May 26, 2025 — LG Group CEO, Brian Goldberg, was one of the select real estate industry leaders to provide commentary for a recent feature on the impact Chicago’s volatile property tax system is having on investment in building in and around the city.
As Goldberg shared in The Real Deal article, “Both on the development side and the acquisition side, we are immediately told by investors from out of state, ‘anything but Cook County.’”
He continued, “Literally any other county outside Cook is fine by them because they have a reasonable expectation of what the taxes will be.”
If the too-high appraisals keep some investors away from commercial properties, the author notes, chaos may also be paradoxically making Chicago a good investment for others — an underdog position that can have its advantages.
Several proposed reforms released by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office offer validation and a glimmer of hope, with some recommendations already being implemented.
Goldberg shared that he is particularly encouraged by a proposed idea to maximize communication and data sharing between the tax assessor and the Board of Review so that initial assessments and appealed assessments don’t vary so widely.
“They might raise your taxes 30 percent year-over-year or 100 percent year-over-year, and we don’t know what they’re basing that information on. They don’t have established metrics and transparency with which to justify it,” he said, adding that this creates a high-stakes appeals process.
To read the full article on The Real Deal, click here.