Cook County Assessor James Houlihan has released information on the valuation of the top 100 Loop office buildings in the City of Chicago as determined by their respective market value. Assessor Houlihan has given our organization permission to establish a link to this information on the Cook County Assessor's site in an effort to provide valuable market information to our members.

Some of the info provided includes: Assessor's full market value, Assessor's net square footage, prior sale info, sales date, property age, etc.

There is even a PowerPoint presentation with pictures and graphs. (Appraisers love graphs!)

Assessor Houlihan was the guest speaker yesterday at an AI Chicago Chapter Luncheon. He asked the appraisal industry to consider working more closely with the Cook County Assessor in the future. AI plans to form a joint committee with representatives of the Cook County Assessor's office in 2005 to strengthen industry relations.

The Cook County Assessor's office continues to expand their website features to include more information, update the interactive assessment search function and include the capacity to download all the Assessor's Office forms and applications. They are currently developing an automation plan that, when completed, will provide instant access to assessment information, mapping information and aerial photographs of every piece of property in the county. This plan will revolutionize data access and improve efficiency by linking county government offices electronically.

Hope you find this info useful.

TJ McCarthy

President