Featuring the perspectives of:

Ted Weldon, Executive General Manager of Development, Lendlease Chicago
David Wolf, President, Wolf Development Strategies

Will you add inventory in 2023? Can you tell us about your plans?

Wolf: Yes. We are working on some larger multifamily lease-up assignments in Chicago, and we believe there will be opportunities for lease-up assignments in Chicago and condo assignments in and out of Chicago. Additionally, with our newly launched marketing services and digital marketing platform, FLOW OS, we are anticipating more projects coming online through that channel.

Weldon: With the completion of The Reed, we will bring 216 condominiums and 224 apartments to the South Loop. While the pandemic created delays for a number of developments in the city, we were able to break ground on The Reed on time and continue construction on schedule, putting us in a position to be one of the few developers offering move-in-ready homes in the neighborhood when demand is accelerating.

Will supply chain issues continue to hamper new construction in 2023?

Weldon: We are fortunate to be in a position to offer move-in-ready, new-construction homes at Cirrus and nearly completed condominiums at The Reed, as the construction supply chain will continue to present challenges. We’re particularly proud that our construction division, which built both the Lakeshore East and Southbank developments, was able to keep these projects on track, even with the impact the pandemic had not only on the supply chain, but also the workforce. At The Reed, we were able to incorporate innovations that improved the sustainability and safety of our construction process, such as the use of low-carbon concrete, solar-powered conference rooms and electric cranes to reduce environmental impacts, and the addition of a secondary screen for added protection for workers installing window wall components and the use of precast concrete stairs poured at ground level and then lifted into place to provide safe stair access to the working decks.

We work closely with manufacturers to incorporate their product into our designs. Their participation in our design process ensures that we are able to foresee product delivery, assess sustainability features and coordinate supply chain challenges together as a partnership.

Wolf: Supply chain issues are still impacting supply timelines, even though this issue has drastically improved in recent months. Constructions costs are still heavily impacting pro formas of every development we work on.