City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery,
two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose,
or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large
bags, and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in
color, that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in
a manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at
Arms.City
of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in
a manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances are not permitted when in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages.Clear bags, not tinted in color, that
do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when, in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace, pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms,
throwing any item, whistling, booing, shouting,
or other loud utterances, are not permitted when, in the judgment of the
meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, such actions are
disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun
guns, tasers, mace, pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while
seatedAnd can only be used in a manner that does
not interfere with the ability of other individuals to
view or hear the proceedings. Individuals or
groups failing to adhere to these rules will be subject to
removal from the remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at
Arms.
We're good?
Yes, you can get on with
it.
Good afternoon, everyone.
I want to welcome everyone to the June meeting on the Committee on
Housing and Real Estate of the Chicago City Council.
The time is 12:53, and the meeting is called to order.
We have 25 items on the agenda today, and we're going to start with
roll call to establish quorum. Vice Chair Mitchell.
Vice Chair Mitchell present. Alderman Espada.
Not present.
Online.
Oh,
sorry. My bad. I know that we moved you to remote.
Alderwoman Dowell.
Here.
Alderman Robinson.
Not present.
Alderwoman Harris. Present. Alderman Quinn. Present.
Alderman Moore.
Present. Alderwoman Taylor.
Present. Alderwoman Tavares.
Here. Present. Alderwoman Scott. Not present. Alderperson Fuentes.
Not present. Alderman
Burnett.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez. Not present.
Alderman Villegas.
Not present. Alderwoman Metz.
Yeah, we got you.
Alderwoman Metz. Not present. Alderwoman Clay.
Not present. Alderwoman Anna Havenworth. Present.
And Alderwoman Hadden.
Present.
And Alderman Robinson just walked in. Perfect. Good timing.
So, one, two.
So we got 12 members, including the chair. We have established quorum.
We have a Rule 59 request from the following alderpersons,
Alderman Espada,
Alderman
Scott, and Alderman
Quesada.
And Metz, Alderwoman Metz. So we have, who is right now on
Zoom?
Alderman Scott is here.
Alderman Scott. Four are there.
Alderman Quesada present.
All right. Alderman Quesada, Alderman Espada, and Alderman Moore.
So can I have a motion to allow them to add it to be quorum?
So moved by Alderperson Hadden. All those in favor say "aye." All those
opposed say "nay." In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
All the alders are being added to quorum.
We have a few new members. We have Alderman Conway,
Alderman Martin.
Yeah, we have Alderman Martin and Alderman Conway as new members who were also
added to the quorum.
Thank you for being here.
We have 16 speakers
today. Each speaker will be given-- We're going to try to
see people, depending on how it goes, we're going to extend a little bit of time so
everybody can participate. We're going to give all the members three minutes to
speak on all items of the agenda. The first speaker is James
Anderson.
My name is James Anderson with the High Speed Rail Alliance.
A Chicago bus station is important to our members and to
travelers in general because a bus station located near the train
stations allows passengers to connect to our rail systems, the
CTA, Metra, and Amtrak, for travel throughout the city, the
state, and the country.
Bus travelers deserve an indoor waiting area in a city where it's
winter 10 months of the year. And that waiting area should
have restrooms, seating, and vendors, just like at the airport,
although hopefully less of a rip-off than at the airport.
Mr. Chairman, we wish to make several points of clarification that may help you and
the committee deliberate on the subject of the bus station.
Number one, once the city gets involved, this will not be a
Greyhound station. It will be a city-owned intercity bus station
open to any and all carriers that wish to use it.
A bus company or another company might purchase naming rights, but
the facility itself would be city-owned and open to all.
Number two, the honorable alderman of the 34th
Ward was quoted in the newspaper characterizing this transaction as giving a
private equity subsidiary taxpayer cash.
Just to clarify, this is not giving anybody anything.
It's property acquisition, just the way the city recently bought industrial
property to relocate Irving Park Road and expand O'Hare
Airport. If you want to buy something, you have to buy it from whoever owns it,
even if it's a private equity firm.
Number three, the bus station would function like the city's airports, O'Hare and
Midway, which are profit centers for the city.
At the bus station, the city would lease gate slots to bus companies that serve
the station and would lease retail space in the terminal.
The city would own and maintain the bus station just as it does the
airports. A bus station is an essential connection for
travelers going to or from places the train does not
go.The location of the current bus station, a short walk from
Chicago Union Station, Ogilvie Station, and LaSalle Street Station,
makes the bus-train connection viable.
We urge the city to proceed on the bus station acquisition
with all possible dispatch.
Thank you. Next we have Lena Guerrero Reynolds.
Hello, my name is Lena Guerrero Reynolds with the Environmental Law and Policy
Center, and I'm here in support of the ordinance to purchase the intercity bus
station at 630 West Harrison Street.
I've taken lots of buses over the years, but most consistently as a student at U of
I in Urbana. Wanting to get home to visit my folks in the city, Greyhound was the
most convenient, affordable, frequent way to travel.
My husband's family is from the Quad Cities, which has nearly 400,000 people, but
no Amtrak. My mother-in-law lives in Chicago now and doesn't drive as much as
she's gotten older, but she's still very independent.
How does she get back to visit? She takes Greyhound.
We're just a few of the hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans who catch intercity
buses from this station to access friends, family, and education.
Many people also rely on buses in more dire circumstances, seeking essential
healthcare, fleeing abuse, or seeking economic opportunity.
The station is down the block from the domestic violence courthouse at 555 West
Harrison. It's a half mile from a family planning facility and a quick Blue
Line ride away from the Planned Parenthood or Illinois Medical District.
For generations, Chicago has thrived because dreamers could make it here with
little to their name and make something of themselves, and the bus is a prime way
to do so. Over a quarter of Chicago households have no car,
and more should be able to save the money they throw away on one now.
But for too long, the bus has been treated as a mode of last resort rather than the
most efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation option.
Plane, train, and hell, even cruise ship passengers arrive at public
facilities when they reach our city.
Bus riders deserve that same support.
Transportation is the leading source of carbon emissions in Illinois, but on
average, taking the bus is just a fifth of the emissions of driving.
The more people take it, the more efficient it gets, and the cleaner our air.
Unlike driving, which gets worse as more cars create traffic.
If Chicago lost its station, it would be the largest city in the Northern
Hemisphere without a bus terminal.
Greyhound was close to moving its Midwest hub to Indiana.
This isn't the Bears. Transportation isn't a game, it's a lifeline.
And at a time when healthcare is criminalized at the state line, it is unacceptable
to imagine cutting people off from Chicago's resources.
The city is doing the right thing to purchase and renovate the station, to bring
bus travel into the 21st century, to bring multiple bus companies together for
easier connections and choice. But we need you to get it over the finish line.
Please vote yes. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Next, we have Kalia Shriver.
Kalia?
Hello. Good afternoon, Chair Cesar Lopez, Vice Chair Mitchell, and members of the
Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today.
My name is Kalia Shriver, and I am a college student studying civil engineering at
Purdue University. I was born and raised in Chicago and attended Chicago Public
Schools for 13 years and graduated from Jones College Prep in
2023. When Chicago high schoolers are making college decisions,
we are lucky that there are so many excellent universities surrounding us in the
Midwest. I decided that going to Purdue was the best fit for me academically,
but I didn't want going away to college to impact my relationships in
Chicago, and maintaining those relationships depends upon transportation.
Like many other CPS students, I grew up without a car, and purchasing a car
for college would be an unsustainable financial burden.
Luckily, I can take an intercity bus to and from my college campus.
Convenient access to Chicago has also allowed me to participate in Purdue's
rotational internship program. I alternate semesters between studying on
campus and gaining professional work experience at an engineering firm here in
Chicago. As my example shows, intercity bus makes it possible for
students to attend university while still maintaining connections to family,
community, and opportunity in Chicago.
When I heard that Chicago's intercity bus terminal might close, I feared that these
personal and professional ties might soon be severed.
I was also surprised to learn that unlike the CTA, Metra, Amtrak stations, as
well as both Chicago airports,
Chicago's intercity bus station is not currently publicly owned.
But now I am relieved to learn that the city plans to purchase and operate the
terminal as
an important public asset on par with Chicago's train stations and
airports in which we already take pride.
Intercity bus travel provides convenient and essential transportation services to
thousands of people in Chicago every day.
Over the past three years, I have used the bus terminal more than 30 times.
On each trip, I observed that my fellow
travelers include parents with children, other college students, and even
international tourists. Without an intercity bus terminal, thousands of travelers
would be forced to wait on a sidewalk without sufficient protection from the
weather and other conditions to which we Chicagoans would never willingly subject
ourselves. Finally, public ownership of the Chicago intercity bus
terminal allows us to find the resources to bring it to a good state of
repair. Although the current building is spacious, well lit, climate controlled,
and well-configured for bus access, there are many opportunities for physical
improvements to make it a more pleasant, comfortable, and safe experience for
travelers. For example, the restrooms need a complete renovation and the food
court should be reactivated so that travelers aren't forced to rely on just a few
vending machines. These customer services are fundamental for
an intercity travel hub and are no different than what air and train travelers
expect and receive from our city's major train stations and
airports.In conclusion, Chicago's intercity bus terminal
provides essential and irreplaceable services that would be difficult, if not
impossible, to relocate. Everyone who uses this facility now, and those who
could use it in the future, are entrusting Chicago City Council to take advantage
of this opportunity to secure public ownership of this critical transportation
asset, and begin its transformation into a travel hub that provides even more value
to the people of Chicago. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Before I go to the next speaker, I want to recognize Alderperson Fuentes
for quorum. Next, Christian Maxwell.
Hello, everyone.
Today, I want to draw your attention to this document.
This is the ordinance between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama for the
Presidential Center. Inside of this document, you will find accommodations for
all types of things, including environmental protections, hiring requirements, and
all types of things of that nature.
The one thing you will not find are anti-displacement measures put in
this to keep South Side residents in their homes all across Kenwood,
Washington Park, and the South Shore.
What I'm here for today is I am here to propose reparations for the South Shore
because they have been displaced for Barack Obama's center.
They were not accommodated for the way that his center was protected in that
very ordinance. The only thing that we saw inside of this
ordinance from Mayor Rahm Emanuel was this one paragraph about
an endowment. And when you look in Barack Obama's plan, he mentions that he was
going to fund that endowment to the tune of $470 million.
He mentioned that in 2020. In his 2021 annual report, he no
longer mentions it again. Today, if you check his 2024 financial report, it
has $1,044,000 in it. It's very short, if you
ask me. The residents of the South Shore and all the surrounding communities
need help. Their property taxes have gone from $1,700 a
year to $16,000 a year over one year.
This is not normal change. This is not normal, slow
progression. This is not normal gentrification.
This is government-sponsored displacement.
The City of Chicago did not take the time to see what they needed to do to create
a fund that would offset the damage to the very people that made the South
Shore and these surrounding communities admirable, made them
desirable for President Obama. The reason he wanted to be rooted here is because
of the history that these property owners.
This is a property owner that I know in person.
He invested here when there was nothing. Nothing.
And Barack Obama didn't make sure that he wouldn't be displaced.
So now I will be presenting the South Side Presidential Center Impact and
Reparations Act when I am elected to Congress to ensure that
people in this city are protected when the city decides to
collude and create plans that do not benefit them.
The residents of the South Shore, Woodlawn, Kenwood, all of those
areas, they deserve to have accommodations, and I will be fighting for
homeowners to receive up to $5,000 per year towards their property taxes,
and renters to receive at least up to $900 per month to offset
their rent. Where will this come from? Barack Obama.
Because I do not believe in causing taxpayers to have to foot the
bill of private people who decided to make a decision that
did not benefit the people who were already there.
So the beneficiaries, all the people, his partners, his development partners,
they will be the ones footing the bill for this reparations plan.
My name is Christian Maxwell, and I approve this message.
southsidereparations.com, visit it. Document your story.
Thank you.
Next.
Next, we have Robert Schultz.
Please.
Next, we have Robert Schultz, and if we can please...
Yeah, Robert Schultz.
Hear you without-
My apologies.
Good afternoon. My name is W. Robert Schultz III.
I'm on staff at the Active Transportation Alliance, where we work
on walking, biking, and public transportation.
I'm here for the sole purpose of urging the City of Chicago
to purchase the intercity bus terminal, which was formerly
known as Greyhound.
More people use our intercity bus services, particularly
our
former Greyhound station, than many of the regional airports around
the country.
The
bus services are important to health and education,
and the Chicago bus terminal serves as a
hub for the entire nation, as well as the Midwest.
I'm indebted to the fact that Chicago had a bus
terminal. It enabled me to secure graduate level
education when I traveled from Michigan to Minnesota.
I'm sure there's many students that continue to rely
on our bus services. In the times when I've been on buses around the
country, they're always full. Chicago must
purchase a station and make this investment for the
public so that we can continue to be a world-class
city, especially when it comes to intercity bus travel.
Thank you.
Next, we have Paula Asensio.
Good morning, members of the committee. My name is Paula Asensio.
I'm a 30-year-old female,
Latina woman, homeowner, thankfully, by the grace of God.
And I own property at 500 South Clinton, directly impacted by the purchase of
the Greyhound. And I'm here to urge members of the
committee to vote no on the purchase of the Greyhound
station.
I'd like to know who here that is voting has ever actually taken the
Greyhound, by a show of hands.
Thank you.
And I would invite you to walk my block after the hours of
6:00 PM, 7:00 PM, maybe with your children,
and see how you feel about walking the streets of Chicago
after, around the Greyhound. What you'll
see is needles on the floor, people shooting heroin
on the corner, people defecating on a building that I spend a lot
of time in, and that I have a lot of integrity in, and am proud
to own. I live here because I work here.
I'm a public servant of the community, and I know that many of my neighbors
are as well. We live here because it's accessible to us for the
people that we serve. And we have to deal on a daily basis
with harassment, assault,
crime, vandalism. It affects me
mentally. It affects me physically.
I walk the streets with a knife in my pocket, and I have a gun in
my home, and I want to conceal carry because I am terrified.
I am shaking at the thought of being approached by someone, which I
am approached daily because of the crime that exists at the Greyhound.
Who is taking care of this? Who is even being mindful of this?
The city doesn't need another form of transportation
system. We already have it. We have
Amtrak. We have
Ogilvie. We have Union Station. We have Metra. We have Pace.
We have the CTA. We have buses. We have the Blue Line.
If we're talking about accessibility for transportation, why don't
we start with the Blue Line and how it's lacking an elevator?
Why don't we talk about the lack of funding with the CTA,
making it more accessible for riders?
I don't deny that Chicagoans and people visiting Chicago need
a bus station, but it does not need to happen in our backyard.
It does not need to happen in an up-and-coming neighborhood that has a
lot of potential for business, but is
stained by what the Greyhound is and what it brings to the community.
If the city is seriously considering this purchase, they need to do a lot more
work to ensure that it's safe for people like me and people in my
community. I'm joined here by my neighbors.
We have doctors, nurses, microbiologists, lawyers,
people that give back to the community, and we are suffering because of
the existence of the Greyhound. The Greyhound itself doesn't want to
purchase it.
Thank you. Next, we have Zoe Lee.
She's coming.
My name is Zoe Lee,
and I am the creator of Chicago Flips Red,
and one of the co-founders.
May 2018, the City of Chicago agreed to transfer
control 19.3 acres of Jackson
Park from the Chicago Park District and move forward with the use agreement for
the Obama Presidential Center. September 20th,
2018, Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced the ordinance that would
grant the Obama Foundation a 99-year use
agreement for $10.
October 31st, 2018, the
Chicago City
Council approved the agreement. All of you all.
Not one person opposed it. The deal granted the foundation a
99-year right to use the site for a one-time $10 fee.
So candidate
for 1st District, Christian Maxwell, is very right
about them reparations, since you all want to talk about reparations all
the time.
Now, I know exactly what you're talking about when it comes
to the bus station, because
they had me unhoused for a minute.
So I had a Airbnb on the West Loop, and I saw
all of that, plus the abandoned buildings and stuff.
I actually did a video over there. And I'm from New York, so
New York City, the Penn Station, when it comes to the bus and stuff like
that, they can do it. They know that their bus
station works. I used to take that same bus to
go do stand-up. I'm from Albany, New York. Three hours.
I love the bus. I do what I do, right?
So at the end of the day, Greyhound doesn't want to purchase that
because of the abandoned buildings and everything
downtown, right? Because they have took everything
off the South Side and West Side. Everything that you could think of.
Like this man right here, he let a 43-year-old business in
Auburn Gresham just get
knocked down without no court order, violation of
Fifth Amendment. It doesn't matter. He doesn't care.
So now they're coming to you,
right? And they're going to continue to come to you because of the white liberals
that come down here and advocate
for the city to buy anything. The city don't need to touch
anything. The feds need to come in here and do the
forensic audits because they're stealing.
So when these people get paid over here to come, "Hi, I did it, and I
was a student, da, da, da, da, da, da, da." You all are real born and raised
Chicago citizens.
Exactly. And they live
over there. Over there.
Thank you. Next, we have Jessica Jackson.
Good.
Yeah. Jessica Jackson. Jamie Jackson, please.
There it is.
Okay, so
I'm super glad that Republican candidate
Christian Maxwell was here today, and that she gave the
speech that she gave. Very good. Because the thing
is, everybody in this room already knows that.
They already know that the Obama Center was put there
to heavily gentrify those areas, South
Shore, Woodlawn, and they're doing it with their blessing.
That's what's so crazy.
I'm a victim of it. I live in South Shore, and
all of you in here know how the public
administrators, through J.B. Pritzker,
is stealing real estate over there to the point where they are
illegally evicting people. They're illegally
pushing people out by these
illegal property tax sales that J.B.
Pritzker was doing.
The US Supreme Court
ruled Cook County property tax sales
unconstitutional and illegal in 2023.
Cook County and the state of Illinois continued to
engage in that unlawful and unconstitutional
practice for three more years, up to
2026, up until a couple of months ago when that
federal charge hit from the local residents
here. You all are intentionally stealing
property, and you're doing it for a very, very, very
ugly Obama Center. That building is hideous.
Whatever that junk is that's written at the top of it, you can't
even read what it says. It's such a piss-poor
architect that they didn't even have the good common sense to
know that you have to finish a word on one side and
then finish this word on the other side.
This idiot, whoever did that, has the
words all over the place. You couldn't pay somebody to tell you
what that is.
I don't know who that architect was, but they are definitely not
the quality of an architect that Chicago skyscrapers are used
to.
And the fact that my property taxes have increased that high,
over $1,800,
in that area,
while they are illegally trying to take my property.
You all know it.
She's absolutely right about reparations.
Any time that lady, that Democrat in Congress, can say that
ICE agents, that immigrants need reparations
because ICE. Well, it's going to be more because Mike
Johnson, Republican, announced yesterday $70
billion is getting ready to be released for three years to
ICE. So all this money that you all doing is getting ready to get
wasted because ICE is coming and going-
Next, we have Edgar Cruz.
10 minutes.
Edgar Cruz.
No?
We'll come back.
Damian Cruz.
Kushoma Harris or Kushana Harris.
Kushana.
Hello, good afternoon. My name is Kushana Harris, and I'm the
founder and executive director of the Chicago Shower Association, a
new initiative focused on expanding sanitation access
to
individuals experiencing hardship.
I want to be clear about its role.
We will offer private shower stalls, hygiene supplies, and clean clothes if
needed. Although the facility will be located in Bronzeville, just
across from the Chicago police headquarters, it will serve all of Chicago's
communities, acting as a model blueprint in a dignified and
structural way,
making individuals not only feel humane, but wanting to take the next step
towards stability. Housing is a key factor.
We recognize that our city is facing a significant rate of displacement,
and we cannot efficiently rehouse individuals without first addressing the
de-housing.
By initially
having this intake system,
we create a pathway to
rehouse and ensure individuals are assessed, supported, and connected
to the resources that they have in a timely way.
This intake and assessment will function like a case management
service, guiding each individual as they navigate their path, whether
it's towards stable housing, workforce readiness, or other
community support. This holistic approach will ensure that each
person has a clear
supported route towards lasting stability.
By ensuring a structural intake process, we guide
individuals smoothly into assisted living,
subsidized housing, and transitional housing, ensuring that
they are placed with dignity.
This approach protects the value in the properties and the safeguards of
future stability of each person in our
community. I humbly ask for your support today to help
make this next critical step towards housing stability,
dignity, and lasting opportunity in Chicago.Ultimately,
rebirthing the whole Chicago.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next we have George Blakemore.
Black faces.
Gentrification.
Black Wall Street. Black business economic
development. There's something inherently wrong
with this new Black leadership.
No
leadership.
Black Wall Street,
way back,
they had Black business.
They didn't have all these so-called elected officials.
They didn't have all
these so-called elected officials.
What did they have? They had unity in their
community. They had business, owned hotels,
banks,
hospitals, cleaners, all types of
business.
These Black today are not tending to their
business.
They don't know the concept of a capitalist
system.
He who has the gold, rules. That's the
golden rule. Now, it's not anything
wrong with these Mexicans. They're advocating
for their people. They got business in their
community. These Aldermen, you have no
shame. The king or whatever.
Have no economic development in your neighborhood.
The schools are inferior.
You have no banks. You don't know your
consumers.
"So maybe, Mr. Blakemore, you should be ashamed."
I'm not ashamed. I got it going on here.
We have gotten too low, we Black people.
You don't have no high.
You don't have no business. It's
something wrong with you. Well, maybe it's something wrong with
all of us Black people. If the ancestors
could see you,
if they could really see what have happened to you
on the plantation. Get away from me. Keep on bothering me.
Get away. Stay away.
Stay away from me.
You are consumers. You don't produce nothing, because
you're not about nothing. And another thing, you don't have no
shame in your game.
You know what happened in the French Revolution? Mr.
Blakemore, you getting violent. What did they do to Marie Antoinette?
They killed her.
They killed the queen. What did she say?
Forget the people. She stuck up her finger, say,
"Feed them cake." We need to get her mouth by any damn measure.
Thank you.
Next we have Taiwan Sims.
Good afternoon, committee. Good afternoon.
Afternoon, committee. Damn, I thought you cut me off.
Good afternoon, Byron. How's it going?
I'm the man still in here trying to figure out how does this work.
Well, since 2022, the homeless rate has went
up now, I would say 3.5%.
And 70% of those individuals are foundational Black Americans, strewn
throughout the L, with the transit system, those individuals who you see in
your community at that, what was it? The Greyhound.
That's right there off of Harrison.
555 West Harrison, right?
Let me say, so July 15, 2021, I went into S Safe
Haven because I was dealing with a housing issue.
My HMIS number is 355061.
Also,
in 2022-- So let's say since 2023, the coordinated
entry system,
which was funded, what, two-point-something million dollars.
That's y'all tax money. So
SR2302251300,
SR240009680,
SR240292876,
SR2400374613,
SR240531567.
All of these were service requests for shelters.
None of them answered.
Even this year, now S Safe Haven is now the new coordinated
entry.
I just got a call after going to Ms. Harris' office and
stating, "Hey, I'm still homeless." How can I still be homeless when
there were 236 individuals that came into this city of
Chicago?
Most of them housed, not in shelters, but they're housed.
After the shelter structures were taken down in 2024, 2025,
these individuals are now housed.
However, you see Americans strewn throughout the streets
of Chicago, using the transit system for sanctuary and
shelter and housing most times. There's a woman down at
Washington. When you go down there,
she has everything possibly that in her life,
and she sits right there on that bench.
That's her house, her homeTell me, how doesn't this work for
Americans? What happened to the coordinated entry system?
Two point something, $2.1 million annually
put into it.
Why wasn't that housed? They're now calling me after February.
They said, "Hey." It's now June, what?
June 3rd they called me and said, "Hey, we have emergency shelter
from you." I said, "When did I put the SR in?" They said, "In February."
February it was an emergency.
This was an insult to call me. You could've just closed it out like you closed all
of these out.
But when I went over to Ms. Harris' office,
that's when they made the call. Because like Blakemore said,
foundational Black Americans here in the city are disregarded,
disrespected, and devalued.
Thank you.
Next we have Tasnim Tanvir.
Sir.
Hello.
Sir.
My name is Tasnim Tanvir, and I-
Wait-
Live in the West Loop.
One second. One second.
Oh.
One second.
Okay. We
will recognize them once they...
Thank you. Go ahead. My apologies.
Hi, my name is Tasnim Tanvir, and I live in the West Loop with my son
and my husband. I'm here today to urge the city to purchase the
Greyhound bus terminal, as it is an important resource and amenity to
Chicagoans. My friends, family members, and I have taken
long-distance buses to and from Chicago.
It would be sad to lose this travel option, as it is affordable and
convenient to our train stations and to a family planning clinic that
is providing life-saving care to so many people who cannot
get it in their own home states. I also hope that the city
purchasing the terminal will allow for buses from different companies to use
it instead of parking on Jackson Avenue.
As a person who takes the 126, it is very frustrating to see the
coach buses getting in the way of the bus and causing delays.
I would like to see the city-
Tasnim
... put renovation work into the bus terminal to make it truly world-class, and
to improve the safety around it. Letting a valuable city
asset close because of market conditions would reduce the travel options for
visitors and residents of the city, especially those who need it most.
Thank you. Next we have Kyle Lucas.
Good morning, Chairman Cecilia Lopez and committee members.
My name is Kyle Lucas. I'm the executive director of Better Street Chicago,
and I'm a Greyhound bus rider. And today, on behalf of Better Street Chicago, I
would like to express our support for the City of Chicago to purchase
630 West Harrison to create a publicly owned intercity bus
terminal. Intercity bus travel is a cornerstone of our
transportation system, and Chicago plays an irreplaceable role as a
national hub for passengers. For many, intercity bus travel,
buses are the only option for them to make trips to and from Chicago because
contrary to what you've heard today, intercity buses like Greyhound go
places where Amtrak and Metra don't.
And that's whether that's for leisure or to access to our critical
services here, such as healthcare.
And this is particularly acute as reproductive and LGBTQ+ care
has come under attack in many other states, making Chicago a haven for
people seeking necessary care. As cities across the US
have struggled to address the crisis of the loss of terminals due to the sale of
Greyhound stations to private equity in 2022, Chicago has the
opportunity to be a leader and demonstrate a commitment to this critical
piece of our transportation system.
Municipal ownership will provide the city the ability to address neighborhood
concerns while modernizing the facility to better serve
passengers. When people talk about Penn Station working, it's
because it's publicly owned. We're not reinventing the wheel here.
We're catching up. And make no mistake, a failure to act would mean
Chicago and our region will face a significant crisis that has played out
over and over in other cities. The difference is, if we don't act,
we have a crisis that impacts the entire nation because we are a hub.
And I would be remiss to not point out the moment that we are in right now.
Some are describing this as potentially the worst oil crisis that the United States
has faced in its history. We have to be thinking about ways that we can
expand people's access to transportation modes that go beyond automobiles
because the system that we have designed has shackled us and makes us subject to
significant harms when there is any sort of unrest across the world,
even when that unrest is our fault.
I believe very strongly that this body has not only a responsibility to the
citizens of Chicago to ensure that Chicagoans have access to
world-class intercity bus travel, but you have a duty to the American
people to ensure that our national bus network doesn't collapse.
You can't control what the president does, but you do have power in
this moment to do something that will have long-range impacts.
People will remember if we don't act here in Chicago.
They will point and say, "Chicago failed to lead in a moment where they could have
been a national leader." So I urge each of you to take this as
seriously as we as advocates do, as me and Greyhound bus
riders do. Some have described this as a troubled facility,
but I believe that to be a reductive view.
It is a facility full of opportunity.
It's an opportunity for us to make things right and to invest in the people of
Chicago. Thank you.
Next, and this is the last speaker, Austin Bush
Hello, I'm Austin Bush, and I live in Pilsen, 25th Ward.
Like many Chicagoans, I have family that lives elsewhere.
I've used this bus terminal to travel to visit my family before, as it's the only
reasonable and affordable way to travel to smaller cities in the Midwest for those
of us without access to a car.
I think my mother and my alderman will both agree they do not want me trapped in
the city over the holidays.
You'd have to host the meal, but I will bring a side dish.
As I've ridden the bus, I've seen who relies on it to get to and from
Chicago. The people traveling are often new parents going to visit
family, or a new grandparent coming to help take care of their kids.
Sometimes they are college students headed home for a winter break.
Other times, it's military personnel heading to training or on leave.
The bus has never been the most comfortable or glamorous option, but that
underscores the reason this action is so important.
The people rely on the bus being an option because there simply is
not an alternative.
Chicago is at great risk of losing our connections to the Midwest if we do not take
action to bring the bus terminal under public oversight.
For a small fraction of the cost we spend for a publicly owned global
terminal at O'Hare, we can maintain our direct connections to neighboring metros
like LaSalle and Fort Wayne. For a small fraction of the subsidy we
have proffered to the Bears, we can save our bus connections from departing to
Indiana. And for a small investment in a
municipal asset, we can keep our say in one of the city's
most vital lifelines for vulnerable residents.
I urge aldermen to pass this ordinance, bringing the bus terminal under municipal
ownership, protecting it from the disinvestment of the federal government and the
whims of private equity. Thank you.
Also, I'd like to recognize Alderwoman Rosana Rodriguez Sanchez for purpose of the
quorum.
The committee also received 144 written public
comments prior to our posted deadline.
All written comments were submitted in support of item number four
on the agenda, which is the
newest station in the 34th Ward, except for three comments that
were in opposition. Written comments have been emailed to committee
members for your referral. Thank you, and this concludes the public
comment portion of the meeting. Before we start the order of
business, I would like to recognize
a group that has visit us. We didn't want to interrupt the public
comment. There's no conspiracy. We want to welcome the Black
Researchers Collective. We want to please maybe rise so we can recognize you
and thank you for visiting. Yeah, you can.
Yes, you can all rise. We want to just recognize you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your visit.
We love a special guest, and I hope that you enjoy your visit in
the Housing and Real Estate Committee.
Thank you so much, and very welcome
today.
Next, we have for the order of business.
Our first order of business is the Rule 45 report from, or
actually reports, May 4th 2026. Then we have a subject matter hearing
on the May 13th, the 2026 regular meeting,
which was emailed and handed out to committee members.
Can I get a motion to recommend approval of the report?
So moved by Alderwoman Taylor.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The
report has been approved.
Now, we'll move on on the items before the committee.
At the request of the lead sponsor, the first item will
be held in committee until further notice.
But I do want to recognize Alderman Martin.
I know that we've been working for quite some time, and I just want to make sure
the committee members have an opportunity to hear an update, and we will make sure
that we bring it back as soon as we're ready.
Go ahead, Alderman Martin.
Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon, colleagues.
Just wanted to start by centering around why
we introduced this ordinance to begin with.
Recognize that there are no silver bullets to addressing our affordable housing
crisis, but a big tool that we do have in our toolbox involves low-income
housing tax credits and similar
funds that support the construction of new affordably priced homes.
We've seen in recent years, coming through a number of committees, including the
Finance Committee, that the per-unit construction costs for affordable housing have
been rising sharply in Chicago. And while there are a number of reasons
associated with that, one reason that, again, is in our control
is the oftentimes slow and cumbersome review process that the city can
subject certain affordable housing providers to.
So last year, I worked with the Illinois Housing Council to introduce an ordinance
that sought to rein in aspects of that process in common sense
ways. To be clear, we've made some progress in
negotiations with the Department of Housing and Affordable Housing
stakeholders on a number of provisions that, at the end of the day, are
designed to improve the city's affordable housing development process
that will be incorporated into a revised ordinance.
The principal issue remaining, the one that doesn't allow us to move forward with
consideration today, involves the department's review of construction
change orders. Affordable housing developers and industry stakeholders
have together emphasized the need that routine change
orders are a normal process of construction
and are-
No problem
... most effectively managed by the project team, provided
appropriate safeguards remain in place, of course.
Stakeholders have raised concerns that extensive review requirements can slow
project delivery, increase costs, and delay the production of affordable
housing. As a result of this, additional discussions are
underway to identify an approach that preserves appropriate
oversight while balancing that against allowing projects to
proceed in an efficient way so that we can build more affordable homes using
these precious resources. So thank you for the opportunity to provide this update,
and I look forward to keeping you and the committee updated with
progress. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Alderman Martin.
We will continue, and anyone who would like to participate, we welcome to join us.
Thank you,
Alderman Martin. The second item is an aldermanic introduction from
Alderwoman Clay, Ordinance
2026-0025475, designation
of 3611 through 3625 North
Halsted Street as low affordability community in the 46th
Ward.Jesse Orr, Director of Infrastructure and Development for
Alderperson Andrea Clay, is here to testify on behalf of this
ordinance.
Thank you, Jesse.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you, alderpeople.
We're introducing this ordinance to establish a low
affordability community at the project at 3611
through 3625 North Halsted. This project has been
approved by the Chicago Plan Commission in February and was approved by the
Committee on Zoning in May.
I'm going to quickly just run through the Plan Commission slide so
alders can see the project, go over some of the economic and community
benefits, and then I'm here to answer any questions that any alders have about the
project. Unfortunately, Alderwoman Clay is not able to attend committee
today, so I'm here on her behalf.
This project is a 188-unit, 10-story building
at a current vacant lot in East Lakeview.
Here's the site.
This is what the project will look like.
It's approximately 10 stories tall with 188 units on nine
residential floors, two floors of below-grade parking,
and ground floor retail space. It will include 38 affordable units, the
full 20%.
This is just the plans.
It'll be a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and studio apartments.
As required, the ARO mix will match the mix of units in the
building.
It's a mostly brick facade. This building did have
support from the bird
activists after Plan
Commission. The vast majority of windows are screened,
and the vast majority of the building is masonry, which makes it bird
friendly. A traffic study has been conducted, of
course.
Wind study, urban design.
These are just standard PD slides.
So this building
will have
76 studios, 45 one-bedrooms, and 26 two-bedroom
apartments. Of these, 20 of the studios will be affordable, 11
of the one-bedroom apartments, and seven of the two-bedroom apartments.
This is in Lakeview, which as per the latest Department of Housing
analysis, only 9% of all units in Lakeview are
affordable. So adding 38 new construction units
here is a big win. Alderwoman Clay is very excited.
We are also planning to work with CHA to try to get some project-based
vouchers into the building as well to deepen the affordability of the
ARR units. This project has numerous
economic and community benefits.
Number one, it's going to have 100% stormwater retention on site.
It's eliminating a curb cut and adding a new green space to Halsted
Street. It will create a significant number of new construction jobs.
The low affordability community designation requires a project labor agreement,
ensuring that all of these jobs will be union jobs.
And it will also create many permanent jobs, both in the commercial space and as
part of property management.
I'm here to humbly ask your support for this ordinance and here to answer
any questions from any alders here. Thank you.
Thank you, Jesse. Are there any questions by committee members?
Alderwoman Taylor.
You went too fast. Can you go back to the slide?
So are these buildings that are being built?
It's an empty space?
Yes. This is currently a vacant lot.
Before it was a vacant lot, I'll go back.
Thank you.
It was a one-story industrial building, which sold
paint.
Here is the-
Okay
... current site of the lot,
a vacant lot.
Then I think there might be pictures of what it looked like before, but it was
basically a one-story industrial strip mall.
What is surrounding them? Because on this project, it seems to be a
lot of
studios,
like 76. Is this around a school? Is it around a
park? What is the justification for wanting 76
studios?
So this is at the corner of Halsted and Addison.
So it's an area where we're seeing lots of folks moving, lots of young
folks.
The building right to the north of this is a condo building.
And so this is providing--
There's a lot of
opportunities for young folks to live in the neighborhood, particularly the kind of
young folks who are service workers and work in this neighborhood.
It's one of the most transit-accessible locations in Chicago.
You're only about a block and a half away from the red line.
You're on the Halsted bus. You have the lakefront buses right there.
So it's one of our most transit-accessible locations.
Given the nature of the geometry of the building and kind of having these long,
narrow buildings, often the best way to do the layout is
have one bedrooms and two bedrooms on the corners, and then studios kind of
on the inside of the building to have the most efficient use of space.
I see it's not that far from Wrigley Field-
Correct
... according to this map. What
are
apartments around it kind of going?
Did you all do some type of assessment?
Yeah. So most apartments in Lakeview are going for pretty high
rents. As someone who lives a little bit north of the neighborhood in Uptown,
myself, in the 46th Ward,
rents here are very high and are rising.
It's one of the areas where we're seeing the most growth in rents and in
condo prices. In the
46th Ward, there has not been any new affordable development in this part of
Lakeview, and so we're super excited to add 38 units, which
is approximately the amount of a small LIHTC development
without requiring any outlay of funds from the city.
Thank you.
No problem.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you. Are there any other questions?Otherwise, can I get a motion to move on
this item? So moved by Alderperson Hadden. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation on this substitute ordinance will be reported
out at the next city council meeting on June 17th,
2026. Item
number three is an aldermanic introduction from Alderman Quesada.
Thank you, Jesse.
Yes. And let's make sure Alderman Quesada is still online, right?
Designation of 3231 North California Avenue
and 2752 through 2762 West
Melrose Street as low affordability community in the
35th Ward.
Chas is reached from
Alderman Quesada's office, is here to present on this.
Is Chas here?
Or-
Hey, Alder
... oh, you're going to take it direct. Alderman Quesada is taking it.
Yes. Thank you, Chairman. So thank you so much.
So this item at Melrose in California,
the development team reached out to the 35th Ward office regarding a
vacant property at this location. So this is under my predecessor.
And in line with our community-driven zoning and development process, the
proposal was reviewed
by our neighborhood organization in the area, the Avondale Neighborhood
Association. And in fall 2025, the 35th Ward,
we collected
community feedback from a
community meeting.
Some of the concerns that were raised by neighbors
that
we got from our meeting and our two-week period,
reflected that the project did not receive majority
support.
So we shared that feedback with the development team,
and the development team revised their proposal based on the community feedback.
We held a second community meeting in spring of this year.
The majority of feedback that we received was in support of the revised
proposal.
And the proposal also received favorable recommendation from the
Chicago Plan Commission last month.
And it's expected to be on the committee and zoning agenda later
this month. In addition to the 21 affordable
units
that are going to be on site, there is 105 units in total,
and two additional units will
be added as workforce housing units at
100% AMI.
So 33% of the rental units in Avondale are affordable compared to 36%
citywide.
And the low affordability ordinance that we are
presenting today will subject the project to a project labor
agreement. We respectfully request favorable consideration. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. Are there any questions by committee members?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move on this item?
So moved by Alderperson Anna Appenworth. All those in favor say aye.
All opposed nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Item number four is ordinance 2026-0025512,
purchase and sell agreement with GH
Chicago, Illinois, LLC for property at
630 West Harrison Street in the 34th Ward.
In collaboration with several city departments, city council members were invited
to attend briefings on this item earlier this week.
Today, we have Commissioner
of the Department of Fleet and Facility Management, Julie Hernandez Tomlin, Deputy
Commissioner of 2FM, Marek Wisniewski, and
Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst of DOF, Jacob
Rosoff, present to testify on behalf of this ordinance.
In the box, we also have additional representatives from 2FM,
DPD, Department of Law, CPD, CDOT, and the mayor's
office for Q&A.
Take us away. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Chairman Cesar Lopez.
Thank you so much, Vice Chair Mitchell, good afternoon,
members of the committee. My name is Julie Hernandez Tomlin,
Commissioner 2FM. You want...
You can go in. Yeah. I already kind of did introduction.
For Q&A, we can remind people.
Okay, great. We'll just go right into the deck, please.
So we are here today to introduce the ordinance
to give 2FM the authority to purchase
the Intercity Coachbus Terminal.
Thank you.
So just a little project description
regarding the Intercity Coachbus Terminal.
The project description is acquisition of the existing Greyhound bus station for
continued operation as an intercity coach bus
transportation hub. The address is 630 West Harrison
Street, which is in Alderman Conway's ward, 34th Ward.
The TIF area is at Canal Congress. Community area is Near West
Side, and planning area is Central.
Some project background.
The proposed purchase of this facility is being undertaken to ensure that
intercity bus service is maintained in Chicago and set up to
expand equitably and efficiently for the benefit of travelers, residents,
and neighbors alike.
Some history on the property. Greyhound has operated out of the
bus station in Chicago since 1928, so almost
100 years. This particular location has been operated
as an intercity bus terminal since its opening in
1989.
The current owner acquired the property in 2022 as part of
a 33-property purchase of Greyhound bus stations throughout the
country, with the intention to profit from the sale of the
properties.Following acquisition, the property was marketed
as a location for a mixed-use development with DX-7
zoning and eligibility for bonus floor area.
The city is pursuing the acquisition of this bus station to
preserve inner-city bus infrastructure and ensure that bus
terminal operations continue without disruption.
What are the project impacts? The benefits.
The city's goal is to preserve reliable and affordable
transportation options that maintain Chicago's status as the
connectivity hub for the entire region.
Last year in 2025, the facility served over
460,000 passengers. That should say
passengers. So just almost a half a million passengers,
and had on average 72 arrivals and departures
per day. Inner-city bus service enables essential and
leisure travel that would otherwise be out of reach for many lower income
residents. Bus networks often reach smaller towns and
rural communities not accessible by air or train
travel. Inner-city bus service is a lifeline for
those coming to Chicago from other states for reproductive
healthcare options. Nearly 32,000 out-of-state
patients traveled to Chicago for reproductive care in
2025, many via inner-city bus.
The city's ownership of the bus terminal would improve conditions for
passengers, nearby residents, and workers by bringing
in more bus operators, improving the physical facility, and
upholding a high standard of public safety.
What are the consequences of inaction if we do not acquire this
property?
The property owner could sell the site and leave the city without an inner-city bus
station, resulting in the loss of a critical transportation hub
and access to an affordable mode of inner-city transportation.
Out of the 130 largest cities in the world,
Chicago would be the only city in the Northern Hemisphere without
an inner-city bus terminal.
The proposed acquisition ordinance in front of you today,
again, would provide the 2FM commissioner with authority to acquire the
property located at 630 West Harrison from GH
Chicago LLC. They're a subsidiary of Twenty Lakes
Holding.
The appraised fair market value of the property is
$25.7 million. We will purchase it
at $19.2.
Therefore, the discount achieved the city would get is
roughly $6.5 million. And the
acquisition would be funded by the TIF and the Canal Congress.
TIF, sorry.
We would also assume from GH Chicago LLC, the
operation and management lease with Flix North America.
They are the parent company of Flix Bus and Greyhound.
The term of the lease would be from our date of closing on the
purchase for one year.
Flix North America will be carrying all operating and management
costs in lieu of paying rent, so operating costs are
covered.
Operating and maintenance responsibilities.
Flix would be responsible for security, janitorial, utilities, trash,
snow removal, plumbing, general facility repairs, including
non-structural repairs, maintenance, and replacements.
And the City of Chicago, we would be responsible for deferred maintenance and
structural repairs and replacements.
Again, the purchase price, $19.2 million,
building as is.
We have completed due diligence this entire last year from June
'25 till now. We anticipate a closing date for
August 2026.
And the plan, once we acquire this building,
is the
city would assume the existing operation and management lease with
Flix for a period of one year.
Flix will continue to operate and manage the facility under existing
terms, pending city procurement of a third-party
company to operate and manage the property and facility long-term.
So after one year.
2FM will issue an RFP for property management
services to take over management and operation of the
facility at the end of the one-year Flix lease term.
What we plan on doing after we acquire the property.
This is what we're proposing in phase one.
There are some HVAC and roofing needs that
have to be done. Design, engineering, and implementation of a new HVAC
system and roofing. We would anticipate that completion
by the end of quarter four next year, 2027.
Also, safety and security. We're assessing and repairing
existing exterior lights to improve site visibility and assess
and repair camera monitoring systems.
Phase two would consist of undertaking an in-depth assessment of the
facility to determine remaining deficiencies to inform phase
two of improvements, including but not limited to ADA
compliance, life safety systems, exterior
envelope, bathroom, and interior improvements.
Based on preliminary assessments, the cost of the required phase two work
will fall within the current TIF allocation.
The anticipated duration to complete these improvements would be about three to
four years.
This is the anticipated capital projects
timelineFor the remainder of this year, phase
one work anticipated, again, facility acquisition.
We have to buy the building first. Then A&E, which is architecture
and engineering study, HVAC and room design,
preliminary engagement for community study and analysis,
HVAC and roof GC undertaking for construction implementation.
Next year and the year after, 2027, 2028,
phase two work anticipated repair of fire alarms,
sprinklers, review and design of remaining deferred maintenance needs,
continued work towards completion of building deferred maintenance needs also.
The anticipated capital expenditures.
We estimate that the low end of our budget would be about
39.4 million.
Yes, sorry.
That includes the purchase of 19.2.
And then on the high end, 49.5. So we anticipate our
budget of spending on capital expenditures in the next year,
44.5.
Again, all covered by the TIF.
Project details, safety, and security.
We've been working closely with CPD
and CDOT. Security staffing, we're going to
maintain the presence of two armed security guards at the facility seven
days a week.
2FM and CPD will actively monitor and evaluate the security staffing
levels post-acquisition to determine whether any changes are
necessary.
Physical facility security, there's a total of 64 security
cameras inside and outside the facility.
2FM will continually monitor and assess security cameras and make necessary
upgrades as needed to enhance visibility and security.
Following acquisition, 2FM will assess and repair exterior building
lights and entrances.
As far as the site and the surrounding area,
CDOT street lighting projects in the immediate vicinity of the facility
are all expected to be completed by December of this year.
A few more details on the infrastructure and traffic
impacts.
During the summer 2026, CDOT is going to survey the area within a
two-block radius of the terminal to determine necessary improvements
for pedestrian and traffic safety and work with the local alderman to
determine a path for implementation.
This survey will include an assessment of lighting that needs to
be improving... I'm sorry. The assessment of lighting needs to improve
visibility, personal security, and pedestrian safety.
Review of the traffic signals to improve traffic control and support
safe pedestrian crossings, analysis of concrete,
asphalt, and sidewalk conditions, assessment of signage to
ensure clear navigation for residents and users.
There will be no significant changes to traffic patterns
that we anticipate near the facility.
Passengers arrive by walking from nearby rail stations, local buses,
taxis, or rideshare companies, or they get dropped off by a car near the
facility. The facility is strategically located near
expressways and surrounding roadways that are
sufficiently designed to handle the facility's maximum capacity,
and bus operations are expected to remain within historic
levels.
That concludes the presentation. We're ready to answer any questions, please.
Thank you very much.
We have in the stack Alderman Moore.
Alderman Conway, do you want to just get us started or closing?
What do you prefer?
I serve at the pleasure of you, Mr. Chairman, as a non-committee member.
I'll go ahead and go right now, if that's okay.
You want to go right now? Okay. Alderman Moore, okay?
Sure.
So yeah, so that you can frame it. Go ahead, Alderman Conway.
It's in your wheelhouse.
Yeah. Yes, sure. And that was an excellent presentation provided.
But to hit some of the high points, we can't really understate the
importance of having a multimodal station
here in Chicago for this bus service.
And it's important that the city have an inner-city bus station that
serves the thousands of Chicagoans and visitors who rely on
multimodal transportation options.
And it's
worth noting, as women's access to healthcare is being restricted across the
country, Illinois has been an island for people from
neighboring states seeking reproductive healthcare.
And many utilize this bus network.
You have Family Planning Associates as well as Planned Parenthood's Loop Clinic are
both not too far from this station.
And we need to preserve access to regional bus
transport and make sure that we set up this station
safely and successfully.
But it's not without notice that the Greyhound station has been a consistent source
of problem for this area, and that goes back to
20 years ago when I was a prosecutor at the domestic violence courthouse across the
street. And
the public safety situation
can't really be understated, and that really
culminated in the tragic murder of Greyhound employee Dajuan Gaddis outside
the station in 2022.
So neighbors and passengers really deserve a clear
plan for public safety, and I have had many
significant conversations with Commander Mannion of the First District, who I do
see in the box today, about what we can do to make that area
safer. Couple other things I would notice.
I share concerns about traffic, but one thing I would note that came out in
the diligence process is this station had twice as many
buses before COVID. So until we get to
a point where traffic's a problem, I think we have a little bit of room, and
hopefully, that becomes a problemCertainly have operational concerns,
but would note that we have contracted with FlixBus
for a year as a bit of a stopgap mechanism.
And I appreciate the
patience of
folks in the box and on the dais who have
listened to my many questions about environmental concerns and legal concerns as
double check.
And as part of those, I would note that 5 million more dollars
were moved into this year, so we can begin work
on improving the Greyhound station this year
immediately and get moving on those improvements.
And
the highlight of what we do nothing can't be overstated.
This station is indirectly owned by New York-based Alden Global,
who you may know, who own "The Tribune"
now. And they famously made significant cuts to other local
businesses. And with that, I worry about the continued degradation or
elimination of this station
if we do nothing.
So, what I want to say is that we
have a lot of work to do,
and that's why I have asked so many questions of many departments
here.
But the alternative of doing nothing
is a disastrous one for the people of the city of Chicago.
And I look forward to working hard with all of you to make sure
that we can make the Greyhound
a better experience for both the community and for riders alike.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to make some remarks, and thank you all
departments who have answered the thousands and thousands of questions I've asked
about this over the recent months. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Conway. Alderman Moore.
Thank you so much, and thank you for the presentation,
Commissioner. Where has the ridership been the past
five years? Anybody have at least the past five years?
Anybody have that information?
We can probably get you that information through the chair.
I believe we have the last two years.
Do we have two-
It's gone.
One year?
Present.
No.
Oh, it is. Sorry.
We have some information for you.
Statistics provided from Flix, and this is only
Flix, which is effectively Greyhound, right?
In 2017, there were about
636,000 passengers through the
terminal.
Last year, it was about 463. So we're substantially below where it
has been.
You said how many last year?
463,000.
Thousand.
Okay.
So we're about 40% below, and this is--
It's not like the FAA, where there's a lot of data collected on
this industry. So we had to get this from the private side, and
this is for just one of the carriers.
And there were more carriers at that time, so that number in
2017 absolutely would've been higher.
Okay.
So we're well below historical capacity levels.
All right. And this $44.5 million in
capital expenditures
that's paid through the TIF, I recognize that.
This is
not an annual expenditure, correct?
That is correct.
And
so this is a one-time, but in the future,
who's going to be responsible for any
capital? I'm assuming 15 to 20 years
if all this... So I'm shown this is some type of gut total
rehab, and I just patch with this 44 million.
And so therefore, 15 to 20 years from now, who's
then responsible for any capital
expenditures at that time?
So 2FM, we're going to put out an RFP for property
management
within the next year or after this first year.
And then capital expenditures would come out of
our budget, of course.
Ongoing?
Ongoing.
And
that'd be strictly from the TIF, correct?
The TIF covers the capital expenditures that we're doing
now and plus the purchase of the property.
Right. I'm talking about future capital expenditures.
Yeah. Good question.
Yes. Sorry, Alderman, I misunderstood your question.
For the future, yes, it would come out of the CIP
or operational budget.
You said the CIP.
Or the TIF.
Okay. Or the CIP
CIP, our operation.
For the people that don't know a CIP-
I'm sorry, our capital
budget, our capital expenditure.
Capital improvement plan
... plan, right. It'd come out of the CIP or the TIF or what was the
third one?
Operational budget.
Operation budget, which puts us in the basically the
business of running a bus terminal.
And-
Yeah. The goal, excuse me, Alderman, the goal would be for
the bus operators who are operating out of the
building to pay for those as well. So
this would be like a-
When you say the goal-
Zero
... I understand they're going to be responsible for the
operations.
Yes
The operating expense is part of it.
I'm
specifically right now speaking the capital expenditure part of it,
and are we saying that when we say go, or
is it codified that they are responsible for
future capital expenditures, or is it specific that the
capital expenditure is going to be paid by the city?
And what I'm hearing now, it's either/or.
TIF is notReally stating, saying where
those future capital expenditures are going to be paid for
from.
Yes, go ahead.
Good afternoon, Alderman. Yeah, so as been stated, the initial
expenses will be from the TIF, which will take us-
Please talk into the mic, sir, thank you
The initial investment will, like you said, take care of the
needs for about 20 years plus.
The operator that's going to be brought on is going to be responsible for
maintaining and operating the facility, so the improvements
should be taken care of and continue to stand.
Just like any building or any facility, over time,
more improvements will be required in the, like you said, 20-plus years.
So at that point, like the commissioner said, we would then have to plan for that
either through the TIF, our capital improvement plan, or other
sources, depending on how the ridership goes up and the
revenue generated by the station.
When does the TIF expire?
2034.
Okay.
I think those are the questions I have for now.
Thank you. We have Alderwoman Taylor and then Alderwoman Harris, but before, I want
to request a rule. Alderman Robinson has requested a Rule
59. Can I get a motion to approve so he can join us via remote please?
So moved.
So moved by Alderwoman Taylor.
Then we got Alderwoman Taylor followed by Alderwoman Harris.
So
thank you, Chairman. The purchase of the building, is this $19
million?
Yes.
Do you all have what they've made in the last three years as
Greyhound
in that area, for what?
We don't. It's a private entity, and
I doubt that they're going to give us their revenue numbers, and it's a much
small scale of a much broader
organization.
So we're purchasing
a space, and we don't know how much money it's going to generate?
No, we know how much it costs to operate,
and it's pretty much a break even, Alderwoman.
It's
not a revenue-generating
facility.
Now. Correct. Thank you, Alderwoman.
So
$19
million to purchase this, correct?
Yes.
And we don't know how much it's going to generate?
We ain't going to guesstimate? We ain't...
This is Jake Ross of the Department of Finance.
The concern is operating costs, I believe, is what you're
getting at. We wouldn't know if they sold a ticket to go from St.
Louis to Chicago, how they would be allocating their cost centers
to assess profitability. They have an entire network
to manage. It would be very difficult to break down revenue
associated with one node in that network.
We do have a very good-- We have data from them on what their operating
costs are and what it would take to break even, and
we're actually highly confident it's actually beneficial for
them to operate under municipal ownership.
So what was their operating cost?
Okay. Well, their operating costs
were almost
$3.5 million.
Prospectively, those will fall quite considerably under municipal ownership.
They won't be paying rent, and they won't be paying taxes.
So the actual sort of operating expenses that need to be covered by the
supporting bus lines is actually
quite an improvement, which should be passed on to
other operators, and we anticipate other operators joining
service at the facility.
I'm concerned
that with all of the money that we're
spending, what
are we actually getting other than saying we're
purchasing a bus station? And when it comes to when we
get private companies to manage things, we don't really do a
good job in making sure they manage it well.
And so I would want to know the companies you're using,
where they actually come from, and what experience do they
have running a bus station?
Because I also want to understand, other than
Greyhound, who else is running buses out of there?
I don't
feel like you all have done a good job of telling us actually how this bus
station runs. I
wasn't at any of the meetings around it, but I would want to have a
conversation or for the public to know actually how it runs.
I'm very concerned about listening to folks talk about safety, and so
I want to
know the calls of service that have happened around the Greyhound station.
Since the stabbing, what has
Greyhound and CPD actually done to make the place safer?
And I don't like that safety wasn't the first thing.
I get that you all want to get the bill in.
I
don't know if you all have pictures of what it actually looks like.
Because we're not talking about knocking it down then building it up again.
We're talking about improving what was already there.
And so through the chair, I want to see pictures of what it actually looks like.
Absolutely.
But also making sure that
I want to see the safety plan first.
You all
was going to do the roof and the HVAC. We know that needs to be done.
But safety should've been the first priority, because for the most part,
people in the community and even the alderperson does
support it, but I would want to see what safety looks like and who is going to be
in charge of that. Is it a security company?
What does that look
like?And
what is the protections in place once we invest this money in,
that the city don't decide
we're just going to sell it after we invested almost
$49 million in it? And so what is in this language
about the sale? Because the city of Chicago, depending on the
administration, we got a bad habit of selling our assets
after we then invested our money, time, and blood, sweat, and tears in it.
And so I would want to see something that talks about how,
if we
sell this after investing all of this money, how that
works.
Okay.
That's it.
Thank you.
I do have CDOT, or we do have CDOT and CPD
here, if you'd like to hear our-
Please have them
... preliminary safety-
Absolutely, yes
... discussions that we've been having for the last months and
months.
If you can introduce yourself, please.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Seamus Mannion.
I currently serve as the commander of the First District for the Chicago Police
Department. With many different
entities and buildings within the First District, obviously public safety is our
primary concern. This wouldn't be any different.
When it's city owned,
I have a business liaison sergeant as well as myself, and the captain and
lieutenants, but working with them to make sure that they're a good partner.
Having city owned, having them attend the meetings such as the community policing
meetings, and being a good pillar of the community as well.
Obviously, it's currently there under the operation of Greyhound.
There's calls for service. A lot of them are EMS calls,
public safety. The calls have gone down since my time has been there, and I've
been in the First District in and out for the last about 12 years.
But right now, we're seeing on the west end, it's the west end of our
district, we have routine patrols, we have focused mission
patrols, as we also have special attentions at the location as well.
CDOT?
CDOT,
please.
Hi, Alderwoman. Mary Nichol, deputy commissioner at CDOT.
So as was stated in the slide presentation, we're
approaching it, safety, in a variety of different ways.
So through a lighting assessment of pedestrian
needs, to improve visibility, personal security,
and pedestrian safety during nighttime and low light
conditions. That survey will be completed by August,
and we'll work with the alders in the area to figure out how we want to
approach it and fund those improvements.
We're looking at the traffic signals to improve traffic control,
reduce conflicts between roadway users, and support safe pedestrian
crossings.
We're looking at concrete and asphalt conditions to identify
pavement deficiencies and sidewalk conditions that may create
unsafe conditions for pedestrians, cyclists or
motorists. And lastly, we're looking at doing
street signs to ensure clear navigation, visibility, and regulatory
guidance for all users of the public way.
That is in addition to the active transportation projects that are currently in
the area, including the Collector Street program,
we're paving from West Vernon Park to South Clinton to South
Jefferson Street.
We're doing curb and gutter replacement on South Jefferson Street
from West Congress Parkway to West Harrison Street, doing the
same from West Congress Parkway and to South
Clinton. We're currently doing some sidewalk replacements around
436 South Clinton.
In lighting projects that are in various stages of construction that the
presentation referenced will be done by December of this year,
doing Tilden from Canal to Des Plaines, Jefferson from
Jackson to Tilden, Van Buren from Canal to Des Plaines, and
Harrison from Halsted to Morgan.
Is that all in the presentation?
The specifics of
what I just said, some of it are in the presentation, but we can certainly make
sure you get it through the chair.
Thank you. What is Greyhound going to do to increase
ridership? Because there's been this conversation that they
haven't
had a bunch of ridership since COVID.
It has fallen since COVID, yes.
So what is the plan to-- Because if we're purchasing in a-- I'm
sure there has to be a plan to increase
ridership.
Specifically, we have spoken with all the...
Well, just to be clear, right now it's effectively controlled by a single operator.
Right? We've had conversations with all the other relevant other
operators that function pretty much in the region.
Across the board, they've either expressed a
desire to return to or initiate service out of Chicago.
So as a municipally owned entity, we anticipate that the usage
by the
scope of
operators will expand,
and probably quite considerably, which will increase throughput at the
facility.
What is the conversation around getting local businesses inside
of the Greyhound so that people are able to eat and
not use vending machines?
Those conversations have yet to take place.
We need to acquire the property first, and then those
conversations will take place. But we are doing our due diligence.
So we are having conversations
interdepartmentally on a strategic plan on how to
attack that.
I'm going to say this, the devil is in the details.
Yes.
And when we don't put that up front, it always seems like the people who actually
live in Chicago are-Or who have local businesses don't have
access to run in an institution that their tax dollars pay
for. And so I want to see that sooner than later.
Okay.
Thank you.
It is a conversation. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chair.
Yeah, Chairwoman.
And also, just for the purpose of the presentation, there's some details that are
not here, but we're happy to provide that.
There was multiple departments involved, and I know Alderman Conway has
insisted on public safety and other
matters. So we'll definitely share those details with you.
Before we move on the next question, I do want to
renew again my motion. Alderman Robinson just
rejoined, and I got about a second to allow him to move for
quorum remotely by Alderman Taylor.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
So I think now Alderman Robinson is
part of the meeting. Thank you. And we have Alderwoman Harris, followed
by Alderwoman Mona Hapworth.
Thank you. Not to be redundant, but
safety seems to be an issue, but I am quite confident that the First District
Commander has got it under control and will handle it.
I'm concerned about what the cleaning regimen will look
like. It is my hope that it
reflects what our airports look like,
that it doesn't currently look like that, but that what is
our process about, is this going to be internally controlled
by the
company that will be doing the leasing?
That we put something in writing in that contract that requires them to do
regular cleaning,
to hire people who are there on the facility 24 hours a
day. And so if it's a 24-hour space, that they have
someone there 24 hours to clean.
And that if we're going to own something as a city, we need to go in with a deep
cleaning before we even hand it back over to any company
to lease it.
Yes, I can tell you this, Alderwoman. Thank you for the question.
Once it is in our hands, that we actually acquire the property,
we would have more control over that. Yes.
All right. Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
So if through the Chair you could get me what that looks like.
Again, to Alderman Taylor's point, the devil's in the
details. So I want to see what the details of that looks
like. If we're going to have a facility that we own,
I think it needs to look like the City of
Chicago-
Absolutely
... owns it-
Yes
... and moving forward in how it's handled.
So, thank you so much.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairwoman. And we'll make sure to get you that information.
Alderwoman Mona Hapworth, followed by Alderwoman
Dowell, and then we got Alderman Quinn. Alderwoman Hapworth.
Thank you, Chair. A lot of my questions were asked
and answered, especially around safety.
I actually happened to pass the Greyhound
station after the bike jam
that we attended on Monday for
Riley O'Neill, who passed away because of
a bike crash, and it was around sunset.
It was a beautiful memorial, by the way.
And we have to do all that we can to
make all of our streets safer and to make us more connected, no matter how
we get around. But I did pass the station.
I was not thinking of this hearing at that time, but I was thinking as I was
riding my Divvy e-bike downtown, how
quiet it was, and it was getting darker, and I didn't see really
anybody until I passed that station.
But I did note how it was
quite dark, and so I'm glad to hear from
CDOT that
we do have a plan in place according to our Complete Streets
program, and then we're going to do more on top of that.
And I do think about Planned Parenthood for
reproductive rights, but also in my community, we have the
highest concentration of trans folks living in Chicago, I
believe, in our 60640 and 60660, and
I've had multiple neighbors come to me and say that
is how
their community gets around through the bus
network system. So it's not just for
certain people, it's for everybody.
I do also want to note that
I just came back from Switzerland from visiting my
youngest son, and I
truly believe that Chicago can be a
world-class city, but we have so much to do.
In other countries, they do prioritize the experience
of the pedestrian versus a car, and
also other modes of transportation.
So if
others do come to the City of Chicago, this bus
station can be a gateway to welcome people.
And so I look forward to hearing about the progress that we are
making. I'm glad that safety is a priority
and that you continue to work on that,
not just with the CPD, because you can't do it all alone.
It's got to be structurally sound, too.
So I just want to say thank you for this work.
I believe that we need an inner-city
bus line, and this is the right way to do it.
That's it. I just really wanted to appreciate the presentation,
Commissioner, and thank you to those of you in the box who have
been working on this for quite some time.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman Mona Hapworth. Alderwoman Dowell, followed by Alderman Quinn.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't know that you can give us this
information, Commissioner, in this setting, but through the
Chair, can I understand who makes up the LLC?
Absolutely, yes.
Okay. And then,
Flix Southeast is a global
company. They're a tech company. They're located, I understand, in Germany.
Yes.
Is that accurate?
Yes.
All right. How are we thinking about revenue
sharing? I
know you don't own the property yet, but how are we thinking
about assuming this goes
bananas and we do really well-
Ms. Davis
... with a bus station here? How are we thinking about revenue
sharing? And how is that done in other cities
where this same kind of operation
is taking place?
So to make sure I understand your question, how it is we are going
to charge the various operators for using the facility.
Is that what you're getting at?
All right. So I need to
have a org chart. My understanding is
that Flix only
has oversight over, let's say, the facility.
Mm-hmm.
But the actual buses that come into the terminals are run
by independent operators. Is that accurate?
Correct. And
the anticipation is that Flix will only be
in place as operator for the first year,
and that there's an RFP process for a more longer term and,
quite frankly, I think more objective,
property manager for the facility.
And what companies are out there
that actually would do that? If you could generate a list, I
know you're going to have to put out an RFP, but who
would normally apply?
Sure. We've spoken with the people in Boston at the South Shore Station.
It's Avison Young
is the property manager there. CB Richard Ellis and
JLL have similar operations at other bus stations.
Okay. Can I get those names through the chair?
Sure thing.
Absolutely.
And how is revenue sharing? How does the city make money on this?
Mm-hmm.
So
as it stands now, the idea is to allocate
effectively in some way similar to how the airports operate, that the
operating costs will be apportioned to
the
coach lines based on usage, probably departures.
I'm not smart enough to come up with this on my own.
This is
a method that's used in the marketplace, and we've
spoken with other operators at similar facilities to do this,
and that would be one of the responsibilities of the property manager that's
brought on.
It is, I think, important to say that
at municipal ownership, that the operating expenses are expected to fall.
So one, that's good. There are other sources of
concessions, as was mentioned, revenues to come
online here. And the facility is
allowed to make a profit as long as those profits are
reinvested back into the facility.
So that means we're going to have to create another special fund like we do at the
airport, and those funds only are used for that facility.
I'd have to ask Annette.
Huh?
That would be-
Ask Annette, yeah.
Yeah, that's-
Budget issue. Budget question.
So why is that a budget issue?
I'm sorry, Chairwoman.
Jacobs from Finance. Do we have anyone from budget here that can answer that
question
or would know? No. We'll get you that answer.
Okay.
This is not cooked yet.
Mm-hmm.
We're doing something
now
without having really an understanding of where we're going.
And if I think back to my Harold Washington days, he
always says, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."
Mm-hmm.
So I would like to see a little more
information before I would be comfortable just green-lighting the
acquisition at $19 million.
We'll give you whatever you need to see. We can have more discussions. Absolutely.
Alderman Quinn.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I hate to be the wet blanket here, but this is not a good deal.
And for the city of Chicago to spend $50
million on the front end
at least, we didn't even get into what CDOT, what
their plans are going to cost. And for us today to
not be certain how we're going to get our money back to
break even,
that's not a good deal.
And the word that you were looking for, sir,
was an enterprise fund. That's where the money spent at the airports or
the water department goes back.
In the airports, they lease the gates,
and we haven't talked at all about any leases or anything.
So it's for those reasons that I'll be voting
no today. I just don't trust this. I think it's a colossal
risk here that we should not be taking, because we're going to be back here in
August talking about a budget hole of a billion dollars,
and we're going to spend $50 million on the front end for an asset we don't know
if we're going to get money back on. I'm sorry.
This is a bad deal.
Thank you.
Alderman Taylor.
I wanted to hear from Alderman Conway.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, he was going to close again.
Yeah, I'm happy to speak now or close on that.
How we-
Any questions or requests?
I mean, I'm happy to sort of opine on any of those things.
Yeah. Alderman Conway, maybe you can also refer to some of the questions from
some committee members. I know you've been working on this.
Yeah. No, and I think those are all fair questions, as were
a lot of the questions in public comments.
I will
note
that my own concerns regarding the safety at this
facility, having witnessed it firsthand, like I said, as a prosecutor
across the street for a while, as well as somebody that
lives close by. I have
asked many, many, many questions about
this and had many, many, many concerns that I share with Alderwoman
Doll, Alderman Quinn, some of the public commenters as
well. And,
I think I know a lot of
this presentation was summary of what
I've been shown over the course of the last
couple of months, and this first came up.
You may all recall that I found the purchase of the Greyhound and
a TIF waterfall that was never showed to me, and I went nuts in the press about
this, I was so upset about it. So you best believe that I have spent
a lot of time with each of these departments, having a lot of
uncomfortable conversations about this.
Some of the conversations as of late were regarding
operations, which both my colleagues asked about.
I still share those concerns, and that's why I thought it was
important that we contract with FlixBus to run the
facility for the next year. That buys us time,
and whether the revenue model is something that we do on a per bus model
or a per ticket model, that is something that we will be able
to put together over the course of the next year.
But what really brought me around to supporting this deal,
despite those initial misgivings, was, first of all,
I saw what Alden Global has done to local businesses.
I am
unfortunately fairly confident that this facility would be shut
down, and they could build a pretty good size residential building by
right. Something that
I couldn't have so much involvement in. That was the first thing.
And second of all,
the numbers of how many people use this bus
terminal. I think the number you said was by 470,000 rides last year,
a number that's way down. 470,000 people took rides out of this bus
station, and I don't think, despite all of this misgivings, that's
something that we can jeopardize.
And I suspect that there are going to be a lot of people in my ward,
understandably, who are pretty upset that I'm in support of this thing.
But this is the right thing to do for the City of Chicago, and we are all
fiduciaries for the City of Chicago, and it's not something that we can let go
away. So I ask you to support it. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Conway. Alderman Lazpada had a question,
and we missed him. Alderman Lazpada, please go ahead. Sorry I missed you.
Yes. Thank you so much. I will say very
briefly first,
I think in the very best and most complimentary sense of the word,
Alderman Conway is a deeply skeptical person.
The fact that he is comfortable with this project gives me
comfort with this project. I will add to
that. If there is not a publicly
owned interstate bus facility, it is not that buses
will simply stop coming to the City of Chicago.
They'll simply pick up and drop off people wherever they want
to in whatever public way is most convenient to
them. We saw a couple of years ago what that was potentially going to
look like, and I think it behooves the city to
avoid that reality. For these
reasons and myriad others, I support the project, even as I
do think council is owed a long-term
sense of the financial stability of this investment.
I did have one question.
There are many jobs and services that
go into
the provision of a bus facility of this scale.
What are the guarantees that these are going to be good
quality jobs for Chicagoans?
Alderman, can you repeat the question? It was a little hard to hear you.
I'll
put it more to the point. I want to make sure that the jobs we're creating
are good quality jobs. I don't want to be
turning around and facing
substandard jobs being created through this investment.
Amen.
Yeah.
I think Alderman-
I think what Alderman Lazpada is getting at, he wants to make sure that the jobs
that are being created in this station are going to be borne by
Chicagoans. Presumably, that's something you will strongly consider
at the end of this operational contract, but I don't want to answer for you.
But I think that's what he's getting at.
Yeah. That's an--
Yes, Alderman. And I think that's the intent.
Yes, it is the intent.
Alderman Moore.
Recognizing that, and I think this is an
important part
for people who cannot afford airfares, and I know it's mostly
working class citizens,
some that cannot afford these airfares.
Is there anything in there for price controls?Or
anything like that? When I think about the meter,
and
it was paid for with city money, but now the prices
of meters are just out of control in some
places. So
is there anything like that in these agreements?
Price
controls?
Perhaps not directly, but by opening the
facility up to multiple carriers, there's a more competitive environment.
And with increased throughput through the facility,
the marginal cost of using it starts to fall.
Yeah. I would hope that's the case when it's competitive, but sometimes they
get together, and they
monopolize, and they work together to keep a
certain price high. But that's another situation down there.
What's the timeframe for us to have to make a decision on this?
If this is voted on, we anticipate on closing in August.
No, I get that. If we don't take this to the council
on Wednesday, is there a reason--
I think, is it next Wednesday?
Yeah,
the 17th. Are we faced with a time constraint or something like
that?
Because what I'm hearing a lot in here, and that's what I wanted to hear
from my colleagues, I don't think no one wants to vote no on this, but people don't
want this to come out to be a parking meter deal.
Alderman, I'm going to ask the law department to answer that, please.
Hi, this is Jason Zollet from the law department.
There is a soft deadline of June for this to
pass.
The owner could walk from the deal, if they wanted to move on.
There would be the opportunity to negotiate an extension of that, but
that discussion hasn't been had, so we have no idea.
They would have-
Oh, but did somebody promise him that it was going to be done in June?
There was a letter of intent signed a year ago.
Which is not a legally binding document.
Yeah. I don't think no one wants to vote no on this, but it's also that
uncomfortability right now.
Yeah.
Alderman Dowell.
No, I'm done. I'm done, Chairman.
Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Moore.
Does this property show on the TIF acquisition map?
Jeff Cohen, DBD. At the moment, no, since it hasn't been a council authorized
approval. Once the council does authorize this, it will be
subject to disclosure through the TIF portal.
Are you done, Alderman? Yep.
So I
think after hearing all the
perspectives, I do think that the risk of
delaying and getting a worse deal is
leaving potentially almost half a million people
without public transportation. With that, I do think it's important
that the council takes a vote.
So,
can we take a motion-
Motion to pass
... motion to move by Alderman Hadden.
All those in favor except for Alderman Quinn, who wants to be recognized as a no.
Alderman Scott is a no.
Alderman Scott also is a no.
Yes.
And Alderwoman Dowell.
Yeah.
Again,
I
will commit to make sure that all the information is provided to every
single council member. This is still dynamic, so I'll do
ask that we take the vote. So we got three no
votes. With that,
we move on this item with the... On a no. Okay.
So Alderman Moore votes no. With those four no's, then we move to
pass. The do pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the
next city council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Item number five is ordinance
2026.0025502, assignment and
assumption and amendment of lease agreements with North
Park Village Campus for property at
5801 North Pulaski Road, Building G,
Senate Apartments and Building E,
Preah Apartments in the 39th Ward.
Maritza Lis from the Department of Fleet and Facility Management
is present to testify on behalf of this ordinance.
Another pass.
Good afternoon, honorable chairman and members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Maritza Lis with the Department of Fleet and Facility
Management.
The department is requesting your most favorable consideration
in the approval of a lease amendment as well as an assignments and
assumptions-
Amendment as well as-
... excuse me, assumptions change for
lease agreements with the Elderly Housing Development and
Operations Corporation,
which I'll refer to as EHDOC for the remainder of this presentation.
EHDOC's representation is here,
available to answer any questions that committee
members may have specific to the organization.
For background, the property is located within the North Park Village campus
at 5801 North Pulaski Road.
It sits within the 39th Ward, and Alderwoman Nugent has
expressed no objection in moving forward with this lease amendment.
North Park Village campus is home to several affordable senior housing
projects, providing a total of 590
units, all owned and operated by EDOC and its affiliates.
These include the Senate Apartments with
241 units,
PREA Apartments with 75 units, Edward M.
Marks Apartments with 31 units,
J. Michael Fitzgerald Apartments consisting of
63 units, and the North Park Village Apartments with
180 units.
The city, through its department of Fleet and Facility Management,
owns the land and entered into a ground lease with EDOC in
1979 for Senate Apartments, which was
constructed under the HUD Section 202 program to
serve moderate and low-income elderly
residents. This lease has been amended twice,
once in 1990, and again in
2016,
to allow for the construction of additional affordable senior housing
by releasing portions of the original leasehold estate for new
projects such as PREA Apartments.
The current lease term of this ground lease expires March 12th,
2065.
EDOC seeks to refinance the Senate Apartments with a mortgage
loan insured by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development
through the Federal Housing Administration.
To qualify for this FHA-insured loan, the lease
term must be extended to remain in effect for at least
15 years beyond the 35-year
term of the new loan. Which means the lease term will be
extended to approximately 50 years from the date of closing.
This proposed extension would add 11 years to the current term to meet the
financing conditions of extending the term through
2076.
In addition to
extending the term of the ground lease,
another financing condition of the loan calls for EDOC to
transfer its interest
in the PREA Apartments to EDOC PREA Charitable
Corporation.
And I wanted to highlight what this proposal
means for both the City of Chicago and for
its seniors who call these buildings home.
This action continues
EDOC's long-term commitment to Chicago.
For decades, EDOC has been a steady partner in providing high
quality
housing for our senior
residents.
It also ensures the preservation of much needed affordable
housing and supportive resident services for
frail and disabled seniors. These buildings provide not
just apartments, but stability, dignity, and critical
services for some of our most vulnerable residents.
Preservation is significantly faster and less
expensive than new construction.
It maintains regulatory compliance, including unit
conversions and rehabilitation.
This move strengthens EDOC's financial foundation
by stabilizing the organization's balance sheet, and
we're helping to ensure its long-term viability so that EDOC can
continue its stewardship of North Park Village buildings
and sustain these vital resources for years to come.
The refinancing will generate working capital, including a specific
allocation of approximately $3.5 million for repairs and
improvements to the Senate Apartments, including conversions of
units to comply with Section 504 accessibility
requirements.
And by updating the current lease terms, the city ensures that the
vital housing resources remain available and well-managed
for our senior residents.
That concludes my presentation on this item, and happy to take any questions.
Any questions by committee members? Alderwoman Taylor.
Can you go back to the breakdown of the buildings?
Yeah. What's the racial makeup in these buildings? You might not have it.
Can you get to me through the Chair?
Because these are already senior buildings.
That's correct. Two of these don't
have
city financing. The Marks Apartments have home only.
North Park Village has home and tax credits.
And the Fitzgerald Apartments have city bonds financing.
No, I said what's the racial makeup on them?
I'm sorry.
Do y'all have the racial makeup of these buildings?
So who's living in them?
Demographics?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, I can get that through the Chair.
Thank you. That's all I got.
Thank you, Alderman Taylor. Any other questions?
Have you guys got a motion to move on this item? So moved by Alderman Tao.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed an nay.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next City
Council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Item number six, ordinance
20260025527, lease agreement with
Logan Square Preservation for property at 2420 North
Sacramento Avenue in the 35th Ward.
Mary Soliz from the Department of Fleet and Facility, again, to testify on this
ordinance. Thank you, Mary.
Thank you, Chairman. For the record, again, my name is Merritt Solis, on behalf of
the Department of Fleet and Facility Management.
The department is requesting your most favorable consideration for approval of
this ordinance authorizing 2FM to enter into a lease
agreement with the Logan Square Preservation to
activate and maintain the city-owned surplus property
located at 2420 North Sacramento Avenue, in
the heart of Logan Square.
The triangular-shaped parcel is bounded by Linden Place
to the north, Sacramento Avenue to the east, and
CTA Blue Line tracks to the west,
and its land area is approximately a quarter acre.
The property is located in the 35th Ward, and Alderman
Casada is in full support.
The city, through its Department of Fleet and Facility Management, owns the land
and has been working with the Department of Planning and Development, who selected
Logan Square Preservation to take over the care and activation of the site.
Logan Square Preservation is a trusted nonprofit organization with a
proven track record of community stewardship, which
has partnered with the city in the past, namely in the management and
operation of the Logan Square Comfort Station,
located less than half a mile away from this site.
The initial term of this lease would be for five years,
and the rent would be for $1.
Under the term of this lease, Logan Square Preservation will install public
outdoor planters and seating.
It will also landscape the area and maintain the lot as an outdoor
plaza for community use.
The activation of this underutilized asphalt lot
will benefit the community by turning a blank space adjacent to
transit into welcoming a community asset that
enhances pedestrian lifestyle and neighborhood pride.
What you see here is an aerial conceptual sketch showcasing
how the space would be transformed into the
functional community plaza. This concept
integrates flexible space for food trucks with a
continuous picnic table, reinforcing the idea of
community, surrounded by smaller semi-private
seating zones with planters.
And that concludes my presentation on this item.
Happy to take any questions.
Any questions? Alderman Taylor.
What's currently on the site? Nothing?
Nothing. It's an asphalt lot.
And this is the design that they got approved with the
community?
It's a concept. It hasn't been approved.
Okay. Yeah.
Are they planning to using local artists
and local folks in the community to
do...
Oh, there is a representative from Logan Square Preservation who can take that
question.
There's a rep, Charles from the 35th Ward, if maybe you can add to maybe the
conversations that having, having and-
Sure. Happy to.
Hello, everyone. Thank you, Chairman Sigcho-Lopez.
For the record, Charles Surridge from Alderman Casada's office.
I will defer to the folks from DPD and 2FM.
My understanding is no official design has been approved.
My understanding is that
some open space impact fee funds have already been allocated
for some environmental remediation, and then Logan Square Preservation is working
to acquire state funds. In order for those state funds to be released, they do
need site control, so they do need to enter into a lease agreement.
I think they've worked with this architecture firm to come up with these
conceptual drawings, but I don't think anything official has been
decided on yet. It is a pretty small parcel, and I do think the
idea is to take a little bit of a light touch approach, just put
in some small improvements to be able to activate it.
So I don't think a design has really been formally decided on
yet. But this is meant to show the potential for what it could
be.
Is it by a train? Because I'm looking at a train, and is that the expressway?
What is that?
So the train station, these are the tracks-
Okay
... over to the southwest area of the triangular lot.
It's an L
Blue Line.
Okay.
That's all I got. Thanks, Chairman.
Move to pass by Alderman Dowell. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed nay. In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next City
Council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
The rest of the items of the agenda-- Thank you, Merritt.
Thank you.
The rest of the items on the agenda are going to be from Department of Planning.
We're going to take a quick recess, like a two-minute recess while we switch the
departments out,
so we take a quick
recess.So
we're
coming back from recess. Thank you very much.
And we're going back to
item number seven in the agenda is ordinance
2026-0025578, sale of
city-owned property at 6636 through
6638 South Lowe Avenue to Nook and Granny
Farms LLC under BlockBuilder platform in the
6th Ward. Meg Gustafson from the Department of Planning and Development
is here to present and testify on this ordinance. Thank you, Meg.
Great, thanks. Good afternoon. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and
Development.
I have a few ordinances here before you, open space and urban
agriculture.
This is the first urban ag one. According to the Chi
BlockBuilder program, urban ag is sold at $1 per
parcel.
This first one is Nook and Granny Farms by Stefan Hamer.
It's located at 6336 South Lowe
on two pins. We have Alderman Hall's support.
This is located in Englewood.
The market value of the two pins together is about
$46,000.
Here's the zoning map of the location of the pins.
And as you can see from this map, Stefan lives just
to the south, only separated by the alley.
He currently
has
three vacant lots next to his home where he's already
gardening, and here's some photos of his produce.
This is a current street view of the site.
You can see Stefan's house in the background.
The proposed budget is $26,000. This will include fencing,
which is required by the Chi BlockBuilder urban
ag
requirements.
And I also wanted to note some of his partners, which is University of
Illinois Extension,
FarmWorks youth interns, and the Morton Arboretum,
as well as the local high school culinary club.
His site plan is on the right. It includes raised beds, a hoop house for
year-round growing, a gathering space,
and a U-pick
crop, flowers in the front.
He's been reported on
in this article here,
showing off his existing farm, how well it's going.
And I'll end with the budget and site plan if
there are any questions on that. Thank you.
Alderman Taylor,
and then Alderman Dow. Mm-hmm.
Can you go back to the slide with the house?
This one?
Yeah. Is that house still there?
It is.
Have they figured out who owns it? Because this used to be in 20.
Oh, okay.
This was in 20 before the remap, and so we've always
was trying to figure out what was going on with this house.
Oh, it's been vacant that long?
Yes.
Okay. I did look into it, and it is not tax
delinquent at this time.
But I will look back into it.
Okay.
That was a couple of months ago.
But it is begging the question of what's going on.
Like how is he really going to be able to garden?
And that house is kind of falling apart. It looks a little...
It is precarious.
I'll look into that and get back to you.
Okay. Yep. Thank you.
That's all.
Thank you, Alderman Taylor. Alderman Dow.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's exciting to see somebody doing some gardening
on this land.
Chairman, this is for you. Is it possible, when you give us
this agenda, to identify what Chi
BlockBuilder?
Is it fall, spring-
Oh
... 2025, 2026 or whatever. What is
this one?
Uh-
And I'm going to ask this for all of them.
Yes. This was, I believe, from the
October 2025 round,
I believe. But why don't I get back to you with my whole list?
Can you have somebody give me-
Yeah
... for all of the ones that are here that are Chi BlockBuilders?
I'm just trying to gauge how long it takes
across the city.
No problem.
Well-
I think the-market rate people usually put
it on their first slide, and I'll start doing that too.
Yeah.
Sometimes I do it, sometimes I forget. So I'll put that on there.
We'll make sure to add that.
Great.
Move to pass by Alderman Dowell. All those in favor? Aye.
Those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of these ordinance will be reported out at the next
city council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Item eight is ordinance
2026.0025548, sale of city-owned
property at 6828 and 6830 South Union
Avenue to Main Street Market LLC and their BlockBuilder
platform in the 6th Ward. Meg, again from the Department of Planning to testify to
this ordinance.
Great.
Hi again. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
This is our second urban ag
in this area. This is very close
to the Nook and Granny Farms. We have connected
Jasmine Zavala, who is Main Street Roots,
along with Steven Hamer and one of our other gardens
farms, so they can all share resources and technical assistance.
We have Alderman Hull's strong support for a little mini urban
ag zone over here. This is 6828 South
Union,
also in Englewood.
As you can see from the zoning map, the
hatched pins are vacant and city-owned.
For context, here's the aerial.
And like I said, there's two other farms in this area.
Eden Greens went to council last month.
Nook and Granny, I just presented.
And Main Street
Roots is here.
A little bit about Jasmine, is she grew up in the neighborhood, and she lives
nearby. She has a professional background in public health
and she's a member of the Food Equity Council.
She's also involved in Grow Greater Englewood.
Here is a street view of the site.
It's two city pins.
And here's her budget.
Her first phase is about $20,000. That will include the
fencing,
water access,
and all the other
seeding, soil, and
the greenhouse I think will be in the second phase.
That's not part of this $20,000.
And that concludes my presentation for Jasmine Zavala, Main
Street Roots.
Oh, and I have Jasmine here if there's any questions.
Hey, Jasmine.
Are there any questions? If you want to
say a few words, Jasmine, about the project, that'd be great.
You can come to the front.
If you can go to the mic so that we can hear you.
Hi.
Hi, everyone. My name is Jasmine Zavala.
Like Meg already said, I've been working in public health for a while.
So essentially, this project is me coming back home, coming back and
establishing those roots, and really wanting to put back in to everything that I've
been given in terms of opportunity around education,
and just everything that I've been given to put back into my neighborhood.
So just a regenerative farm, use the space, and
that's just what my goal, moving forward with it.
I didn't have much else unless you guys had questions.
Thank you.
So move, Alderwoman Taylor. That's so moved. All those in favor say aye.
All opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation will be reported out at the next city council meeting
on June 17, 2026. Congratulations, Jasmine, and
best of luck. Hope to see you soon. Item number nine
is ordinance 2026.0025544,
sale of city-owned property at 512 South Cicero
Avenue to Workers for Christ Ministries under BlockBuilder
platform in the 29th Ward. Meg Gustafson again from Department
of Planning, to present and testify on this ordinance.
Great. Thanks so much. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
This is an open space land sale at 10% of market value.
512 South Cicero is located in the 29th Ward.
We have Alderman Talia Ferro's support.
This is one pin, directly adjacent to Pastor Frederick
Anderson's church, Workers for Christ Ministries.
This is in the Austin community area.
You can see there's a handful of city-owned vacant lots
on Cicero at Congress.
Here is the current building
situation. The building to the left has been vacant for a few years,
unfortunately.
So that is a little bit of an unknown, but the building on the right
is Workers for Christ Ministries, and their plan is
to use it as an open space for
church activities. They're going to put a fence in the front and the
back and planters.
They have about $52,000 for that build-out.
They also plan to distribute food and clothing and various
donated items a few times a year on site.
That concludes my presentation for this one.
I can answer any questions. Thanks. I'm not sure if Frederick is here.
I haven't seen him. Okay, great. Thanks.
Alderman Dowell.
Just a quick question. So on things like this, you are
requiring paving. Is that-
No.
Okay.
Not requiring. He wants to pave it.
Okay. So it's going to be an asphalt covered-
Plaza, if you will
... outdoor space. Thank you.
Yes. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman Dowell. Any other questions? No?
Move to pass by Alderman Dowell. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026Item 10 is
Ordinance 2026-0025540, sale of
city-owned property at 12327 South Wallace Street
to Andrew Brantley under Chi Block Builder platform in the Ninth
Ward. Meg again from DPD to testify on this ordinance.
Great. Thank you very much. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
I can tell you, Alderman Dowell, this one is from the very first round.
This is Andrew Brantley. It's in Alderman Beale's ward.
This is a open space community garden proposal.
We had the market value redone because the
2022 was quite some time ago, and the 10% of
market value is $615.
For context, Andrew lives about five
houses north, and he's proposing a community garden
on-- There's three vacant parcels in a row.
He's got the middle one here. This is a street view.
I also want to note that we are in process of selling the side yard to the
person to the right in this photo.
So there will be a side yard now as part of the house there, and then a
community garden. The privately owned lot
is not under our control and remains vacant.
Here is Andrew's site plan. He has been working with his
neighbors and the alderman for quite some time.
He has a lot of community support. His budget is about
$8,000. First order of business is
fencing. That's required by the Chi Block Builder ordinance.
Here's an example of some of the signatures he
collected. I also want to note that Deandra Watson is the side yard
applicant and supports this sale.
So I'll go back to the site plan, which includes some
raised beds, fencing, and landscaping.
Do we have any questions about this one?
Alderman Taylor?
I just got a question.
What is the reinforcement to make
sure that they put the gates up?
So like if you say there's a window, and I'm not sure it is,
can you talk about that a little bit, Meg?
Yes. I believe within six months you are required to fence
it.
And at the closing, we go through all this with all of our applicants.
The enforcement mechanism is kind of aldermen, neighbors telling
us that we don't go out and check every single lot in six months, every six
months.
But we certainly
have a reverter clause if we have a bad applicant that isn't--
Obviously, if they're not paying their taxes, and if they don't do what the
site plan they submitted says.
So we do have a reverter clause as part of this.
I'm always concerned because it seems like when we
wind up cleaning these lots for people who just mow them and don't fence
them,
and then they will go to court sometimes to get those tickets thrown out.
And so how long does it take to do the reverter
clause?
Correct. We've never actually done a
reverter, but I think it would take
a few months at least.
And I could ask someone from Law to
formally reply to that.
It does also, I think, expire.
It's not a forever reverter clause.
It's, I believe, for five years.
So for five years they couldn't purchase that
lot?
For five years, we could only take it back within those five
years, but let me get back to you on that.
Okay.
I'll get the reverter clause language to you.
We'll follow up with Law and provide that answer. Alderman Powell.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm sorry to have these Chi Block Builder questions.
So would you say the reason that this one took so long is
because of what would be
the adjacent lot, and then the-
This-
This one?
We had the alderman wanted to know more about this.
Okay. So it was more aldermanic. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Dowell. Any other questions?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move by Alderman Taylor?
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The DUPAS recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Item 11 is Ordinance
2026-0025543, sale of city-owned
property at 8378 South
Kerfoot Avenue to Tracy Patton under Chi
Block Builder platform in the 21st Ward.
Meg again from DPD to testify on this ordinance.
Great. Thank you very much. I only have two more.
This is 8378 South Kerfoot.
This actually is a pre-Chi Block Builder application.
Tracy Patton had
filed
for a negotiated sale, which is what one of our land
sale types was before Chi Block Builder.
So this one's been in the works for many years.
He had an appraisal done,
and then the project got stalled for a couple of different reasons.
So to move forward, we did a public notice in the last
round, but this is a pre-Chi Block Builder application.
Tracy Patton grew up on this lot. His mother still
lives on the block. His mother still lives on the
block.
The market value is $3,500. This is in Auburn
Gresham, and we have Alderman Mosley's support.
It's where the green dot is on this zoning map.
Streets and San went out and cleaned up the lot just the other day,
and here are those
photosTracy's
budget is about
$7,900. The
priority for that is the fence, of course.
And
I believe that concludes my presentation for this.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
Alderman Taylor.
It's just going to be a space for people to
just convene.
Correct. Well, it's going to be a bit of a community
garden, but it's going to be fenced in.
He's going to pay the taxes and take on the maintenance.
But in the longer term, he plans to build.
So, because this-
Build what?
A house.
He hopes to build a house in the future.
And because he's paying market value, and it was a pre-Chi
Block Builder,
this one's a little bit different than our other Chi Block Builders.
He's paying the fair market as part of a former negotiated
sale,
but then we did a public notice for his-
Is it allowed for the community to use it, or is it for personal
use?
I think he's open to the community using it, but it's not a
traditional community garden. It will be fenced with a gate.
So he is the person who will have access to it to allow people in and out of it?
Yes.
He's buying the lot to own it and maintain it, pay
the taxes on it.
Did he pay a market rate?
He is paying market rate.
Okay.
This is $3,500 is the market rate.
Great question.
Okay.
Yes.
Thank you.
That's all I got.
No discount for this one.
Any other question?
It went through the public notice version of Chi Block Builder.
So it's not.
Alderman Moore. Alderman Moore.
Oh, sorry, Alderman Dow is not done yet, and then Alderman Moore.
So let me be clear. I have a applicant-
Mm-hmm
... who I signed a support letter for, for a land
sale.
You guys didn't move on it expeditiously,
and now they have to go back on the Chi Block Builder
list, which to me defeats the whole purpose
of wanting to support my constituents who
want some property.
And you're saying
this one did not have to go through Chi Block Builder?
It was public noticed on Chi Block Builder, but it
wasn't-
What does that mean?
He's not getting a 10% discount, or 10% of market
value.
What the public notices usually are for are
if we've been working with an applicant.
Okay.
So that it's not fully... It's open to, we put it in the
paper and we say, "If you have other uses,
we will see them." But we're not putting it up for all to apply
for.
Okay. And who-
It's a little bit of a nuance
... who is the decision-maker on that policy
in the department?
Of what it counts to be working-
Yeah
... with an applicant? We run it by our law department usually,
and the commissioner of Department of Planning.
Okay.
And of course, the alderman.
So is this Justin, or?
This is-
No, not for this one, but I'm saying in general.
Is that like a Justin Peterson question, or
who's your land sale?
Whitney Mueggen. Thank you.
Alderman Moore.
Thank you. And so you say his mother live on the block, but it's not
adjacent to his mom's house, correct?
It's not adjacent, no.
And
$3,500 was market value?
Yes. He did an appraisal a few years ago, and
we had CBRE do a market value, and it actually came back the same.
And that's where at again?
This is
Kerfoot and what, 80...
Here's the address, 8378-
Yeah
... South Kerfoot.
That seems low, but I ain't tripping. I was just asking.
Yeah. We had him do an appraisal
and CBRE. I can forward you the market value one-pager if you'd like.
So what's his timeframe to do-- He's definitely going to do the garden?
He's going to fence it and maintain it.
It's a garden. It's not a community garden like some of the others.
And he-
So fencing it and maintaining it.
Yes. And currently, it has trees and grass.
This is what it looks like now.
And like I said, this is a pre-Chi Block Builder.
Yeah.
This is a pre-Chi Block Builder.
Yeah.
We don't typically do a lot of these anymore.
Alderman's own thing. I-
Okay, great. Yes. I could have-
It's just me.
We have Alderman Mosley's support.
So moved by Alderman Dow. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed and nay.
Depending on chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17, 2026.
Item 12,
and I think this is the last-
Great. Yes, my last one. Thank you.
This is
Ordinance 20260025541, sale of
city-owned property at 8517 South Brandon
Avenue to Timothy Timson under Chi Block Builder
platform in the 10th Ward. Again, Meg, in the last item
for you on BD.
Great.
Thank you. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
Timothy Timson lives adjacent to this property.
The reason it's not a side yard is because it's actually two pins, and under the
side yard Chi Block Builder rules, it can only be one
pin.So the square
footage is approximately 6,000 square feet.
This is in Alderman Chico's ward, and we have his support.
I'll go back to it. So 10% of market
value is $17,842 for both pins.
10% of that for the open space category is
$1,700.
This is an interesting site. He's at
the dead end of the street,
surrounded by M-1 zoning and industrial
uses, actually.
This is his house here on the left and the two pins on the right
in the red dashed line.
Timothy is proposing a community garden.
It is adjacent to his house, and he is required and plans to fence it.
His budget is about $10,000, $11,000.
And it will include a
landscaping, fencing, like I said,
and
maintenance.
And I don't know if Timothy is here.
Oh, great.
Oh, there you go.
Thank you.
Better.
That's right.
Alderman Taylor, and do you have a question for the applicant? Yes.
If
you can please come to the mic and for the record just introduce yourself.
Thank you so much.
Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Monica Simpson. I'm Timothy's wife.
So
you all are making it a garden, or y'all making it a space for
people on the block to kind of use?
Perhaps a little bit of both.
Both? Okay.
Yeah,
look, we had two buildings on the block, so I recently just
purchased the building at 8509. So it'll
be two buildings and then the lot. So we just want to kind of
beautify it, make it look good. It's an empty,
ugly lot now.
And it's on a dead end?
Yes.
And you all own the lot?
Thank you.
Of course. I'm sorry?
Yes, we do.
Yes. Yeah, that's right. Thank you.
All right, Ms. Simpson. Oh, Alderwoman Hapworth?
I'm sorry?
It's Alderwoman Hapworth. I think she may have a question.
Thank you for the presentation. Thank you for taking up this
project. I was just curious about your water source.
What does that look like for you all?
That is a good question. I don't have the answer.
May I? This is about water?
Yes.
Oh, usually if people own the house next door, they use the spigot from...
Yeah.
And we-
If they don't live on the block or next door, it does become very difficult, and
water is a major cost for a lot of our gardeners.
Installing a hydrant with access starts at about
$30,000. That is one of our main impact fee expenditures for a
lot of gardens.
Yeah, but if you have access to a house with running water next
door, you're usually pretty good.
And actually, we have two, so we own-
Yes.
... the buildings, 8515 and 8509.
Great.
Thank you so much. Thanks.
Thank you. So moved by Alderman Taylor. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of these ordinance will be reported out at the next
city council meeting on June 17th, 2026. Congratulations, Ms.
Simpson.
Thank you so much.
And good luck with everything.
Have an amazing day, everybody.
All right.
Thank you, Meg. Item 13 is ordinance
2026002551, sale of
city-owned property at 4243 South Langley
Avenue to UT Evans Property, LLC under
Chai Block Builder platform in the 4th Ward.
Seth Thomas from DPD is here to present on this item. Thank you, Seth.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Cencho Lopez, Vice Chair Mitchell, and
members of the committee. For the record, my name is Seth Thomas.
I'm a development land sales planner in the Department of Planning Development,
and I'm bringing forth today a request for disposition for
one parcel located at 4243 South Langley Avenue.
So this is located in the 4th Ward. We have a support letter from
Alderman Robinson dating April 29th in the Grand Boulevard community
area.
The market value of the property is
$87,542, and we accepted an offer of
$90,000. And the applicant is Ting Xu of
UT Evans Property, LLC.
So just for some site context, again, this is towards the end of
the block at Langley, right where it intersects with
East 43rd Street.
This is a 24 by 126 lot for an
area of about 3,120 square
feet. The total project cost is
$820,000. This is the project budget.
So the applicant has 100% equity and
is spending, again, $90,000 on the acquisition, and
then the rest of that is split between hard costs and soft costs.
This is the condition of the site as it currently exists.
And then this is the corresponding site plan.
Again, three-story unit with three parking
pads in the back with access to the alley.
This is the elevation. The majority of the front parcel
is split between brick and cement board.
The same with the elevations, again, wrapping that brick slightly around each
corner and then having cement board sidings on both the
north and south elevations.
This is the rear of the property with obviously a balcony
and clerestory windows. And
this is the rendering of the proposed property.
I'll go back to the site plan, and I'm open for any questions.
Also,
Ms. Ting Xu is here to speak on behalf if there are any questions
for her. Thank you.
Do you want toAny questions for the applicant? The applicant is here.
But the mic is... There you go.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Does this building going to look like the one that's right next to it?
Is that correct?
Yes. It's similar. Yep.
Oh, okay. Because it looks a little small, but-
Yeah. It's similar actually. It's same.
Oh, it's the exact same? Okay.
Yeah. And for the record, can you just state your name?
For the applicant, can you just state your name for the record?
Okay. Sorry, say that again?
What's your name?
My name is Ting Shu.
Ting Shu. Okay.
Yeah.
So moved by Alderman Taylor. All those in favor say aye.
All those oppose say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17, 2026. Congratulations.
Thank you.
Next we have item 14th.
This is ordinance 2026-0025546,
sale of city-owned property at 4847 through
4849 and 4853 through
4855 South Langley Avenue to JT
Alternatives LLC and their Chi Block Builder platform,
also in the 4th Ward. Seth Thomas again from DPD to present on this ordinance.
Thank you, Seth.
Hi. Good afternoon again. For the record, Seth Thomas from DPD.
So, this is a sale of two parcels
located at 4847 South Langley Avenue.
The zoning is RM-5. The applicant is Mr.
Kaleb Kakihani from JT Alternatives LLC, and the proposed
use is three three-story, three-unit buildings with a rear deck
and stair, and the units will also have a detached two-car garage and one parking
pad. This is the location per the zoning map,
but obviously the property's outlined in yellow.
The total market value for these two parcels that will be split into three zoning
addresses is $327,000
and some change, and the total project cost is just under $2 million.
Again, here's the project budget.
So, the applicant is using 100% equity to fund the
project with about 16% going into the
acquisition, and then the majority into hard costs.
This is the
site from Street View.
And then this is the site plan again.
So this is about a 90-foot lot, or two lots that
are combined 90 feet. Each of them will be split into 30-foot lots with a
corresponding two-car garage and parking pad that will be accessed from the
alley.
Each unit within the
property will be three bedrooms with two bathrooms.
This is the elevation from Langley.
Again, this is a brick facade, and then for each,
the north and south elevation, the brick will wrap around slightly with
cement siding on either side. And
that's the rear elevation. I'll end on the site plan.
And again, the applicant is in attendance if you have any questions
for him. Thank you.
Are there any questions? Alderman Taylor?
I keep feeling like the... So you said it's two pins that they're putting into
three?
Yes. It's two pins that make up 90 feet, and
then so out of those two pins, there will be three lots
created, three zoning lots created.
So it's a rezone, isn't it?
It will be built per the zoning code.
It's just, I guess-
Okay
... yeah,
basically taking just two pins and then creating three
addresses and units out of those two.
So my question... Go ahead.
Basically, yes. Three new addresses, all that stuff.
Does it seem like that they're making the spaces smaller?
These seems like some little bitty apartments.
I think per the zoning that
it currently exists under RM-5, 30 feet is
actually wider than what we let. 25 feet is the minimum lot
size for that. So they're actually slightly wider.
And is that what's on that block?
Yeah.
Is that-
Yeah. Pretty much.
Is that what-
That's pretty standard for that particular part of Langley.
As we saw just, I mean-
Mm-hmm
... Ms. Ting's property is just up the street, so.
Yeah.
So moved.
The applicant is here if you want to say your name, just for the record, and-
Hello. My name is Kaleb Kakihani.
So as
was mentioned, so we're going to consolidate two pins, and we're going to
divide that
through the county, and we're going to have three new pin numbers.
So, the building will have...
It's going to be still the larger than standard lot,
so 30 feet wide, and the building will be 24 feet wide.
It's going to
have pretty spacious units.
Thank you. There was a motion to move by Alderman Taylor.
All those in favor say aye. All those oppose say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation on this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17, 2026. Congratulations. Best of luck.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Item 14,
item 15, I'm sorry, is ordinance
2026-0025545,
sale of city-owned property at 4444 South
Greenwood Avenue to 4444 South Greenwood,
LLC and their Chi Block Builder platform, also in the 4th Ward.
Seth Thomas again from DPD to present on this item.
Good afternoon, Chairman. This is, for the record, Seth Thomas
from DPD. This is the last sale I've got.
This is at 4444 South Greenwood Street.
This is part of the October Chi Block Builder round.
The market value of this lot is $193
and some change. The applicant is Kareem and Janelle Edwards.
Alderman Robinson provided his letter of support October, or October, April
29th. And-This is
in the Kenwood community area. More specifically, this is in the North Kenwood
Multiple Resources Landmark District.
This project, the single family home, has received approval during
the permit review committee from the Landmarks Committee, and so this is the last
step in order for them to proceed with obviously purchasing and building
the building they're looking for.
So, as a project summary, this is a three-story single family residence with a
basement and a three-car garage with an accessory dwelling unit above.
This applicant is about 20%
liquid with about 80% going into loans.
And again, the total project cost is $1.3 million.
Here's an aerial of the site,
and the street view.
And then as far as the site plan, again, so the garage will have an
ADU.
And this is a three-story single family house with a gross square
footage of about
5,504 square feet.
Again, here are some elevations. And both the
applicant, Janelle Edwards, and the general contractor, Eric Gensler,
are here to answer any questions. Thank you.
Are there any questions by committee members? No.
So moved by Alderman Harlem. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Thank you, Seth.
Thank you.
Item 16 is ordinance
2026-0025549,
sale of city-owned property at
7616 South Blackstone Avenue to
Kindoo for Humanity, LLC under Check Block Builder
platform in the Eighth Ward. Thomas Bellino from DPD is here to
present on this ordinance. Thank you, Thomas.
Thank you. Good afternoon. For the record, my name is Tom Bellino from Department
of Planning and Development, requesting authorization for the sale of
city-owned land at 7616 South Blackstone Avenue.
The project
is located in the Eighth Ward, and we do have the support of
Alderwoman Harris, is in the South Shore community area.
And, the applicant, as mentioned, is Kindu for Humanity,
which is
associated with Erwin McEwen, and he is offering the market
value price of $9,540, with a
total development cost of $342,450.
You can see the site context there.
This is the current conditions.
And the
aerial view there and the zoning map.
So the zoning is currently RS-3, and the
alderwoman supports a rezoning of
RT-3.5, which would be necessary to allow
multifamily construction.
And the applicant is proposing construction
of a two-unit rental masonry building and garage parking for two
cars.
The lot dimensions are 25 by 125, so a
typical city lot.
These are the project financials,
and site and floor plans here. You could see the
first floor is one unit, and the second floor is
a separate unit.
And these are the elevations for the front, rear, and sides.
And the applicant is present as well.
And I'm happy to go back to any slides or answer any questions that the
members might have.
Are there any questions from committee members?
Otherwise, so moved by Alderman Dowell. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Item 17 is ordinance
2026-0025553,
sale of city-owned property at 625 South Hamlin
Avenue to GT Alternatives LLC under Check Block Builder
platform in the 27th Ward. Tom Bellino again from DPD to present
on this item. Thank you, Tom.
Thank you. For the record, this is Tom Bellino from DPD,
requesting authorization for the sale of city-owned land at 625
North Hamlin Avenue.
It is located in the 27th Ward, and we have the support
of Alderman Walter Burnett Jr.,
and is located in the Humboldt Park community area.
And the applicant,
GT Alternatives, which is associated with Kaleb Kakiani, he
is offering the market value price of
$46,737, with a total development
cost of $478,737.
So the applicant already owns the parcel
just to the north-- I'm sorry, to the south of the site
at 623 North Hamlin, and he is looking to
acquire the neighboring parcel at 625 North Hamlin
and develop both parcels simultaneously.
So here is the aerial view and the zoning, which is
RT-4, and the proposal complies with that zoning.
And this is
a photo of an existing building with the same design that was built recently.
He's
proposing construction of two three-unit masonry buildings and
two two-car garages.
So there's one city parcel involved,
and the dimensions are 48 by 122.
That's
a building with the same design, but it won't be
literal, exactly.
Question by Alderwoman Dowell.
Yeah. Do you all require him to do the wraparound brick?
That's not shown here, but
I'm just asking.
That-
Is that a requirement for the department?
To my knowledge, it's a design guideline, but not a legal requirement.
Okay.
Thank you, Alderwoman Dowell.
The applicant is here too for-
Yeah, I was going to say maybe at the end of the presentation, we can
have the applicant answer
more specific questions about the design.
So this is the project financials here,
and this is a site plan. Everything above that red line is the city-owned
land, and then everything below it is the privately-owned land.
These are the elevations of the front,
and the rear, and the sides,
and the floor plans. So,
I'm happy to answer any questions or go back to any previous slides.
And the applicant, Mr. Kakiani, is here as well, if you have any
questions for him.
Okay.
That's good questions.
So moved by Alderwoman Harris again. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed, say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Thank you so much and-
Thank you
... congratulations again.
Thank you.
Item 18th is ordinance
2026-0025550, sale of
city-owned property at 4411 South Vincennes Avenue to
Jacob Da Builder Inc., and their Chic Block Builder platform in the
Third Ward. Tom Bellino again from DPD to present on this item.
Thank you.
Again, for the record, this is Tom Bellino from DPD, here to
request authorization for the sale of city-owned land at
4411 South Vincennes Avenue. The site is located in the
Third Ward, and we have a letter of support from Alderwoman Dowell from
April 27th, is in the Grand Boulevard community area.
And the applicant, Jacob Da Builder, which is associated with Joseph
Dosher,
he is offering the market value for the land, which is
$118,219,
and the total development cost is
$714,758.
This is the existing site context here.
The aerial view and the zoning. This proposal complies
with RM-5 zoning.
And he's proposing construction of a four-unit rental masonry building
and surface parking for four cars.
The lot dimensions are 35 by 167 feet.
These are the project financials
and a site plan with Vincennes Avenue on the right and the alley on the
left.
These are the front and side elevations,
and the rear and the other side elevations.
These are the floor plans. They are in a duplex style, so
the units are
on multiple levels, and they face either the front or the back.
That was the basement. This is the first floor.
This is the second floor,
the third floor, and the roof, which will be accessible for the residents
as well.
So happy to go back and/or answer any questions you might have.
Any questions? No. So moved by Alderwoman Harris. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026.
Item 19 is ordinance
2026-0025538, sale of city-owned
property at 4512 South Halsted Street to
PNTG LLC under Chic Block Builder
platform in the 15th Ward. Tom Bellino again from DPD to testify on this
item. Thank you, Tom.
Thank you. Again, Tom Bellino from DPD,
requesting authorization for the sale of city-owned land at 4512 South
Halsted Street. It is located in the 15th Ward, and we
have the support of Alderman Lopez.
It's located in the New City community area.
And through a competitive RFP process, the
selected applicant, which is PNTG LLC, is
offering 2.75 million,
which is just a little below the market value of
3.622 million. The total development
cost is proposed to be a little over 35
million.
So this is the site context here. You can see the aerial views.
It's located at the corner of Halsted and 45th.
There are residential uses nearby, but not
residential zoning nearby.
There's residential that's built
on B zoning.
And the zoning of the site is PMD number
eight, which is the Back of the Yards plan manufacturing district.
This proposal complies with all requirements of the
PMD, and it even complies with
requirements that are not in effect
because they are respecting the residential uses across the
street, even though there's not residential zoning.
So it's kind of a weird quirk, but they're sort of doing the maximum
requirements that could theoretically be applied
to them.
So they're proposing the construction of a
134,769 square foot cold
storage warehouse and associated surface parking
and loading stalls, as well as landscaping.
The landscaping along Halsted specifically is the result of
a community process with the 15th
WardSo there are three city
parcels. The lot dimensions are 618 feet by
469 feet.
And the developer, PNTG
LLC, associated with Ted Grizwaks.
He is present to answer any detailed questions we might have.
So these are the project financials.
It's about 20% cash equity, and the
rest coming through lender financing.
This is a site plan here. At the top of the
map is 45th Street, and on the right side is Halsted
Street. So you can see the landscaping and
the building itself are really what's going to be
visible to the community across
Halsted, most importantly, but then also across 45th Street.
The loading and parking facilities are mostly going to be in the
back, not visible to the street or residences
nearby.
Because of environmental concerns in a planned manufacturing district,
there will be a soil barrier installed under the
landscaping areas, so that prevents any residual
chemicals or other
materials of concern from coming up to the
surface. So if you're sitting or walking in
the landscaped area, there won't be any danger of that.
So these are the elevations on Halsted at the top.
You can see there's a lot of trees, and there's a fence and
park benches and a pathway.
And then on the bottom is 45th Street.
There is also significant landscaping on that side.
And the south elevation at the top there, and the west elevation
on the bottom.
This is a floor plan of the warehouse.
You can see it's mostly
a very cold storage facility, and then there's also a
smaller refrigerated
storage facility.
These are just more renderings. This is
looking west across Halsted,
and then this is looking back east from the rear of the property towards
Halsted.
So I'm happy to go back and answer any questions, and then we also have the
applicant here as well, who can answer questions himself.
Alderman Hadden.
Thank you, Chair.
My question is probably for the applicant.
I'm just curious as to what types of
things, I guess, or kind of clients
this facility will serve, and just out of curiosity.
Yeah.
The applicant, if you want to go ahead and introduce yourself and-
Ted Grizwak from PNTG LLC Partners.
I am a managing member there. The facility will be food and food
grade only.
90% of that building is at minus 10 degrees, 5% at
36, and the balance is dry or administrative.
Thank you for that answer. And then for DPD,
you were kind of mentioning the uses around that area,
and
I'm not super familiar with this area, but I'm imagining there's a lot of this area
along Halsted. Is this like a
truck corridor
of a lot of commercial commerce?
Yeah. So this Halsted, I'm not the expert
on that aspect specifically, the truck traffic, but
to my knowledge, that
South Halsted is a major truck corridor, and it is a
designated truck route by the city.
The uses to the west and
south are more of the planned manufacturing district.
Mm-hmm.
And I believe the north, too, as well.
To the east is residential, and that's the Canaryville
neighborhood of the New City Community area.
So, like I was kind of mentioning earlier,
it's zoned B, so it doesn't kick
in these extra landscaping and setback requirements-
That they've-
... that an R zone would kick in. But they elected to
abide by those anyway, as
a request from the community.
To make it look nice for the residential area.
Exactly. So they're not so close to a
warehouse facility. There's much more distance between the residences
and the facility.
Great. Thank you. That's my questions.
Thank you, Alderman Hadden. Any other questions for the applicant?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move on this item? So moved by Alderman Hadden.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed are nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026. Thank you.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you.
Item number 20 is ordinance
2026-0025554,
sale of city-owned property at 2523 and
2525 West Warren Boulevard to
JDK Acquisitions
LLC under chart block build the platform in the 27th Ward.
Ernest Bellamy from DPD to present on this item.
Thank you, Ernest.
Good afternoon, and thank you, Chairman Sigcho-Lopez and members
of the committee. For the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I am a development land sale city planner within the Department of Planning
and Development. I bring forward to you today a request for
disposition of two city parcels at
2523 and 2525 West Warren Boulevard.
In attendance today is Mr. Kevin Goodwin,
COO of JDK
Acquisitions.The
location of the disposition is within the 27th Ward, Alderman Walter Burnett,
within the Near West Side community area, consisting of two city
lots.
For the sale price of $193,512
under RT4 zoning,
the applicant submitted, and the department accepted an
offer price matching that amount.
The parcels are located within the West planning
region. And as a April 2025 Chi
Block Builder applicant, the purchaser, JDK
Acquisitions, is a longstanding business within
the Near West Side,
with offices a few parcels down from the site.
The COO, Kevin Goodwin, will reside at the proposed
development.
And lastly, on May 6th, Alderman Burnett provided a letter
of support for the land
disposition.
As an overview,
the purchaser is proposing to develop one new three-unit,
three-story residential building with a three-car garage.
Total development costs will be
$1,021,112.
Currently, the zoning for the site is RT4.
The combined lot dimensions are roughly 48 feet by
126 feet,
which
constitutes a land disposition net area of roughly
6,047 square feet.
For context, the parcels reside within the
Near West Side community area. The site is a
transit-served location, located just under half a mile
walking distance from the CTA Green Line California
Station and served by multiple CTA TSL bus
lines within a one to one-and-a-half-block radius.
The parcels for disposition are within a mixed infill
portion along West Warren Boulevard, where existing
residential is interspersed with vacant city lots.
Transitioning to the street view of the site along West Warren Boulevard,
we can get a better sense of the parcel in context with the
immediate surrounding residential developments.
Once more, as a April 2025 Chi Block Builder applicant, the
purchaser has gone through DPD's review process for applicability to zoning
and design standards for the development.
As seen in this front elevation
rendering, the proposal will span three floors and
contain three units.
The overall site plan shows the layout of the residential building,
which fronts West Warren Boulevard.
The site will have a three-car garage off the rear alley.
Next are the floor plans.
The owner's unit will be
a
duplex-down unit on the first floor, consisting of a three-bed,
two-bath on the first floor, and
common exercise,
office, and rec room space within the basement.
The upper floors will have a typical unit layout of three bed, two bath.
Lastly, the roof will have a roof deck accessible
via the rear stairway.
The entire building façade will consist of stone veneer panels.
Here concludes my presentation. I'll hold here for any comments from the
committee.
Thank you. And the applicant is here as well for any questions.
Yeah.
Any questions?
Yes, I'm here.
Otherwise, we're going to state your name for the record.
My name is Kevin Goodwin.
Mm-hmm.
So I get a motion to move on this item? So moved by Alderman Manhattan.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, say nay.
And depending on the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation on this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17, 2026. Thank you so much for being here.
Item 21
is Ordinance
2026-0025552,
sale of city-owned property at 5339 West Monroe Street
to 5339 Monroe, LLC under Chi Block Builder
platform in the 29th Ward. Ernest Bellamy, again from DPD, to
present on this item.
Good afternoon once more, Chairman Sigcho-Lopez and members of the committee.
Once more for the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I'm a development land sales city planner in the Department of Planning and
Development. I bring forward to you today a request for disposition of one
city parcel at 5339 West
Monroe. In attendance today is Fred Sims
of 5339 West Monroe, LLC.
The location of the disposition is within the 29th Ward, Alderman Chris
Tagliaferro,
within the Austin community area, consisting of one city lot
for the sale price of $18,561 under
RS3 zoning. The applicant submitted
and DPD accepted an offer price
above the sale price of $19,000.
The parcels are located within the West planning region.
And as a April 2025 Chi Block Builder applicant, the
purchaser, Fred Sims, is a longtime resident within the Austin
community area and will reside at the proposed development.
On May 6th, Alderman Tagliaferro provided a letter of support for this
land
dispositionAs
an overview, the purchaser
is proposing to develop one new two unit, three
storey residential building with three parking spaces.
Total development costs will be
$684,340.
Current zoning for this site is RS-3.
The combined lot dimensions are roughly 33 feet
by 124 feet,
which would constitute a land disposition net area of
4,133 square feet.
For site context, the parcel resides within the Austin community area.
The site is a transit serve location,
located just under three-fourths of a mile walking distance from the
CTA Green Line Laramie station, as well
as served by multiple CTA TSL bus lines within a
one to three block radius.
The parcel for disposition is within a residential
portion of the Austin community
area along West Monroe Street, where existing
residential is the predominant character of the block.
Transitioning into the street view of the site along West Monroe
Street,
we can get a better sense of the parcel in context with the immediate
surrounding residential developments.
Once more, as a
April 2025 Chi Block Builder applicant,
the purchaser has gone through DPD's review process for applicability to
zoning and design standards for development.
As seen in this front elevation rendering, the proposal will span
three floors and contain two units.
The overall site plan shows the layout of the residential building, which
fronts West Monroe Street. The site will have a three car
parking pad
off the alley
in the rear.
Next are the floor plans.
The first floor consists of a two bed, two bath unit.
And the second floor will
start the owner's unit, which spans the second and third floors.
The second floor will consist of
one bedroom
and two baths, along with a great room and kitchen.
The upper floor of the owner's unit will have the remaining
balance of bedrooms,
having a layout of three beds and two baths.
The owner unit will have a total of four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Lastly are the elevations. The front facade will consist of face
brick, and the side and rear will consist of siding.
Here concludes my presentation. I'll hold here for any
comments from the committee.
Are there any questions? The applicants are also here for the record.
If you want to maybe introduce yourselves, just your name and
title.
Yes. I'm sorry. I'm Fred Simms.
Mm-hmm.
This my architect.
I am an architect of record, Alexander Polichuk.
Thank you. I think it's the weather alert.
Any other questions?
Otherwise, can I get a motion to move? Again, for Alderman Manhattan.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026. Congratulations and best of luck.
Thank you.
Item 22 is ordinance
2026.0025542,
sale of city-owned property at 9214 and
9218 South Perry Avenue to Roy Welch and
Felicia Papacio under Chi Block Builder platform in
the ninth ward. Ernest Bellamy, again from DPD to present on this item.
Good afternoon once more, Chairman Siccho Lopez and members of the committee.
For the record, my name is Ernest Bellamy.
I'm a
development land sale city planner in the Department of Planning and Development.
I bring forward to you today the last land sale I have for
today, a request for disposition of two parcels at
9214 and 9218 South Perry Avenue.
In attendance today is the applicants, Roy Welch
and Felicia Papacio.
Getting into the project, the location of this disposition is in the
ninth ward, Alderman Anthony Beale, in the Roseland community area.
This land disposition consists of two city lots for the sale price of
$26,065.
The applicant submitted and DPD accepted an offer price
that matched. The parcel is located
within the far south planning
region. And as an October 2025
Chi Block Builder applicant, the purchaser, Roy Welch
and Felicia Papacio, are longstanding residents in the
community. On May 6th, Alderman Beale
provided a letter of support for the land disposition.
As an overview of the
proposal,
the purchasers are proposing to develop one new
two-storey single family home with a two-car garage.
Total development costs will be
$576,065.
Current zoning
for the site is RS-2And the combined lot
dimensions are roughly 70 feet by 124 feet.
The land disposition net area will be
8,688 square feet.
For context, the parcels
reside within the Roseland community area.
The site is a transit serve location, located roughly two and a half
blocks from the CTA Red Line 95th Street Station,
and served by multiple CTA and Pace TSL bus lines within a
one to two and a half block radius. The
parcels for disposition are within a residential portion along
South Perry Avenue,
where existing residential is the predominant character of the block,
with some vacant lots interspersed.
Transitioning to the street view of
the site along South Perry Avenue,
we can get a better sense of the parcel in context with the immediate surrounding
residential developments.
As a October 2025 Chi Block Builder
applicant,
the purchasers have gone through DPD's review process
for applicability to zoning and design standards for development.
As seen in this front elevation,
the proposal will span two floors
with a residential layout of six beds, four and a half
baths,
along with a two-car garage.
The materiality of the exterior will be a mix of charcoal siding,
natural wood accents, face brick, stone veneer,
and modern windows.
The overall site plan shows the layout of the residential
building, which fronts South Perry Avenue.
The site will have a two-car garage off the rear alleyway,
and also
contain a deck within the rear yard.
Next are the floor plans.
Starting with the basement plan, the main spaces of this floor
will be a lounge space, game room, and gym.
Moving on to the first floor.
Within the
first floor exists the main public spaces of the home: living room,
dining room, kitchen,
family room, et cetera.
And lastly,
the second floor.
There will exist the remaining balance of the bedrooms,
two of which are in the basement, but the predominant majority of them here on the
second floor.
This level will consist of four bedrooms and three
bathrooms.
And lastly, on the elevations
for the residential building,
flip through the east, north, west,
and south elevations. Once more, the
materiality of the building will be
a mix of charcoal siding, natural wood accents, face brick,
stone veneer, and modern windows.
Here concludes my presentation. I'll hold here for any questions from the
committee.
Any questions? The applicants are also here.
You want to state your name for the record, and thank you for joining us.
Hi. For the record, my name is Felicia Papafeo.
Good afternoon. My name is Roy Welch.
Thank you for being here. Are there any questions, or...
So we got a motion to move by Alderman Anna Hapworth.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and congratulations.
The due pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on June 17th, 2026. Congrats.
Thank you.
Thank you for being here.
We're down to the last few items, so thank you very much, Alderman
Quinn, Anna Hapworth, and Hatem for sticking with us.
This has been a long meeting. I appreciate we're almost down to the last few items.
The next two items are part of the DPD's Missing Middle initiative,
and we will have the two items presented and voted on together.
Item 23 is ordinance
2026-0025539:
sale of city-owned property at 3344, 3340,
3426, 3334, and 3361
West Monroe Street, and 3356 West Adam Street
to Monroe Collection LLC, under Chi Block Builder platform.
And item 24, ordinance
2026.0025535,
sale of city-owned property at 3812 and
3843 West Washington Boulevard,
and 3845 and 3849
West End Avenue to Garfield
Together LLC,
under Chi Block Builder platform, both in the 28th Ward.
Alejandro Valverde and Mark Jones from DPD are here to present
on these ordinances. Mark Jones, I think, is going to
go first, and then we go with Alejandro. Thank you very much for being here.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Mark Jones.
I am a planner with DPD in the West Region.
First, we're going to be presenting Missing Middle in West
Garfield Park for Garfield Together LLC.
That is Missing Middle round three, cluster C.
As I stated before, this is cluster C in this round of Missing Middle.
The developer is Garfield Together LLC, with
co-developers Vanessa Rhodes and Rakeem Campbell.
This project is in the 28th Ward. That's Alderman Irvin.
We received a letter of support from the alderman on April 27th,
2026. This is in the West Garfield Park community area
and in the West Region.
This is the third round of Missing Middle, so I won't
go through this entire slide, but I think everyone's familiar with this
being a land write-down for $1 per parcel and up to
$150,000 per unit subsidy for Missing Middle
projects.
The parcels and acquisition for Cluster C are at
3812 through 3843 West Washington Boulevard,
and 3845 through 3849 West West
End Avenue, and it is a total of four parcels.
Those parcels are mostly around
7,500 square feet, with a smaller one at around
3,900 square feet.
Garfield Together LLC is proposing a total of 21 units on
those four parcels. That is a composition of seven
three-flats, which would be three to four bedrooms, with a total
project cost at around $8,000,100.
And per unit, that breaks down to about
$387,000 per unit.
They are planning to construct this in one construction
phase. The floor plan breakdown, I know it's a little small,
but pretty much, from basement to grade, it's a
duplex, and then the second and third floor are their own individual
units. So that ground floor and basement unit is where the
four bedroom would reside, and then the rest would be the three bedrooms.
The project budget for this cluster, it's about
14% equity and 47% lender
financing, and then 39% of the HED
bond, which is at
$3,150,000, for a total
of $8,000,132 and
7 cents.
And then for hard costs, we're looking at about 75%,
which is at about $6.1 million. And then the
remainder soft cost at 25% at around $2
million for the same total. That comes to
about $8.1 million.
That is pretty much it for this project.
If you guys have any questions, one of the co-developers
is here for any project-specific questions, and if he would like to introduce
himself as well.
Thank you, Mark.
Yeah, I think maybe we can--
There we go.
Raquem Campbell, Garfield Together.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I think we're going to present both of them, and then
we're going to vote at the end.
So thank you. Yeah, the applicant is also here.
Thank you.
Alejandro. Mm-hmm.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Alejandro Valverde.
For the record, I'm an urban designer in the West Region.
I'm going here to present this project for Missing Middle.
So, like my colleague mentioned, this is a Missing Middle project, but in
this case, it's in the east of Garfield Park and is
Cluster B.
With developer, it's going to be Monroe Collections LLC.
Collection, sorry.
And it's going to be in the 28th Ward with Alderman Jason Ervin.
We have a letter of support
for that same date of
March 27 of 2026.
The Cluster B is the red box here in
this
slide. And it's
six parcels.
And the addresses is
3356
West Adams Street, 3426 West Monroe Street,
3334 West Monroe Street, 3340 West Monroe
Street,
3344 West Monroe Street, and
3361 West Monroe Street.
There are some typical addresses that have
the same area. It's about 3,125.
The largest
parcel is 18,000,
and then the other one is 9,375.
This slide displays the developer's
proposal. It's showing here the renderings of typical
residences that he's going to develop,
or they are going to develop.
It's 33 total units on six parcels.
It's 11 buildings. Each building is going to have three flats,
two to three bedroom units, and the total project cost is
$9 million, $958,000.
The cost per unit is
$301,000. And also, this is going to be
also in one construction phase.
The project budget.
The lender financing is $5 million.
The bound will be
$4,950,000.
The total source is $9 million,
$958,000.
The acquisition of the land is $1. There's six parcel in total, so it's
$6.
The hard cost is $8 million,
$887,000.
Soft cost,
zero.
Other cost, $1 million.
And the total cost is $9 million,
$958,000.
This concludes this presentation for this Cluster B.
Any questions, happy to answer. Yeah.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Are there any questions by Alderman Hadden?
I'm just wondering if you could speak to, so one, this has been a
great project. Do you guys have any updates on, I guess maybe Cluster A?
So what's progress been like?
Yeah. Cluster A is developers
CBDC, and it's going for the next month.
So they submit everything.
Initially, it was
about to be six parcels, but
we find out that they were contaminated, and we
avoid to go through that route of
remediate the land, and we swap some parcels.
At the end, it came out to four parcels that are category A and
B, so
there is some savings there for the developer.
And we have everything now in budget, and it's going to
be for next month here.
Yeah.
And then a follow-up. So for these proposed parcels, for both these,
have they been remediated already?
So has the city, working with the development
team for this Missing Middle project,
have we checked that so that we're not saddling these
developers with similar problems?
So for the Cluster C project, those
parcels have been vetted by Department of Environment, and there are
no requirements from the city for remediation.
And for Cluster B?
Yeah. So Cluster B has some land that
needs to be remediated. So-
But that's already planned for. It's
known. It's planned for. You guys are ready to do it, and the
funding for the projects is based with
knowing that you'll have to do remediation?
Yes. The developer is informed, and they have all the records and the
consultants to do that. Yeah.
Okay. Thank you.
That's it for me, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman Manhattan. Any other questions?
Otherwise, can I get a motion to move? So moved by Alderman Manhattan.
All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Thank you, Mark and Alejandro.
Thank you.
The do pass recommendation on these ordinances will be
reported out at the next City Council
meeting on June 17th, 2026. Thank you so much, and congrats
to the applicants.
Last
but not least, the last item in today's agenda is a direct
introduction from DPD. Copies of the direct intro have been
emailed and handed out to committee members in your packets.
Item 25 is an ordinance that corrects errors in the ordinance
from 2018, Ordinance
2018-9027, passed
by the Chicago City Council on December 12th, 2018.
The ordinance includes two parcels mistakenly omitted from the original
ordinance, corrects a subdivision of a previously included parcel,
and corrects a clerical error in the block number of five
parcels in the 25th Ward. Will Holland from the Department of Planning
is here to testify on behalf of this ordinance. Thank you, Will.
Thank you.
For the record, my name is Will Holland.
I'm a city planner with the Department of Planning and Development.
I will be presenting an amended acquisition authority
ordinance. This is an amendment to the 2018
BNSF Paseo Acquisition Authority ordinance.
The location is former BNSF railroad right of way at Sangamon
Street and 18th Street, and also along Cermak
Road between Ashland Avenue and Carpenter Street.
This is 25th Ward, Alderman Sicho Lopez.
The 25th Ward supports this amendment.
The community area is Lower West Side.
This is in the Pilsen Industrial Corridor TIFF district, West Region planning
area. And the impact of this amendment will be correcting
errors in the original 2018 ordinance and allow for complete
assembly of land owned by BNSF Railroad for future
trail project.
The 2018 ordinance's goal is to provide city acquisition authority to acquire
property along the rail corridor from Sangamon Street and 16th Street
down to the Sanitary Drainage and Ship Canal at South Central Park Avenue.
2018 ordinance lists 33 pins along the rail corridor for
acquisition.
There's been a few issues since that 2018 ordinance.
The first of which was one pin originally listed in the
ordinance
was since subdivided into two pins.
We'd like to correct the ordinance with the current pin numbers.
Also, subsequent property survey and title commitments
showed BNSF Railroad ownership within two parcels that were
omitted from the original ordinance.
We would like to include that in order to
acquire all of the BNSF Railroad
property within this rail corridor.
And then finally, there were clerical errors on five
parcels along Cermak Road.
And those are in red there. The 502 is a
convention for railroad property,
and that was not accurate. They had the conventional block
numbers for these properties.
Here are some maps of those previously mentioned issues.
The parcels in blue in the middle there were originally included in the
2021 ordinance under one parcel,
final digits 026. Those have since been split into
029 and 030.
The parcels on the northwest and southeast,
property survey and title commitments again have shown that there's BNSF Railroad
ownership interest in these parcels, and we would like to have those
included.
And then finally, these are the parcels along Cermak Road.
We'd like to correct the errors in the block
numbers.
And this concludes my presentation. Thank you.
Are there any questions by committee members on these?
These are just a correction on some decision that was made in
2018.
So moved by Alderman Quinn. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation on this item will be reported out in the next City
Council meeting on June 17th. There not being any further
business, this ends our meeting today.
Can I have a motion to adjourn? So moved by Alderman Quinn and Alderman
Manhattan.
Have a wonderful
night. Be careful. And this ends our Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
It's officially adjourned. Thank you, everybody. Have a good night.