Chicago Trend

Chicago TREND is a social enterprise initially funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It’s a centralized source of real-estate developers, retailers and community development organizations seeking to better view the trajectories of Chicago neighborhoods and invest in profitable retail projects that can drive transformative change. Chicago TREND provides a suite of services to spot neighborhood and strategic retail opportunities, shorten the typical retail development timeline, and supply financial incentives and risk sharing for retailers and developers. Specifically, Chicago TREND delivers: — Lyneir Richardson

Market data and analytics offering sophisticated and predictive market data on communities� current state and alter trajectories, shopping patterns within specific commercial corridors, corridor preferences among different demographic groups, retail corridors ripe for investment, and also the likely aftereffect of new retail development on communities.
Development facilitation services by serving as an expert broker among parties thinking about strategic retail development, organizing a coalition of retailers considering urban retail development (Retail Coalition with the Willing), providing assistance that accelerates the event timeline, and initiating new retail developments where the data and analytics indicate market opportunities for strategic retail development.
Financing tools allowing developers to attract high-impact national and local retail tenants which will influence upward neighborhood trajectory by offering debt and equity financing to shut the financing gaps that prevent them from committing.

This equipment create mutually reinforcing retail and community change THAT BENEFITS residents and businesses alike. — Lyneir Richardson