukee Business Journal as a feature writer and a manufacturing and labor reporter. Before that, he covered the agriculture commodities markets for Reuters.

Articles by Alby Gallun

• Affinius, Prologis Pioneering Wooden Warehouse Construction in North America
  Published on June 12, 2023 in
  As the use of mass-timber construction gains momentum in the multifamily development business, it is still taking baby steps in the U.S. industrial market. Last October, Affinius Capital and Seefried Industrial Properties attracted plenty of attention when they completed a 161,000-square-foot (14,900 sq m) wood-paneled warehouse outside Dallas, one of the first of its kind in the country, and more are planned or under construction.
• Converting Chicago Office to Mixed Use on LaSalle Street
  Published on April 24, 2023 in
  When the Field Building on Chicago’s LaSalle Street opened in 1932, it was a technological and architectural marvel, with high-speed elevators, drinking fountains, and even air-conditioning, a first for the city. Nearly a century later, the 1.3-million-square-foot (120,774 sq m) Art Deco landmark is a pioneer of a different sort.
• Build-to-Rent Projects Weathering Higher Interest Rates, Shifting Strategies
  Published on March 08, 2023 in
  In a market that has been disrupted by rising interest rates and unsteady financial markets, single-family rental investors and developers have not lost sight of the bigger picture. Demand for housing still exceeds supply.
• Bringing a Growing Employer to a Former General Electric Site in Indiana
  Published on January 26, 2023 in
  After nearly eight years, workers are returning to a former General Electric factory in Fort Wayne. A complex financial package helped create a new home for one of Indiana’s largest employers at this postindustrial site in the U.S. Midwest.
• In the Midwest, Freeing Up Suburban Office for In-Demand Industrial
  Published on December 14, 2022 in
  The office and industrial real estate markets have moved in opposite directions since the COVID-19 virus arrived on U.S. shores almost three years ago. In late October, Dermody Properties broke ground on an industrial mega-development on the former corporate campus of insurance giant Allstate.
• The Willis Tower’s $670 Million Makeover
  Published on November 02, 2022 in
  Undermanaged and underinvested for years, the newly unveiled, amenity-rich Chicago redevelopment appears prescient.
• In Milwaukee, a 25-Story Mass Timber Apartment Building Makes an Ascent
  Published on October 18, 2022 in
  New Land Enterprises is leasing up Ascent MKE, the tallest mass timber building in the world at 25 stories, in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• EB-5 Program Returns, but Some Issues Unresolved
  Published on June 08, 2022 in
  When developer Michael Reschke opens his new hotel on LaSalle Street in Chicago’s Loop district in a few weeks, he will also be opening the door for dozens of overseas investors to live in the United States.
• Planning for a Retail Revival on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile
  Published on April 07, 2022 in
  For decades, the storied North Michigan Avenue shopping district has been a key engine driving downtown Chicago’s economy. But a slow decline already underway before COVID-19’s arrival accelerated as restrictions to contain the pandemic kept many tourists and local shoppers out of stores. City officials and local leaders are trying to lay the foundation for a turnaround after the release of a report from a panel convened by the Urban Land Institute’s Chicago district council.
• Condo Deconversions: Struggling Associations Look to Multifamily Investors
  Published on March 23, 2022 in
  Investors who specialize in “deconverting” condo properties back into rentals are finding opportunities. But the deals take patience and fortitude.