September 15, 2026 - The Chicago Journal

Chicago’s Aging Housing Stock Is Driving Demand for Small-Scale Repair Services

The Chicago Journal Staff on September 15, 2026

Chicago’s housing stock skews old, even by Rust Belt standards. City parcel records are tracked by the Cook County Assessor’s Office and analyzed by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University; the median age of the city’s two-flats and three-flats is over a century.

That gap between building age and building code keeps a narrow but steady lane open for licensed handyman repairs in Chicago, work too small for a general contractor’s crew and too frequent to disappear.

Why Chicago’s Building Age Matters For Maintenance Demand

Chicago’s residential landscape is dominated by masonry buildings that predate modern construction standards.

The median age of the city’s 2-to-4 unit buildings, the backbone of Chicago’s rental stock, is 108 years, with only modest variation from one neighborhood to the next, according to the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University.

A few figures put the pattern in context.

More than two-thirds of Chicago’s occupied housing units predate 1970, based on Census data compiled through the American Community Survey.
The typical 2-to-4 unit building in the city is around 108 years old, per Cook County Assessor parcel data cited by DePaul’s Institute for Housing Studies.
Chicago’s bungalow belt alone accounts for more than 80,000 homes, most of them built between 1910 and 1940.

The Gap Between Large Contractors And Small Jobs

General contractors size their overhead around bigger jobs, with permits and subcontractors, and crews that need weeks of steady work to stay profitable. A sticking door or a broken latch rarely clears that bar.

The city’s own permitting system reflects the split: the Department of Buildings runs an Express Permit Program, launched in November 2023 and expanded further in September 2024, built specifically to fast-track small repair and replacement work that doesn’t require architectural drawings.

A program like that only gets built when the volume of minor repair work is too large, and too low-margin, for the standard review process most large contractors are set up around.

A short list explains why bigger firms tend to pass:

A few-hundred-dollar repair call rarely covers a general contractor’s minimum job cost once scheduling and overhead are factored in.
Multi-unit buildings generate repair requests that are too small and too frequent for a standard bidding process.
Insurance and staffing structures built for large-scale construction add overhead that doesn’t scale down well.

What Do Property Managers And Landlords Deal With Most

Anyone managing a multi-unit building in Chicago sees the same short list on repeat.

Door closers and hinges wear out faster in buildings with heavy foot traffic.
Weatherproofing around older window frames needs attention every heating season.
Furniture and fixture assembly comes up constantly in buildings with regular tenant turnover.
Cabinet and closet hardware fails more often in units that haven’t been updated in decades.

What Does This Mean For Building Owners

Illinois does not issue a statewide handyman license. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation licenses only certain trades, including roofing, under the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act.

Chicago handles the remaining requirements locally. Routine repairs generally fall outside state licensing, while structural, electrical, plumbing, and roofing work may require licensed tradespeople.

Owners can stay ahead of repairs by:

Using providers who understand Chicago permit rules for routine jobs.
Treating maintenance as an ongoing expense, not a one-time renovation cost.

Chicago’s aging brick two-flats, courtyard buildings, and bungalows need steady upkeep to maintain long-term demand.

IMTS 2026 Opens at McCormick Place With 90,000 Expected Visitors and 1.2 Million Square Feet of Manufacturing Technology

The Chicago Journal Staff 2 on September 15, 2026

The International Manufacturing Technology Show opened Monday, September 14, at McCormick Place, bringing more than 2,000 exhibitors and an estimated 90,000 visitors from over 119 countries to Chicago’s South Side for six days of advanced manufacturing demonstrations, conference programming, and workforce development events. IMTS 2026 occupies more than 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space across four buildings, making it the largest manufacturing trade show in the Western Hemisphere.

Key Takeaways

IMTS 2026 runs September 14–19 at McCormick Place, with more than 2,000 exhibitors spread across 1.2 million square feet in four buildings.
An estimated 90,000 visitors from 119+ countries are expected, with individual registration at $85 and international registration offered free of charge.
Exhibit categories span machining, automation, additive manufacturing, robotics, AI, digital manufacturing, quality inspection, and tooling.
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center are hosting sessions focused on workforce readiness and digital adoption for regional manufacturers.
Manufacturing USA is bringing federal innovation institute speakers to the main stage, with programming on cybersecurity, supply chain resilience, and AI-enabled systems.

The Show Floor Spans Four Buildings and Every Major Manufacturing Category

IMTS is organized by the Association for Manufacturing Technology and held biennially in even-numbered years at McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America. The 2026 edition continues a format that has run since the show’s founding in 1927, when it operated under the name International Machine Tool Show. The name changed in 1990 to reflect the expanding scope of manufacturing technology beyond metalcutting and into welding, lubrication, materials engineering, software, and automation.

The exhibit floor is divided across McCormick Place’s four buildings, each anchoring different product categories. Exhibitors in the 2026 edition cover machining centers, cutting tools, grinding machines, drilling rigs, laser systems, additive manufacturing platforms, robotic cells, digital manufacturing software, quality inspection equipment, and industrial AI systems. The show also features a live, end-to-end manufacturing system operating continuously on the floor, giving attendees a chance to observe integrated production workflows rather than isolated machine demonstrations.

For the first time, SolidCAM World is running concurrently during IMTS at a dedicated booth in the East Building, adding a software-focused conference layer to the hardware-heavy show floor. The overlap reflects a broader trend across manufacturing where the line between machine capability and software intelligence continues to narrow.

International Attendance Underscores Chicago’s Pull as a Global Trade Destination

IMTS draws attendees from a wide cross-section of manufacturing roles. Job shop operators arrive looking for speed, flexibility, and unattended production solutions. Enterprise manufacturers evaluate standardization, automation, and multi-site deployment strategies. Engineers compare tolerances and workflows on the floor while executives test investment cases in the conference rooms. The international attendance, drawn from 119 countries, is supported by a free registration tier for non-U.S. visitors, a pricing structure that has historically kept IMTS accessible to manufacturers from developing economies.

The concentration of global manufacturing decision-makers in one location for a week aligns with Chicago’s broader push to position itself as a hub for international trade and investment, a strategy that has accelerated under the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership and the city’s Chicago 2050 long-term growth plan. IMTS is not a city initiative, but its biennial return to McCormick Place functions as a recurring proof point for the argument that Chicago’s central geography, freight infrastructure, and convention capacity make it a natural meeting ground for global industry.

Illinois Manufacturing Groups Are Hosting Workforce and Digital Adoption Programming

The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center are using the IMTS platform to deliver programming aimed at helping regional manufacturers evaluate emerging technologies and prepare their workforces for adoption. The sessions are designed for attendees who may see compelling demonstrations on the show floor but face practical questions about implementation once they return to their own facilities.

Sarah Hartwick of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and Dan Hofmann of the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center are leading sessions that cover how manufacturers can assess emerging opportunities, access available state and federal resources, and make informed capital investments. The programming reflects an ongoing challenge in manufacturing technology: the gap between what is possible on a trade show floor and what is feasible inside a mid-size plant in the Midwest with existing equipment, existing workforce skills, and existing budgets.

Illinois remains one of the largest manufacturing states in the country, with a sector that spans food processing, chemicals, fabricated metals, and machinery. The workforce pipeline feeding those facilities depends on a combination of community college programs, apprenticeships, union training centers, and in-house development. IMTS serves as a point of contact between the technology companies building the next generation of tools and the Illinois manufacturers who will need to decide which of those tools make operational and financial sense for their own production lines.

Manufacturing USA Brings Federal Innovation Institutes to the Main Stage

Manufacturing USA, the federal network of innovation institutes, has a main-floor booth in the South Building and is running programming on the IMTS main stage and at the SME Smart Manufacturing Experience Showcase. The sessions focus on trends and technology developments coming out of the institute network, which spans advanced materials, digital manufacturing, cybersecurity, and biomanufacturing.

A September 15 session features CyManII and LIFT, two Manufacturing USA institutes, presenting on AI-enabled cybersecurity for manufacturing systems and customized metal-feedstock production. The session is framed around supply chain resilience, a theme that has gained urgency across U.S. manufacturing as companies reconfigure sourcing strategies in response to tariff shifts, geopolitical risk, and the push to reshore critical production capacity.

The Smartforce Student Summit, also part of the IMTS programming, provides career resources and exposure to advanced manufacturing pathways for students considering trades and engineering fields. The summit connects the show’s technology showcase to the longer-term question of who will operate, maintain, and program the machines on display once they leave the convention center and reach a factory floor.

FAQs

When and Where Does IMTS 2026 Take Place?

IMTS 2026 runs Monday, September 14, through Saturday, September 19, at McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. The show spans four buildings, and exhibit hours vary by hall. Attendees should confirm building-specific schedules through the official IMTS show planner before booking appointments.

How Much Does It Cost to Attend IMTS?

Individual registration is $85 if purchased before September 3 and rises after that date. Group registration for five or more attendees is $65 if purchased before August 1. International registration is free. All registration is handled through the IMTS website.

What Industries Are Represented at IMTS?

IMTS covers machining, automation, additive manufacturing, robotics, AI, digital manufacturing, quality inspection, tooling, welding, lubrication, and materials engineering. The show draws attendees from automotive, aerospace, medical device, energy, defense, electronics, and general industrial manufacturing sectors.

How Often Is IMTS Held?

IMTS is held biennially in even-numbered years at McCormick Place in Chicago. The show has been held in Chicago since its founding in 1927, with the exception of a 2020 cancellation due to the pandemic. The next edition after 2026 is scheduled for 2028.