CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A downtown business group said more people are starting to come downtown but that next month is the month to watch.
The Chicago Loop Alliance is out with its May report on where downtown is headed coming out of the pandemic and, according to Alliance president and CEO Michael Edwards, “All of our indicators are trending in the right direction. Parking, visitation, pedestrian counts.”
Edwards said building occupancy last month was about 24% and that, with the city and state re-opening to just-about pre-pandemic levels later this week, July will be the month to watch as more people return downtown.
“I think a lot of that will change in July. Probably take people a month after Phase 5 kicks in to really kind of capture the idea of coming back downtown but we’re looking forward to that," Edwards told WBBM Newsradio. “I think there’s a certain level of….FOMO, I guess, Fear of Missing Out that’s happening. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on downtown.”
He said the latest pedestrian count on State Street was 55% of normal traffic compared to just 28% a few months ago.
Edwards said that even though more workers will be returning to their downtown offices, many people have grown to like working from home, so that will be a factor.
For example, “We have a small staff of 10 and we have decided that this week we’re all coming back to the office. We will be required to be in the office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and everybody works on Mondays and Fridays, but they can have the option of working from home," Edwards said.
The May report indicates that only 11% of survey respondents reported their businesses were open with all staff working remotely. The report said that compares to 14% in April. The majority of businesses surveyed indicated they have some or all of their staff back downtown.
”I think people who haven’t been downtown since the beginning of the pandemic will be surprised to see entire new buildings that weren’t here in March of 2020," Edwards said.
Related
