Abby Miller

4 weeks ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Abby Miller

City officials and development partners on Thursday marked the start of their efforts to convert four Loop office buildings into apartments, an effort to create a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood after the pandemic slashed office vacancy levels. A groundbreaking was held for 79 W. Monroe, the first office-to-residential conversion to break ground under the city’s La Salle Street Corridor Revitalization initiative.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Abby Miller

We break down complex business news to help you understand how money moves in Chicago and how it affects you. The Merchandise Mart is losing one of its oldest tenants to Fulton Market, as more companies flock to the trendy West Side neighborhood. Global furniture maker KI announced this week that it’s leaving the Mart and setting up a Chicago showroom at 1045 on Fulton, taking up the entire eighth floor of the office property at 1045 W.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Abby Miller

Plans for a new residential high-rise in Fulton Market were approved Thursday by the Chicago Plan Commission. The project will join a surge of new development in the West Side neighborhood. The roughly $300 million investment by developer Sterling Bay would add nearly 12,000 square feet of green space to the traditionally industrial corridor. It also includes a sizable amount of affordable family-sized units, as the neighborhood continues to attract new residents.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Abby Miller |Amy Yee |Stephanie Zimmermann

Entrepreneurs raise an average of $23,000 during their friends and family funding round before launching their startup. But a Black entrepreneur would need to secure “the entire liquid wealth of six Black families” to hit that $23,000 figure, according to research from Fifth Star Funds. The nonprofit said the median liquid wealth, which excludes home equity, of a Black family is $3,630. It also said Black founders receive only 1% of venture capital funding.

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Matt Moore |Abby Miller |Courtney Kueppers |Rafaela Jinich

On Monday, Sandya Dandamudi, president of Chicago-based stone supplier GI Stone, had five trucks racing to the Canadian border by midnight. The trucks were full of American granite fabricated in Canada that needed to be in the U.S. — or it risked being slapped by President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on Canadian imports. Trump on Tuesday put 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada, taxing Canadian energy products, like oil and electricity, at a lower 10% rate.