Chicago issued 87 new-construction permits worth $269.4 million in the 14 days ending October 27, 2026, up from 62 permits and $79.3 million in the prior 14 days (September 30 to October 13). Three projects account for 85% of that value. For vendors, the other 84 permits are where the day-to-day sales volume sits.
Key stats — period ending October 27, 2026:
- 87 new-construction permits citywide, October 14–27, 2026 (vs. 62 in September 30–October 13, +40%)
- $269.4 million in reported permit value, up from $79.3 million the prior 14 days (3.4x)
- Near West Side: 7 permits, $114.2 million. Near South Side: 2 permits, $94.0 million. West Town: 13 permits, $29.7 million
- 36 community areas had at least one new-construction permit in the window
Where Is New Construction Happening in Chicago Right Now?
BizPulse data shows three projects drove the jump. A $112 million, 25-story mixed-use building at 1022 W Jackson Blvd (Near West Side) was permitted October 27, with ground-floor retail. A $94 million stadium enclosure permit at 1331 S Wells St (Near South Side) landed October 20. It's a piles-only foundation-stage permit, so the real fit-out spending comes later. And a $22.6 million landscaping, park and riverwalk permit at 705 W Chicago Ave (West Town) was issued October 16 for an adjacent casino, hotel and event center.
Those three add up to about $228.6 million of the $269.4 million total. Strip them out and the window looks like a normal fortnight: mid-size and small projects spread across 36 neighborhoods.
So what: The big three are long-lead. General contractors, steel, and site-services vendors are already in. Signage, POS, cleaning, and security vendors should be building relationships with the developers now, ahead of opening-year procurement.
Which Neighborhoods Had the Most New-Construction Permits?
West Town led on count. According to BizPulse's permit tracking, it logged 13 new-construction permits between October 14 and 27, 2026. Twelve of them were under $3 million and together totaled $7.1 million. That's the pattern a neighborhood-focused vendor wants: many small, buildable projects in one zip-code cluster.
Other examples from the same 14 days: a 5-story, 40-unit building with a 24-car garage at 1014 N Spaulding Ave in Humboldt Park ($5.2 million, October 22), and a 3-story, 4-unit building over ground-floor retail at 3410 S Ashland Ave ($1.2 million, October 16). Lake View had 6 permits worth $4.2 million.
Mixed-use buildings with ground-floor retail are the most valuable of the small ones. They produce a commercial tenant within 12–18 months, and that tenant needs a license, a sign, and a point-of-sale system.
So what: If you sell to retail and restaurant tenants, filter for ground-floor retail in the permit description. If you sell to developers and property managers (cleaning, security, insurance, waste removal), the residential permits count too.
What This Means for Sellers
BizPulse's permit-to-intent mapping tags every one of these permits with buying intents such as signage, commercial cleaning, security systems, insurance, and waste removal. The 87-permit list is a ready-made prospecting queue.
- Signage and storefront vendors: target the ground-floor retail permits first, then watch for sign permits at the same addresses.
- Cleaning, security, and waste vendors: the 25-story Near West Side building and the West Town casino-adjacent project will need all three at scale.
- Insurance brokers: new construction means builder's-risk and, later, tenant coverage. The permit date is your trigger.
- Accountants and bankers: developers filing multiple permits in one neighborhood are usually repeat clients.
BizPulse's license database shows 274 new business license filings citywide in the same October 14–27 window, so the pipeline from permit to tenant is already moving. For the prior month's picture, see our October new-construction permit report and the June new-construction pipeline.
You can browse these permits by block on BizPulse's construction hot blocks map, or filter by permit type in BizPulse search. The underlying records come from the City's Building Permits dataset on the Chicago Data Portal.
Bottom line: Chicago's new-construction permit value hit $269.4 million in the two weeks ending October 27, 2026, 3.4x the prior two weeks, but 84 smaller permits are the steadier sales pipeline.