"It's not that Chicago has changed that much. It's just that New York and San Francisco have bumped up so high," James Fetgatter, chief executive of AFIRE, told GlobeSt.com. Boston and Washington make up the second tier of cities in the eyes of foreign investors, he added, with a sharp dropoff in interest to the third tier.

Although Chicago isn't without a a high-tech presence, it is not as strong as other smaller markets. Another factor that may keep Chicago under the radar for foreign investors is a relative lack of nightlife. "There was no question that the resounding note of our annual conference was the significance of the 24-hour city," said AFIRE chairman David Agnew. "Intellectual capital is the most important ingredient to the success of business today, and the intellectual capital wants to live, work, and be entertained in the same place. Far and away that is the one characteristic these cities share."

The AFIRE survey also found a strong preference among foreign investors for office buildings, with multifamily properties their next choice.