the market, combined with his team’s position at Americorp Real Estate, give him a front-row seat to what he believes is a fundamental shift in American living patterns. “We’re starting to pick up, we’re getting better,” Laricy says. “Slowly but surely the inventory levels are dropping, and prices are slowly inching up. I’ve been talking about this for years: when suburbs start to depreciate, cities start to come back, and that’s what we’re seeing right now.” He points to Florida’s transformation from the biggest seller’s market to a buyer’s market, and Toronto’s struggling condo inventory, as proof that the five-year cycle he predicted is playing out exactly as expected. The return-to-office mandate has become the catalyst for urban revival. Chicago’s office occupancy hit 58.7% in September 2025, outpacing the national average as companies increasingly require in-person attendance.“RTO is a real thing,” Laricy explains.“You want to get promoted, you have got to be in the office five days a week. People are also kind of sick of just the slower pace of life. We’re humans. Our DNA hasn’t changed. People are attracted to energy.” Job relocations tell the story most clearly. Laricy notes he’s helping more doctors relocate to downtown Chicago than he has in years, drawn by some of the country’s best hospitals clustering in the urban core. THE TALE OF TWO MARKETS Chicago’s recovery reveals a striking paradox that challenges conventional real estate wisdom. While Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Westtown experience what Laricy calls “next level hot” demand, the traditional luxury corridors of River North and Gold Coast present unexpected opportunities.“Like Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Westtown, Bucktown—those areas are next level hot, like 2022 suburbs hot,” he says. “It’s out of control. Never have I seen it that high before. Not even close.” The disparity creates a counterintuitive investment thesis. Properties in River North and Gold Coast now sell for substantially less than their 2016 valuations, prompting Laricy to reframe these historically premium neighborhoods as “up and coming.” When he shares this perspective with media outlets, the response is skepticism. “They laughed. ‘No, really what’s up and coming?’ Because those are the most expensive areas in the city,” he recalls. “No, they’re the cheapest areas in the city right now. They took the most losses, so they depreciated more than any other area.” His logic is simple: up and coming means highest ability to grow, and no neighborhoods have more room to appreciate than those currently undervalued. The city’s competitive advantages go beyond pricing. 165 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 11 MATT LARICY GROUP
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx