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“People are coming back,” Edwards told The Center Square. “We’ve
been recording key data points since the beginning of the
pandemic to try to give our stakeholders, property owners,
businesses and City Hall hard data on how The Loop is
performing. They're coming down into the evening and on weekends
because as people get a little tired of working from home all
week, they’re looking for something else to do.”
Over the first quarter of 2024, data gleaned from metrics that
include pedestrian activity, retail vacancy, office and hotel
occupancy and theater attendance shows that between the hours of
6 a.m. and 5 p.m., workweek foot traffic hits 91% of
pre-pandemic levels while zooming to 107% of 2019 weekend
numbers.
But even as the area begins to resemble its former self, Edwards
is quick to point out you can’t help but notice all the change.
“It's a different downtown and there'll be different uses,” he
said. “We’re still struggling with retail and empty storefronts.
I think we'll be more similar to what we were but a little bit
different, more socializing, more theater, more arts, more
culture and more people living in The Loop.”
Still, with Chicago being home to corporate relocations and JP
Morgan Chase presently in the midst of renovating its local
headquarters that is already home to more than 7,000 workers,
Edwards emphasizes that certain sectors of the community will
always be known for business.
“I do think people will eventually start coming back to working
downtown,” he added. “Younger people that want to be mentored
because they're on a career track, I think those people will
come back to work.”
Edwards adds Loop Alliance is now closely working with Chicago
Police to make sure everyone who comes to the area will feel
safe from crime once they arrive.
“It's always an important issue that got a little out of hand
after the pandemic and with the murder of George Floyd,” he
said. “We're not the police, but we've been working with the
police department to make sure that we have the services that we
need for a large American City. There's a whole infrastructure
designed to help people.”
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