Chicago machinery and equipment appraisals.
Lukes & Lukes is an independent machinery and equipment appraisal firm that covers Chicagoland the way a lender needs it covered, at a price that respects the file. From our Minnesota base, Chicago is a short trip, and that changes the math. Our all-in quote, travel included, frequently comes in under what a downtown or suburban Chicago appraiser would charge for the same USPAP-compliant, defensible report.
Why bring in an out-of-market firm
A short trip in, without the big-market markup.
Chicago is one drive west of home for us, and that is the whole point. When the equipment behind a loan, an estate or a dispute sits in a Cicero fabrication shop, a Bedford Park distribution center or a plant out in the Fox Valley, you should not have to absorb a big-city appraisal fee to get a number that holds.
We build our overhead in the Midwest, we quote the assignment all in, and because getting to Chicago is genuinely close for us, that all-in figure tends to land under a local bid for the identical report.
When an assignment earns the visit, we drive in and inspect the assets in person. When it does not, we put a certified machinery and equipment appraiser already working the Chicago market on the inspection, and we write and sign the report to USPAP. Either path gives you one standard, one report format, and a value that survives credit committee, examiner scrutiny and, if it goes that far, a courtroom.
What Chicagoland runs on
- Heavy manufacturing and metal fabrication: the press lines, welding cells and structural shops that still define the region's industrial belt.
- CNC and precision machining: the machining suppliers and job shops feeding aerospace, automotive and heavy-equipment tiers across the metro.
- Food processing: the meatpacking, bakery and packaged-food plants that made Chicago a processing capital and still fill it.
- Printing and converting: the commercial print, label and packaging converters clustered through the suburbs.
- Plastics and injection molding: the molders and extrusion lines supplying consumer, medical and industrial products.
- Material handling and logistics: as the country's rail and intermodal hub, Chicago runs on warehouses, cold storage, conveyor systems and lift fleets.
- Construction and heavy equipment: the excavators, cranes and yellow-iron fleets behind the region's building activity.
- Automotive: dealership service departments, collision centers and commercial fleets across the counties.
- Healthcare and hospital equipment: imaging, surgical, laboratory and patient monitoring assets at the major health systems, surgery centers and clinics across the metro.
The industrial belt
Chicago still makes things.
The corridor from Cicero and Bedford Park through Elk Grove Village and out to the Fox Valley is one of the densest concentrations of metalworking, fabrication and precision machining in the country. Press brakes, laser cutters, CNC lathes and mills, robotic welding cells and structural steel lines run in facilities that range from single-bay job shops to multi-building OEM plants.
When a loan, a sale or a partnership event touches one of those operations, the equipment list can run into the hundreds of line items, and each one needs to be identified, inspected and valued individually, not estimated as a lump sum.
We handle multi-asset industrial files routinely. Every unit is listed with make, model, serial number and condition, photographed during inspection, and valued on the premise the assignment calls for. The total is built from the units, and the report carries the detail a credit analyst or an examiner needs to underwrite the file without a callback. See how CNC and metalworking equipment is valued.
Food and logistics
Processing, warehousing and cold chain.
Chicago's role as a rail and intermodal hub made it a food-processing capital, and it still is. Meatpacking lines, bakery production floors, packaged-food plants and cold-storage warehouses sit across the metro, and the equipment behind them, from USDA-grade stainless process lines and blast freezers to ammonia refrigeration systems and conveyor networks, carries values that depend on sanitation compliance, throughput capacity and whether the installation can be relocated economically.
We value food processing equipment and the material handling and warehouse infrastructure around it as part of the same engagement, so the lender or buyer gets one coordinated file rather than separate reports from separate firms.
How we cover Chicago
The city, the collar counties, and the corridor.
We inspect on site across the city and Cook County, out through DuPage, Lake, Will and Kane, and into the suburbs that carry the region's industrial base, from Naperville and Schaumburg to Aurora and Joliet. When the calendar or the fee calls for it, a certified machinery and equipment appraiser already working Chicagoland handles the physical inspection and we prepare and sign the report. For single assets or well-documented equipment lists, a desktop appraisal can settle the file without a site visit at all.
Which value applies
The right premise for the situation.
The same equipment carries different numbers depending on why you need the appraisal. We determine and defend the premise your situation requires.
Common questions
Answers, up front.
You are not based in Chicago. Why is that better?
Because a Chicago appraisal fee carries Chicago overhead, and we do not. We are an independent nationwide firm based in Minnesota, which puts Chicago a short trip away. We price on Midwest overhead and quote all in with travel included, so for the same USPAP-compliant report, our number often comes in under a local Chicago bid.
Who walks the plant floor in Chicagoland?
When an assignment justifies the trip, we drive in and inspect it ourselves. When it does not, we deploy a certified machinery and equipment appraiser already on the ground in Chicagoland to perform the inspection, and we prepare and sign the USPAP-compliant report. You get one appraiser of record and one standard either way.
Will Chicago lenders and the SBA accept your reports?
Yes. Reports are USPAP-compliant, prepared by a NEBB-certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser (CMEA), and built to withstand lender, SBA, IRS, audit and legal review anywhere in the country.
Can you cover collateral outside Chicagoland too?
Yes. The firm works nationwide. A Chicago lender or attorney with equipment in several states can keep one appraiser, one standard and one report format across the whole portfolio.
Do you charge separately for travel to Chicago?
No. One all-in fee with travel included. Chicago is a drive from Minnesota rather than a flight, which is part of why the number compares well against a local bid. There are no mileage, airfare or per diem lines on the invoice.
How do you handle a large manufacturing plant with hundreds of assets?
Every unit is listed individually with make, model, serial number and condition, photographed during inspection, and valued on the premise the assignment requires. The total is built from the units rather than estimated at the top, and the report carries the line-item detail a credit analyst or examiner needs to underwrite the file. Multi-day inspections are scheduled around the plant's production calendar.
Do you appraise medical and hospital equipment in Chicago?
Yes. We appraise imaging systems, surgical suites, laboratory analyzers, patient monitoring, dental operatories and hospital surplus equipment across the Chicago metro. The same USPAP-compliant, CMEA-prepared report covers any healthcare asset class, whether the assignment is a single MRI or the full equipment schedule behind a health system acquisition.
Can you appraise food processing and cold-storage equipment?
Yes. We value USDA-grade stainless process lines, bakery production equipment, blast freezers, ammonia refrigeration systems, conveyor networks and the warehouse infrastructure around them. Sanitation compliance, throughput capacity and installation cost all factor into the value, and we cover processing and logistics equipment in one coordinated engagement.
More markets
We also serve New York, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, and the rest of the country from our Minnesota base. See all markets we serve.
Ready when you are