The conference, hosted by Real Estate Media, publishers of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com, begins at 7 a.m. with a welcome breakfast followed by opening remarks by Jonathan Schein, president and chief executive officer of Real Estate Media. Kicking off the day's events, Diane Swonk, senior managing director and chief economist of Mesirow Financial, will deliver the morning's keynote address. Swonk will offer an in-depth perspective on Chicago's multifamily boom and its duration reflective of current and future economic trends.

The audience-pleasing Town Hall panel will follow, which will be moderated by GlobeSt.com's national online editor John Salustri. The panel will debate subjective views regarding the health of the Chicagoland market and will feature several prominent players, including Karen Case, group senior vice president, LaSalle Bank; George Kohl, executive vice president, Trammell Crow Co.; Daniel McLean, president and CEO, MCL Cos.; Greg A. Moyer, managing director, Marcus & Millichap; Steve Stratton, president, the Staubach Co., Midwest Division.

The balance of the morning will be filled with panel discussions on topics including Chicago's Downtown office market, the struggles and opportunities of Chicago's suburban market, and the status of debt and equity capital markets. Several key companies will be represented to offer insights to these topics, such as Trizec Properties, Hines, CB Richard Ellis, Equity Office, Duke Realty Corp., Venture One Real Estate and the Alter Group.