STATE COVERAGE · ILLINOIS

Illinois Feasibility Study Consultant

Illinois is the rare large state that runs two distinct feasibility markets in parallel. Chicago and its five-county collar form one of the deepest institutional commercial real estate markets in the country, anchored by the largest inland intermodal hub in North America at Joliet and Elwood, while a broadly USDA-eligible agricultural interior and southern Illinois carry SBA-and-USDA project work that looks more like Iowa or Indiana. On top of that split sit several distinctive features: an active Certificate of Need regime at the Health Facilities and Services Review Board, a strong local-control liquor framework, the nation's highest effective property taxes with Cook County's commercial classification piling on top, and a deep corn, soybean, and food-processing economy anchored by ADM in Chicago and Decatur. We prepare lender-grade studies calibrated to the program and the region the project actually sits in.

Key Illinois market indicators

12,719,141

Illinois residents as of July 1, 2025

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 (2025)

$1,137,244 million

Illinois nominal GDP

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024)

1.1%

Illinois real GDP growth

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024)

5.1%

Illinois unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2026)

Why an Illinois study is different

Several features set Illinois apart. First, the financing map splits unusually cleanly between an SBA-dominant Chicago and collar-county metro plus the small-metro cores and a broadly USDA-eligible downstate footprint, so the right program depends heavily on where the project sits. Second, Chicago is the largest inland intermodal hub in North America and one of the largest in the world, with six Class I railroads, O'Hare, and the I-55, I-80, I-88, I-90, and I-94 interchange driving a Will County and I-80 warehouse market that is among the most contested institutional facets in the country. Third, Illinois has the highest effective property tax rate in the nation, and Cook County's classification ordinance assesses commercial and industrial at 25 percent of fair market value versus 10 percent for residential, which materially changes operating math. Fourth, the Health Facilities and Services Review Board gates new hospital, long-term care, and major medical equipment projects under a genuinely active Certificate of Need regime. Fifth, the local-control liquor framework means the binding constraint on a restaurant, hotel, or venue is almost always the local commissioner and local quota, not the state license. Every figure in an Illinois study has to be sourced to the region, the program, and the regulatory framework the project actually faces.

SBA and USDA financing in Illinois

For most owner-operated and special-purpose projects across the Chicago metro, the collar counties, the Metro East suburbs of St. Louis, the Quad Cities, and the small-metro cores of Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, and Bloomington-Normal, SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 are the primary federal paths. Under SOP 50 10 8, effective June 1, 2025, the SBA may request a feasibility study based on enumerated risk factors, and a lender-grade study is normally expected for special-purpose properties and startups. The 504 program escalates the borrower equity injection to 15 percent for a special-purpose property or a startup, and to 20 percent when both apply.

USDA reaches a genuinely large share of the state. Business and Industry, Community Facilities, and REAP financing under the OneRD framework (7 CFR Part 5001) is available in any area not within a city or town over 50,000 and not in its contiguous urbanized area, which in Illinois means the broad agricultural interior, the Ohio and Mississippi river country, the Shawnee region, and most of the 102 Illinois counties outside the Chicago metro and the small-metro cores. For a new business, the over-one-million-dollar independent feasibility requirement at 7 CFR 5001.306 applies, and we prepare to that standard. We confirm rural eligibility parcel by parcel through the USDA Rural Development Illinois State Office in Champaign and its 11 area offices, including Effingham, Pontiac, Marion, Mt. Vernon, Galesburg, Jacksonville, and Quincy, at the start of every engagement.

Large market-rate multifamily, downtown full-service Chicago hotels, and the very large Will County logistics market generally run through conventional, agency, CMBS, or life-company financing rather than the SBA, and we prepare those studies for the lenders that actually fund them.

The Illinois regulatory layer

Several state-specific items move feasibility in Illinois. The Health Facilities and Services Review Board administers Certificate of Need under the Health Facilities Planning Act, with capital-expenditure thresholds effective July 1, 2025 of $17,787,538 for hospitals, $10,053,816 for long-term care, and $4,640,230 for other applicants. The Illinois Liquor Control Commission issues state licenses across 28 categories, but the binding constraint is local under Article IV, with local quotas, dry-precinct rules under Article IX, and a separate Chicago licensing regime through the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal registers underground storage tanks and the Illinois EPA administers Leaking UST corrective action, with the UST Fund covering up to $1.5 million per occurrence net of an OSFM-set deductible. Illinois has no comprehensive state wetlands program, and post-Sackett an estimated 72 percent of Illinois wetlands are no longer federally protected, but the six Chicago-metro counties each regulate isolated wetlands and detention through county stormwater ordinances administered by MWRD in Cook, DuPage County Stormwater Management, the Lake County SMC, Will County, Kane County, and McHenry County. The 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code took effect statewide on November 30, 2025, with Chicago maintaining its own code overlay. Illinois has the highest effective property tax rate in the nation, and Cook County's classification ordinance assesses commercial and industrial at 25 percent of fair market value versus 10 percent for residential. We map the binding approvals for the specific site before a single revenue assumption is made.

Illinois feasibility studies by asset class

Gas Station & Travel Center Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Fuel and travel-center demand in Illinois runs on one of the densest interstate networks in the country, with I-80, I-55, I-57, I-70, I-72, I-74, I-88, and I-90/I-94 converging on the Chicago and Joliet logistics complex and the I-57, I-70, I-72, and US-50/US-51 corridors carrying heavy downstate volumes. The binding items are Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal tank registration and the May 2023 double-wall piping rule for new installations, the Illinois EPA Leaking UST corrective action framework, and the UST Fund backstop of up to $1.5 million per occurrence net of an OSFM-set deductible. Gas stations are special-purpose collateral under the SBA, which raises the equity injection. We prepare studies for highway-corridor, suburban, and rural sites, with USDA broadly available across the agricultural interior.

Illinois Gas Station Feasibility Study →National Gas Station practice →

RV Park & Outdoor Hospitality Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Illinois outdoor hospitality demand is anchored by the Shawnee National Forest in deep southern Illinois, the Mississippi and Ohio river corridors, Galena, Starved Rock State Park, and the central Illinois lake regions. Most viable sites sit outside any 50,000-plus urbanized area, making this an explicitly USDA-leaning facet. The binding items are the Illinois Department of Public Health Recreational Campground Code, local septic and well permitting through county health departments, IEPA NPDES stormwater for larger projects, and, in the six Chicago-metro counties only, county stormwater ordinance compliance. We prepare studies for RV parks, campgrounds, and glamping projects across the downstate tourism regions.

Illinois RV Park Feasibility Study →National RV Park practice →

Self-Storage Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Self-storage demand in Illinois divides between a Chicago metro that absorbed real new supply through the 2022 to 2024 cycle, with rents under pressure in pockets of the collar counties, and a downstate small-metro and rural footprint where new supply has been limited and rates are healthier. The binding items are local zoning, county stormwater ordinances in the six Chicago-metro counties (MWRD in Cook, plus DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, and McHenry), Cook County's commercial classification, and the 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code effective November 30, 2025. We prepare studies for ground-up and conversion projects across the metro, the collar counties, and the downstate markets.

Illinois Self-Storage Feasibility Study →National Self-Storage practice →

Senior Housing Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Illinois is one of the more active Certificate of Need states in the country. The Health Facilities and Services Review Board gates new hospital, long-term care, and major medical equipment projects under the Health Facilities Planning Act, with capital expenditure thresholds effective July 1, 2025 of $17,787,538 for hospitals, $10,053,816 for long-term care, and $4,640,230 for other applicants. Assisted living and shared housing are licensed separately by the Illinois Department of Public Health under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, with Life Safety Code review, annual licensure, and 16 hours of direct-care staff training. We prepare studies for assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing projects statewide, calibrated to the correct approval and licensure path.

Illinois Senior Housing Feasibility Study →National Senior Housing practice →

Car Wash Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Car wash demand in Illinois is concentrated in the collar counties and the small-metro cores, with the road-salt winter cycle a strong tailwind. The binding items are local zoning on water reclamation and queuing, MWRD Watershed Management Ordinance compliance in Cook County and the analogous county WMOs in DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, and McHenry for new impervious cover, and the nation's highest effective property tax rates, which hit operating expenses hard in Cook County. Car washes are special-purpose collateral under the SBA, so the equity injection runs higher. We prepare studies for express, tunnel, and in-bay projects statewide.

Illinois Car Wash Feasibility Study →National Car Wash practice →

Restaurant Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Restaurant feasibility in Illinois turns on a strong local-control liquor framework. The Illinois Liquor Control Commission issues roughly 30,000 state licenses a year across 28 categories under the Illinois Liquor Control Act, but the binding constraint is almost always the local commissioner, the local quota, and dry-precinct rules under Article IX. Chicago licenses through its Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. The Chicago labor stack is real: a $16.60 per hour minimum effective July 1, 2025 with a tipped phase-out to full minimum by 2028 and the Fair Workweek Ordinance for covered industries, on top of the statewide $15.00 per hour minimum. We prepare studies for full-service, quick-service, and mixed-concept projects statewide.

Illinois Restaurant Feasibility Study →National Restaurant practice →

Hotel Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Hotel demand in Illinois is anchored by Chicago convention and McCormick Place demand, O'Hare, the suburban Chicago commercial markets, and the downstate university and capital metros of Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Springfield, and Rockford, plus the leisure markets of Galena, Starved Rock, and the Shawnee corridor. The binding items are the Chicago combined hotel occupancy tax of 17.4 percent, rising to roughly 19 percent within the new Tourism Improvement District effective May 1, 2026 for downtown hotels with 100 or more rooms, ILCC and local liquor licensing for F&B, Cook County's commercial classification, and the 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code. Downtown full-service Chicago is institutional CBRE, JLL, and HVS territory, while select-service and limited-service projects across the metro and downstate fit SBA 7(a) and 504, with USDA available for rural and tourism markets.

Illinois Hotel Feasibility Study →National Hotel practice →

Wedding & Event Venue Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Wedding and event demand in Illinois is anchored by the collar-county agritourism overlay, the Galena and Starved Rock corridors, the Metro East wine country, and the downstate university and tourism markets. The binding item is almost always the liquor path: the ILCC license plus the local quota and commissioner, with dry-township risk in some downstate jurisdictions. Other binding items are local special-use zoning in unincorporated counties, septic and well permitting through local health departments, IDPH food-service licensing for catering kitchens, and county stormwater ordinances for parking and impervious in the six metro counties. We prepare studies for barn venues, estate and vineyard venues, and event centers statewide.

Illinois Wedding Venue Feasibility Study →National Wedding Venue practice →

Multifamily Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Chicago is one of the tightest large multifamily markets in the country, with metro vacancy around 4.7 to 5.0 percent and annual rent growth materially above the national average, even as the new-supply pipeline runs at roughly 1.5 percent of inventory and the LaSalle Street office-to-residential conversion program reshapes the downtown stock. Downstate university markets including Champaign-Urbana, DeKalb, Normal, Carbondale, and Macomb operate on the academic calendar. The binding items are the nation's highest effective property-tax rates, Cook County's Class 3 assessment of seven-plus-unit residential at 10 percent of fair market value, Chicago's Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance and Just Cause for Eviction overlay, and the 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code. Market-rate projects run through conventional, agency, CMBS, and life-company channels; affordable projects fit IHDA programs, LIHTC, and HUD; USDA rural rental housing applies in the eligible footprint.

Illinois Multifamily Feasibility Study →National Multifamily practice →

Industrial Feasibility Studies in Illinois

Chicago hosts the largest inland intermodal hub in North America. The BNSF Logistics Park Chicago and Union Pacific Joliet Intermodal Center complex spans roughly 6,400 acres and handles more than 3 million TEU a year, and Will County and the I-80 corridor are the institutional growth engine, with the I-80 and Joliet submarket carrying more under-construction space than any other Chicago submarket entering 2026. Metro industrial vacancy ran 4.7 percent at year-end 2025, with O'Hare at 2.9 percent. The binding items are county stormwater ordinances (MWRD in Cook, plus DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, and McHenry), Cook County's industrial classification at 25 percent of fair market value versus the 33.33 percent statutory level elsewhere, prevailing wage on public-incentive deals, and the 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code. Big-box runs institutional; owner-user flex and light industrial fit SBA 504; USDA reaches rural manufacturing and ag-processing.

Illinois Industrial Feasibility Study →National Industrial practice →

Illinois markets we cover

We prepare studies across the entire state: the Chicago metro including Cook County and the DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, and McHenry collar counties, the Metro East suburbs of St. Louis in Madison and St. Clair counties, the Quad Cities of Moline and Rock Island, and the small-metro cores of Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, and Decatur. Downstate, we cover the agricultural interior anchored by McLean, Champaign, Iroquois, Livingston, LaSalle, Bureau, and Tazewell counties, the Macon County food-processing complex around Decatur, the Galena and Mississippi river country, the Starved Rock corridor, the Ohio River towns, and the Shawnee National Forest region.

Built to the lender's standard

Every study is prepared as an independent, third-party document built to satisfy the party that actually approves the loan, whether that is an SBA reviewer, a USDA state office, or a conventional, agency, or CMBS credit committee. We document the market, the demand, the competitive supply, the regulatory path, and the financial projections to a standard that holds up under lender scrutiny. The analysis is calibrated to the program and the region, and the conclusions are defensible.

Start an Illinois feasibility study →

Frequently asked questions

A large share of the state is. USDA rural eligibility excludes cities and towns over 50,000 and their contiguous urbanized areas. Illinois has 30 municipalities over that threshold per the 2024 American Community Survey, concentrated in the Chicago metro and the small-metro cores, but the broad agricultural interior, the Ohio and Mississippi river country, and the Shawnee region downstate are broadly eligible. We confirm eligibility parcel by parcel through the USDA Rural Development Illinois State Office in Champaign and its 11 area offices at the start of every engagement.

Under SOP 50 10 8, effective June 1, 2025, the SBA may request a feasibility study based on enumerated risk factors, and a lender-grade study is normally expected for special-purpose properties and startups. Special-purpose assets such as gas stations, car washes, hotels, and assisted living carry a higher equity injection and almost always warrant a study.

New hospital, long-term care, and major medical equipment projects are gated by the Health Facilities and Services Review Board under the Health Facilities Planning Act. The capital-expenditure thresholds effective July 1, 2025 are $17,787,538 for hospitals, $10,053,816 for long-term care, and $4,640,230 for other applicants. Assisted living and shared housing are not Certificate of Need-gated; they are licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, with Life Safety Code review, annual licensure, and a 16-hour direct-care training requirement. We calibrate each senior-housing study to the correct path.

The Illinois Liquor Control Commission issues the state license under the Illinois Liquor Control Act, but the binding constraint is almost always local. Article IV gives municipalities broad local control, local commissioners set their own quotas, dry townships and precincts are permitted by local referendum under Article IX, and Chicago operates its own licensing regime through the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Cook County licenses unincorporated Cook. We price the local permit path into every restaurant, hotel, and venue study.

Illinois has the highest effective property tax rate in the country at roughly 1.83 percent, and four of the five highest-taxing US metros are in Illinois. Cook County's classification ordinance assesses commercial and industrial property at 25 percent of fair market value versus 10 percent for residential, while the rest of the state assesses at 33.33 percent uniformly. The Property Tax Extension Limitation Law caps non-home-rule extensions in the collar and many downstate counties. The net effect is a meaningful operating-expense headwind for stabilized assets, particularly in Cook County, and we model the specific taxing-district stack in every Illinois study.

Timelines depend on asset class, program, and how much regulatory diligence the site requires. We scope each engagement individually and give a clear delivery schedule at the start. Reach out through our contact page to discuss your project and timing.