The Chicago developer Calvin Boender transformed the former disco at 940 N. Rush St with over $2.5 million dollars in renovations, converting the iconic dance venue into 6,000 square feet of upscale retail space, reflecting a shift towards boutique shopping and capitalizing on the foot traffic generated by the nearby Bloomingdale's.

The North Side's DePaul neigh­borhood is gearing up for another boom. Already the city's hottest residential area for rehab and re­novation, it is now ripe for office redevelopment.

Since starting my Miscanthus Fiber business, Renew Biomass, I was probably like most Americans in that I knew that fiber was good for me, but did not know exactly why. The last 10 years or so have seen an uptick in high-fiber bread and cereals, numerous new brands of fiber supplements and other groceries promoting their fiber content.

During the often loud and attention-getting display of global trade wars, China quietly announced a new directive to the world, telling the US, Japan, and Europe they are not willing to be the world’s garbage dump any longer.

With the enactment of higher tariffs for steel and aluminum, President Trump has many economists speculating how far he is willing to push his populist agenda and what will the short and long-term ramifications lead to.

The blossoming trade war that President Trump has insisted has been going on during the last three presidential administrations, albeit a one-sided trade war with China winning all the battles, is reaching a fever pitch with both countries unveiling their lists of items projected for 10-25% tariffs.

Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, the United States Secretary of Commerce and Director of the White House National Trade Council respectively, have stayed mostly out of the hectic news cycle that has been a mainstay throughout the first year of President Trump’s tenure, so far.

With the potential for an expanded trade war with China, the U.S. needs to consider some of the less obvious economic and national security risks that could come into play. China holds a secret weapon that could cripple us instantly. Let’s call it, Trade War Option “57 – 71”.

In a previous post, I wrote about the death of the American Mall and what that means for the economy. I’d like to delve more deeply into exactly what effects that will have on the economic outlook. When you drive past that shuttered mall it’s not just the retailers who are at risk, it’s the economic base they provide in the forms of jobs that has me really worried.

I’ve been studying the commercial retail real estate market lately and I see a few major trends that have me worried for a once booming sector. The amount of empty retail square footage on the market can either be looked at as a consequential market correction or an alarming trend, indicative of worsening economic conditions.

There are two distinct types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. The soluble is just that, it dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and stays intact as we pass it.

In Michael Pollan’s exploratory work “In Defense of Food” one of his major tenets is to “Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”

One of the aspects of history that always fascinates me are those little accidental discoveries that seem at the time to be minor setbacks but reveal themselves over the course of years to become paradigm shifters.

I think we Americans, for the most part take a lot for granted in our everyday lives. When I wake up, I assume the hot water will come out the shower head, the car will start and aside from the usual traffic, I will arrive at my office where the lights will come on at a flip of the switch, my inbox will be full and my Clif Bar will be tasty.

Since I mentioned the issue of the massive hypoxia, or “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, I’ve started to dig around into some various solutions to this problem.

I’ve been amazed that the Federal Reserve (and those who run it) have seemingly had their collective heads in the sand regarding the effects of keeping the interest rates low and their systematic employment of quantitative easing to help bring our economy out of this quasi-recession.

If you live in Illinois you will find on the November 8th ballot a simple yes or no vote for the Illinois Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment.

Americans were against foreign wars prior to World War II and I think “we the people” still are. We just have this super sexy military-industrial complex, which President Eisenhower warned us against, that keeps inventing drones and other toys that are too cool to not use.

What is the most important task that either of these candidates has to accomplish if elected on November 8, 2016? "JOBS!". Now wait a minute you say, what about unemployment only being at 5% (so says Janet Yellen).

In a previous post, I made reference to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico where the nutrient runoff from the upper Mississippi river system has introduced millions of tons of leached fertilizers into an area of the gulf roughly the size of Connecticut.

I listened to a Freakonomics Podcast episode that dealt with the proliferance of mattress stores in Schererville, Indiana and more recently a similar story in the Chicago Tribune Business section.

In a previous post I detailed how intensive corn stover utilization for livestock feed replacement and cellulosic ethanol production causes soil degradation through nutrient removal, erosion, runoff and minimizes the soil’s water holding capacity.

The last decade has seen a major increase in collecting and using corn stover for feedstock and increasingly for bio-fuel production, mostly ethanol. Historically, cattle have been allowed to graze corn stover after a harvest with minimal impact to the nutrient levels.

In my college years, I worked as a carpenter and drove a garbage truck through the streets of Chicago. Unknown to me then, I was learning valuable lessons that I have applied later in my real estate career.

We live in a time when the Kardashians and Hollywood entertainers capture our attention and large amounts of capital for their entertainment.