South Loop ranks 8th in the country for new apartment production

The once industrial South Loop has blossomed into a residential community - and the raw numbers prove it.

The neighborhood ranks 8th in the country for the production of new apartments, seeing 3,516 rental units open since 2017. That total represents 14 percent of all new apartments built in Chicago over the past five years..

"Once home to warehouses and rail yards, the South Loop has seen an impressive rebirth in the last decade," reads a report from RentCafe, which announced the findings. "With brand new, sparkling glass high-rises and historical publishing houses being converted to apartments, it has emerged as a popular residential neighborhood located just a couple of train stops away from downtown."

Other Chicago neighborhoods making their mark include River North, which saw 2,693 rental units open between 2017 and 2021. Streeterville and Downtown also saw the addition of 1,703 and 14,29 new units, respectively.

Nationally, RentCafe found that neighborhood which produced the most new housing over the past five years was Downtown Los Angeles, where a whopping 10,316 rental units debuted between 2017 and 2021. Midtown Atlanta was a distant second, with nearly 6,000 rental units.