CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM I MAY 6, 2024
Kaegi downplays downtown commercial property fallout The Cook County assessor says public sentiment about plummeting values over the past couple of years is worse than his office sees it
THESE ARE THE BEST NEW RESTAURANTS Chicago felt rich with restaurant openings over the last year. We’re focusing on downtown options for the business diner, sampling four dinner spots and three lunch locales. We also scope out a cocktail bar and a wine tasting counter. | PAGE 14
Downtown commercial property owners fearing Fritz Kaegi’s latest estimates of what their buildings are worth might have good reason to worry, based on new comments from the Cook County assessor. Taking a generally positive outlook on the downtown commercial real estate market as effects of the COVID-19 pandemic subside, Kaegi told local property owners on April 24 that overall public sentiment about plummeting property values in Chicago’s urban core over the past couple of years is worse than his office sees it. When it comes to the fallout that the struggling downtown office and retail market may unleash on other taxpayers, “generally the perception is that the impact will be greater than what we think it actually will be,” Kaegi said in an interview with Crain’s
DANNY ECKER
By Danny Ecker
Fritz Kaegi speaks at the Cook County Assessor’s Office Market Investor Day on April 24.
town west of the Chicago River. Kaegi is reassessing all of downtown this year for the first time since 2021, and the West Loop numbers will signal his broader opinion on how rising interest rates and weak demand for
during an event his office held to discuss assessments with local real estate stakeholders. That may be nauseating for many landlords to hear as they brace for Kaegi to release assessments in the next few weeks for West Chicago Township, which includes a big chunk of down-
See DOWNTOWN on Page 22
What Foxtrot and Dom’s abrupt closures mean for DTC awareness The trendy grocery chains were an important marketing engine for many of today’s up-and-coming direct-to-consumer brands The sudden closure of trendy grocery chain Foxtrot Market is a blow to many up-and-coming direct-to-consumer brands that used distribution in the upscale stores as a key marketing engine. As Crain’s first reported, Outfox Hospitality, the Chicago-based parent of Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen & Market, shut both chains down on April 23, six months after the two brands merged. “We explored many avenues to continue the business but found no viable option despite good faith and exhaustive efforts,” Dom’s Chicago stated on its Facebook page.
FOXTROT MARKET
By Phoebe Bain, Ad Age
The chains were small — Foxtrot operated 33 stores in cities such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas, while Dom’s only had two stores in Chi-
cago. Foxtrot, in particular, provided a demonstration ground for many DTCs that had goals of entering bigger chains such as Target and Whole Foods, helping them gain momentum. “There are very few retailers willing to roll the dice on a new brand with unproven sales, track record, margins etc. Foxtrot was an incredible hub for innovation and an amazing partner to bright-eyed entrepreneurs,” Paul Voge, CEO and co-founder of DTC sparkling water brand Aura Bora, wrote in an email. Aura Bora drinks were sold in Foxtrot stores. See FOXTROT on Page 22
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GREG HINZ Bigger hurdles await as Mayor Johnson tries to put the start-up blues behind him.
AIRLINES Southwest is reducing its schedule at O’Hare Airport by more than one-third this summer.
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