Canvas Real Estate's Anthony Campagni on Chicago's Thriving Retail Market

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Date:

16 Mar 2025

In a commercial real estate landscape where many sectors are struggling, Chicago’s retail market stands as a beacon of opportunity. Anthony Campagni, Principal at Canvas Real Estate, has positioned himself and his firm at the forefront of this retail resurgence, leveraging decades of experience and deep market knowledge to capitalize on emerging trends.

“Where a lot of industries are finding themselves at a sort of a choke hold, retail is thriving once again,” Campagni notes, highlighting the stark contrast between retail and other commercial sectors in early 2025.

Campagni’s journey to becoming one of Chicago’s leading retail brokers began with family inspiration. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BBA in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics in 2002, he followed in the footsteps of his Italian immigrant grandfather, who had built a successful portfolio of apartment buildings in Oak Park.

The path wasn’t always straightforward. Moving to New York City immediately after 9/11, Campagni faced a challenging job market. “Trying to get a job in commercial real estate after September 11 in New York was certainly not easy,” he recalls. He eventually landed at Garrick Aug Store Leasing Associates, what he believes was “the country’s first boutique retail leasing firm.”

As a canvasser updating street maps of Manhattan, Campagni developed a passion for retail real estate. “I fell in love with the industry and how retail, specifically in New York, how each neighborhood’s retail conformed with its demographics,” he explains. “I liked that it was very tangible, being able to see it, as opposed to office space, where there’s all these large buildings which you never knew what was in them.”

After returning to Chicago, Campagni spent ten years at Baum Realty Group representing major brands like Panera Bread, Starbucks, and FedEx Office. He then moved to RKF, where he spent eight years building an impressive landlord representation portfolio. When RKF was sold to Newmark, Campagni chose independence over joining a larger firm.

“These larger firms call them platforms and resources, and I call them headaches and barriers,” he says with candor typical of industry veterans. “If you’re aggressive and you know your market, you know the players, and you’re creative, it’s somewhat easy to get things done so long as the market is in your favor.”

This independence led him to join Canvas, where he now serves as one of three principals, specializing in urban landlord representation while maintaining a robust tenant rep business.

What makes today’s retail market particularly interesting is the evolution it has undergone. Campagni offers a perspective rarely discussed in industry circles: the significant impact of e-commerce on physical retail.

“What nobody really talks about in the retail landscape is e-commerce and the Amazon effect, and how that sort of just brutalized our industry,” he explains. For years, retailers struggled to find the right balance between online and physical presence, often at the expense of brick-and-mortar expansion.

Now, after years of adjustment, retailers have begun to understand the symbiotic relationship between online and physical presence. “In order to be successful, how many stores do you need in any major metropolitan market, in addition to that online presence and Instagram marketing?” Campagni posits.

Physical stores provide legitimacy to online brands. “What physical stores sometimes do is they prove that they are real, that there’s substance and capital behind it,” he notes. This realization, coupled with years of minimal retail development, has created a perfect storm of high demand and limited supply.

While Chicago’s urban core remains vibrant, Campagni also sees significant growth in suburban markets. Quality food and beverage concepts are expanding beyond city limits, recognizing that suburban customers who once traveled downtown for dining experiences now seek similar options closer to home.

“Chicago is one of the greatest foodie cities, in my opinion. And people are coming from all over the country, maybe the world, to dine at our restaurants,” he says. “The Chicago [resident] that has moved to the suburbs is now used to having these options at their fingertips, yet have to travel an hour, especially depending on construction on the expressway, to get back into the city.”

He points to hospitality groups like Ballyhoo Hospitality and DineAmic Hospitality that have successfully tapped into these high-income suburban markets with elevated dining concepts, though he expresses surprise that more restaurant groups haven’t followed suit.

The current market dynamics heavily favor landlords, particularly in prime areas. Michigan Avenue exemplifies the retail evolution, transitioning from mass-market brands to a more diversified tenant mix after luxury retailers migrated to the Gold Coast.

“Michigan Avenue was a mass market branded avenue. You had Gap and Banana Republic and Victoria’s Secret, J.Crew, all of those sort of mass market brands,” Campagni explains. As these retailers adjusted their footprints or exited, they left large format spaces that presented challenges and opportunities.

Recent activity shows renewed confidence in the avenue. “If you’ve seen what’s happened in even the past six months, you have major retailers not only opening stores on the Avenue but even second ones in close proximity,” he notes. “Aritzia just opened a huge flagship on Michigan Avenue, and they have a store doing around $20 million in the Gold Coast.”

Rents have recalibrated to more sustainable levels, with Michigan Avenue rates dropping from peaks near $500 per square foot to closer to $300. This correction has attracted retailers looking to right-size their spaces and secure better real estate.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, Campagni expresses optimism about Michigan Avenue’s resurgence. “We are true believers that it is going to come back. We’re realizing that it’s coming back, and it’s coming back strong,” he says. “There’s no other thoroughfare in Chicagoland, even in the Midwest, that has the footfall that Michigan Avenue has.”

Other urban retail corridors like the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park’s Armitage corridor, and Lakeview’s Southport corridor are experiencing zero vacancy, causing retail districts to expand beyond their traditional boundaries. This growth reflects the overall health of Chicago’s retail market.

For Campagni and Canvas Real Estate, the future looks promising as they navigate this retail upturn with the expertise and market knowledge that comes from decades of experience. Chicago’s retail vitality presents a distinctive opportunity for strategic investment in the Midwest’s commercial hub.