Chicago Braces for First Post-Pandemic Property Tax Assessment

A struggling downtown Chicago real estate market is making it difficult for officials to determine property values in the first such assessment since the end of the pandemic.

Last year, less than five large office buildings in the city changed hands, and those deals sold at losses ranging from 50% to 90%, according to the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago. The small number of deals and deep discounts are thwarting price discovery and spurring Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi to consider leaving out the most distressed office tower sales in his calculations.

“If there’s some kind of duress ...