For those folks who are special service areas appointment
reappointments, we're waiting to achieve quorum before we
begin. We just want you to sit tight
at this time. Thank you so much for your patience.
Awesome.
Good morning. The meeting on Committee on Economic Capital and Technology
Development is now called to order.
We'll now have a roll call to establish quorum.
Christian, could you please call the roll?
Alderman Cordona.
Alderman Chico.
Alderwoman Cruz.
Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Alderman Spada.
Here.
Alderwoman Lee.
Alderman Lopez.
See you. Alderwoman Moná Hoppenworth.
Present.
Alderwoman Tabaris. Alderman Napolitano.
Present.
Chairman, we have a quorum.
Thank you.
May I have anyone online? No?
No, we don't have anybody,
so skip over this whole entire section.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have-
Alderman Riley is online.
Oh, Alderman Riley.
Rule 59.
Thanks, Alderman.
Alderman Riley. Alderman
Wackenspad.
Alderman Riley has requested to participate in today's meeting
remotely under Rule 59. Can I get a motion to allow him
to participate?
So moved by Alderman Lopez. All in
favor say aye.
Any opposed, say nay.
Any opposed, the chair have it.
Uh, the person we'll
mention, Alderman Riley, will
be permitted to participate remotely today.
Remotely. They'll be marked as present
on the quorum.
Mitchell, Alderman Mitchell.
For today's meeting, we did
not receive
any public comments at this time. We will begin with public comment period.
Public comments are limited to 30 minutes out of respect
of everyone's time. Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Our first, we have two speakers.
Dr. Sandy Norman.
She's here, she's in chamber.
Thank you. George Blakemore.
You called Sandy Norman and then George Blakemore.
Why would you do that? Sandy Norman has every right
to be here.
Where is Sandy? She's over in the chamber.
Why would you do this?
Why would you put...
Sir, why would you do this?
Put two meetings at the same time, the same
date, one in 201A and one is in the
chamber. Why do you do that?
What's the rationale?
How they schedule it.
I hate that,
because maybe we'll have to juggle.
Who?
I don't know. I don't think it's fair.
You wouldn't.
Spitting in this mic time and time again about
this. When you
can schedule your meeting. Now look at them talking to me.
Look at them talking to each other.
No respect for time. No
respect for citizens. Why would you
do that?
You're incompetent. You're unprofessional.
You're selfish.
Why would you have two meetings at the same
time and at the same place 30 minutes apart?
Why?
Because the citizens are uninformed, they're
unengaged, and they're not doing their job.
So- No, beat up on
me. Beat up on you, you, you. We
have to take a stand.
We
have to take a stand because
you all totally wrecked it. Why would you
schedule two meetings at the same time if you had a whole
month to prepare? Why don't you want to prepare?
Look at them over there talking to themselves, ignoring me.
But I'm the damn fool.
I think you, you, you, you
a damn fool. Don't let them get away with that.
I'm not outraged. You're not.
You're not outraged. I'm the crazy
one. I'm crazy, Mr. Blakemore. I'm loud, I'm
uncouth. I'm going off.
There's something wrong, Mr. Blakemore.
Something wrong with you, you, you, you,
and all of you. But Shane, they called your name, a man
about you have to rush over here. You was in another meeting,
so they going to let you speak. This a terrible thing.
This is terrible, terrible, terrible.
A non-functional government. But
it's something wrong. Shane, let me sit down.
I'm glad to see the respect you have had over here.
Mr. Blakemore, like I'm a damn fool.
Get up and speak, Shane.
Well, first I want to honor God, I honor our council. And Mr.
Blakemore, I do want to say that I do honor you, sir, also as well,
and I appreciate you being here at City Hall.
I do want to talk about public safety real quickly.
As I was in the other public safety meeting, I was led to
first give an apology to all of the parents that have lost their children
to gun violence, and I also wanted to give an apology
to all of the police officers, because they're also victims
of gun violence in the city of Chicago,
and those calls that they have to get that their sons and daughters
have been killed in the line of fire.
My question that I asked the council was this.
We have a crisis in Chicago with mass shootings, and the
reason why I'm talking about this is because I'm actually out there as a
pastor in the midst of those shootings.
I just was with a young man yesterday whose kneecap was shot
off,
and who was a victim of gun violence.
I buried a young man two weeks ago that was the victim of the mass
shooting on 51st and Woods, where we had seven people that were
shot and two people killed. And so, as we continue to say
that violence is going down in the city of Chicago, tell that to the
police officers who die in the line of duty, the ones that are being
shot, and those families that are mourning and those families that are
grieving. I want to ask the question, how many pastors do you
see down here in any of these public safety meetings?
But when you turn on the TV for an executive order, you see all
the different mega church pastors, all the CVI
organizations. But when you ride in your communities, if you're on the West
Side and South Side of Chicago, tell me, how many
CVI organizations do you see on those corners when those
mass shootings are going forth? How many pastors do you actually see
that are visibly present in any community?
And so I'm asking our city council, I'm asking you all, because it
seems that
something is not clicking.
There are people that are holding office.
You guys are out of touch, some of you, with reality.
Brian Hopkins, the alderman of public safety, he needs to
be reprimanded. I tried to hold a conversation with him
respectively. I simply asked Brian Hopkins a question.
"Sir, can I have an appointment with you? I'm CVI.
I'm a pastor. I'm in the midst of everything that's going on in the city of
Chicago." And you all know what Brian Hopkins did to me?
He put his hand in my face, and the
police saw it, and also the young men that work as security in
the chambers, they witnessed that.
How are you over public safety, and you don't even respect the
people that are actually out in the field doing the work?
And as a politician, if you're in a seat of authority
over an entire public safety position in a
community, that means the entire Chicago, not just the North
Side. I spent over 20 years working, okay, in
the healthcare field, where we produce some of the best
doctors in the city of Chicago and the world.
I have never had a doctor to ever disrespect me.
I've never had anyone to put their hands in my face.
And I'm saying to you all, what are the repercussions of his
actions? How are you over public safety, and you are out of
touch with the people that you're called to govern?
Black Caucus, I'm asking you, what are you guys going to do about
that? How do you just reject someone that's actually doing
the work, and you show no care and concern?
We have a problem because we have the wrong people in-
And I say that respectfully.
Thank you, Dr. Norman.
We, I really appreciate your service.
Our next speaker
is
Counsel General Dennis Ying-Fang Lee.
Chairman Curtis, and the honorable
guests of the community. I'm the head of Taiwan Mission in
Midwest. My job here is to promote the
trade, technology, education, and cultural exchange.
I'm coming here
... to promote the prosperity
between Taiwan, Chicago, and also
to establish good
relations. As you may be aware, last year
Taiwan just become the fourth largest trading partner
of United States. And also,
our company has
promised to have $250
billion investment here. And also, the
government
provide a credit guarantee for $250 billion for
the business to further invest in United States.
Taiwan, the company, is moving its supply chain
to the United States. And as head of Taiwan Mission
in
Chicago, in the meanwhile, I hope the supply chain can be
navigate to the Chicago, and also that this is a
good opportunity. So we need to build up the
partnership to provide more opportunity and
more communication to Chicago. And not long
ago, during Automate this year,
there's
67 Taiwan company to visit Chicago and
talk to the Chicago government and the Illinois
government. And the Illinois government announced that it is going to take this
opportunity to establish trade office by the end of
this year. And the Chambers of Commerce of Illinois already
signed the MOU just not long ago, this
year's last April, to MOU to
promote the trade relations. And also for the first ever,
not only the economic side, but also the academic
sides on the University of Illinois system, and also
first ever for sign with Taiwan's
top 12 university. So we are
broadening our relations from the AI semiconductor quantum data
science. So,
we need whole opportunity, whole momentum, to
give opportunity to citizen of Chicago and also that
Chicago is the United States' third largest city.
We see a lot of potential here. So we seek
your
assistance and also let's work together.
This is nothing about other party, other country, it's
about Chicago citizen. I believe
city of Chicago welcome all investment from
all the board, just like the United States, the government,
the federal government.
Thank you,
Consul General.
This concludes our public comment.
The first order of business is approval of the June 2026
monthly report, which all members of the committee should have
received via shared drive. Are there any questions or
comments from the committee members? Alderman Riley moves due pass.
Alderman Riley moves
due pass. All in favor,
say aye.
Any opposed, say nay.
In opinion, the chair has it.
I mean, in opinion, all the ayes have it.
This item is adopted. Items one through four on the
agenda are appointments and reappointments to special service areas.
The following individuals are being considered before the committee.
Appointment of Megan A.
Radosevich as member of Special Service Area
27.
Appointment of Jeffrey
Hyder
as member of Special Service 23.
Reappointment of Emil C.
Mahler of Special Service Area number 4.
Four and five is appointments of Valerie A.
Goodloe and Audrey
Andrea Brookins as special members of Special
Service Area
69.
Reappointments of Nicholas
Yasan as members of
Special Service 21,
number 60, Albany Park,
and number 79.
Appointment of Jason C.
Kareth as member of Special Service Area
79.
We have a substitute changing this from an appointment to a
reappointment.
We have the updated mayoral letter in the shared
drive. May I have a motion to recommend for approval
and
reappointment of
Jason
Kareth?
So moved by Alderman Gutierrez.
We want to
move to accept the substitute
for the
reappointment.
All in favor?
Any opposed? In opinion,
the ayes have it.
Item
number 10, reappointments of Christopher Murphy,
Special Service Area number 14.
Appointment of
Stefani Roddy as a
member of Special Service Area 54.
Reappointment of Rick Perez as member
... Special Service Area 25,
and the reappointment of Yolanda Manuel as a
member of Special Service
32-2024
in Auburn Gresham.
The ECD team has confirmed the support
or non-objection from the following council members,
which appointments are reappointments within their respective
wards. Clay, Curtis, Gardner, Hall,
Knutson, Martin, Mosley, Moore,
Nugent, O'Shea,
Casada, Riley,
Rodriguez, Sanchez, Scott, Sigcho-Lopez,
Vasquez, Waguespack.
At this time, I ask the appointees that are
present to introduce themselves.
In person, we have
Valerie Goodloe, Jeffrey Highter, and Yolanda Manuel.
Could you please come up?
I think that-
It's
up here.
Yeah.
Here.
Do
it.
Good morning.
Morning.
Good morning.
Hey, good morning.
Morning.
Just like to know if you have a brief statement that you want to share with
the committee
before your reappointment. We'll
start with Valerie Goodloe.
I hate to be started first, but my name is Valerie Goodloe.
I'm in the Auburn Gresham community.
I moved to Chicago on Juneteenth six years ago,
and have been a proud member of this great city since that
time. A little bit about who I am. I'm a
transplant, like I said, from Los Angeles.
I have a nonprofit organization,
CVA,
Community Violence Prevention,
and Community Violence Intervention programming.
And we have a Black on Black Love community garden.
Been a part of the community, and
hope to change the dynamics, not just on my block, but
anywhere that I may step.
And this SSA
position
is
kind of still mysterious to me on exactly
what my role is and what I do. I know I went through a real strenuous
background check and all that, so it's got to be pretty important.
But one of the things that I do know is that it talks
about
bringing the best to the area that I be in, whether it's how it
looks,
maybe how it's presented, the cleanliness
of the block, and also to help bring traffic to that
area where they can thrive as businesses.
So anything that I could do on the ground, I'm kind of like on-the-ground person.
I meet people where they are because I want people to meet me where I am, and-
Valerie Goodloe
... and that's just a little bit about who I am.
Thank you. You're going to do fine, Ms. Goodloe.
Thank you. Yolanda Manuel.
Hi. Good morning, everyone.
God bless each and every last one of you.
I am honored to be,
for having had been considered for this coveted role.
And I say that because I do trust God that he
will allow me, as well as the members of the
SSA32, to make decisions that are going
to transform the community in which I live.
And so the business that I own is RH Snead's Hardware Store.
It's a legacy business that's been in the community for almost 60 years,
and I am honored to be the third-generational owner.
And it's probably one of the only African American-owned
businesses in that community. So I'm looking forward to
allowing or helping to bring more of those types of
businesses into the community. Additionally, I'm a firm
believer in what the word of God says, is that when God makes you,
when he gives you a little bit to be responsible for, that he'll bless you
to be over more. And so I'm trusting that what we're doing
now is going to grow because it's quite necessary.
Economic development is essential in the community where I live.
We need to create opportunities for people that are dying,
and my business has been one that has employed people that most people will
not. I have sacrificed a lot of my own personal
resources to create opportunities for people because
banks, unfortunately, do not
continue to provide individuals like myself the resources
that we need. And I don't want to take a lot of time, and I don't even know if this
is the appropriate time to bring this up, but I want to say this as well, because
I'm not a yes person, and I'm not going to be appointed to this committee just
to sit there and say yes, because I'm very concerned about the things that are
happening in my community, not only in an economic way, but
also in a social way. I want to read something that I posted to Facebook,
and it's about, what I said was, "I'm angry
and I hate Satan and his demons." And I'm speaking like this
because I'm a Christian. I'm a chaplain for the Cook County Department of
Corrections, and I am an evangelist, and I get out on the streets and we
minister to people, and we try to get a lot of the people in my community off of
drugs. We try to help them to get the assistance that they need to get
rehabilitated And one of the concerns that I
have is about young Black men that are killing each other in my community.
So this is something that I literally just wrote.
"Three young Black men that I knew personally or
through close acquaintances were taken from this earth through acts of
diabolical murder in less than seven
days. Each death was at the hands of other young
Black men, young Black men who are deceived, spiritually
blinded, and weaponized by darkness in their
hearts. They are jumping out of their cars with cold
ruthlessness-"
Yeah
... gunning down other young Black men-
Mm-hmm
... for ignorant, senseless, and spiritually distorted
reasons.
Mm.
My prayer...
Thank-
Okay. Long story short, I just want to say this, and I have to say this.
Okay.
I lost a family member last night due to
gang violence. It's like
we need to do something about those things in the community and just stop talking
about them. We need to be more concerned.
I'm concerned that African Americans are not more concerned.
It's something diabolically wrong with the fact that we don't
care about our communities like the way we should, but I do know
change is on the horizon.
Thank you so much, Ms. Manuel.
You're welcome.
Mr.
I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Heider, is it?
He-
Yes. Heider, that's right.
It's Heider.
Yep.
Okay. Mr. Heider?
Yeah.
I'm going to be working with the
Clark Street SSA in Lincoln Park.
I live and work on Clark.
I'm with the First Financial Bank.
I manage that location.
It was Bank Financial, recently bought by First Financial,
who are very big into community
reinvestment. In fact, they give us
PTO time that's specifically used for volunteering locally.
So, I'm really just looking forward to
having a say in a place that I'm proud to be
from, well, living in and working in, and being able
to make a difference in
the way that the commerce and residents and everything
is
perceived and enjoyed.
Thank you, Mr. Heider. We have three
joining us remotely. Stephanie Rohde, are you
present online?
Yes, I am. Sorry, I was on mute.
No problem. Would you like to give a couple of minutes, a statement
about yourself?
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you all for your time today. My name is Stephanie Rohde.
I'm the branch manager at Wintrust Bank, Loyola Station.
I also volunteer locally. I'm on the board of Youth
Job Center, as well as on the board for a food pantry
called Care for Real.
I'm really looking forward to be on the SSA, and
apply my finance and banking skills,
and add perspective from the various local businesses that I
meet day to day. So yeah, thank you so
much.
Thank you.
Andrea Brookins,
are you with us?
Yes, I'm with you.
Let's see. I was trying to
come on
camera, but it's not... Oh, there it is.
I'm Andrea Brookins, owner and president of Brookins
Funeral Home, and
a member of this community as well as our business
since 1970, so 56 years.
This year, we celebrate a family-owned and operated
legacy business that has been a part of the community
and has been actively working in the community
all of those years. So, I thank you for the
opportunity to be of service in a different
capacity.
Thank you, Ms. Brookins.
Megan
Radozevic, are you with us?
Yes. Hi, I am here. Thank you.
Hi, everyone. My name is Megan Radozevic, and I've been a resident
of the West Lake View community for over the past 10 years,
and I've really benefited and appreciated the services that the SSA
provides, including community events like our annual tree lighting
ceremony and the many art installations around the neighborhood.
For the past year, I've been attending the SSA 27 meetings,
and I look forward to being a member of the SSA to further art and
community building projects within the West Lake View neighborhood.
Thank you.
Would any committee members have any questions or comments
about any of our appointees?
Please, do speak up.
Alderman
Wackersbach moved to pass.
All in favor say aye.
Any opposed say nay.
And opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of these appointments or reappointments will be
reported out to the next city council meeting.
Appointees, congratulations on your confirmation and partnership
with the City of Chicago. We look forward to working with you.
Thank you so much
Item 14 is an ordinance
for the amendment of special service number
212026, regarding the 2026
budget and service provider agreement with Lincoln Square
Ravenwood Chamber of Commerce. We have a substitute for this
ordinance
that has been shared with members through the shared drive.
May I have a motion to
recommend approval? So moved.
There we go.
Sorry.
Oh, sorry.
Accept the motion.
Accept.
Move to accept.
Move to accept this substitute.
Correct. All in favor, say aye.
Any opposed, say nay. Independent chair.
The ayes have it.
I open the floor
to Alderman Lopez. As a matter of fact, he's not even in here,
actually.
Lincoln Square.
Yeah, this is for the Lincoln Square. Would you like to speak?
You were referencing Alderman Lopez.
Vask, I think.
Vask.
Oh, sorry. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, that's the wrong...
No, you're good. Go back there.
There's some. Scratch that. Is it Vask Square?
No, not Vask.
Yes, here. So Mark Roshan, Assistant Commissioner.
You're not open to-
Okay, got it
... it's just Mark.
For this substitute, we have Mark Roshan, Assistant Commissioner of Deputy
of Department of Planning and Development is here to present and can
answer any questions.
Mr. Roshan.
Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee.
My name is Mark Roshan. I'm an assistant commissioner with the Department of
Planning and Development. The ordinance before you is to amend the
2026
budget for SSA21-2016, Lincoln
Square.
This is necessary to increase TIF
rebate
that became available to the SSA late in
2025 after the 2026 budget was approved.
The amount of the TIF rebate
is
$49,055.
They are requesting to add that to their budget in order to maintain
services which are at risk of being cut now because of
delays in the county dispersing the current
property tax collections.
And this motion will allow them to retain those services and
to be able to add those services later in the
year.
Thank you. Any
questions or
comments from any member?
All right. May I have a motion to recommend approval of this
ordinance?
Alderman Mosley
so moves. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed, say
nay. Independent chair, the ayes have it.
The due pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out
at the next city council meeting.
Item 15 is an ordinance in support of a Class L
tax incentive for property at 2 North Riverside
Plaza.
Alicia Tuffey, coordinating
planner for the Department of Planning Development is here to present
and can answer any questions.
Alderman
Lopez?
Why is the heat on in here?
All right. Trans-
Morning, committee members.
Good morning, committee members.
Morning.
Alicia Tuffey, DPD staff. I'm joined by
project team members Bridget O'Keefe, with Marshall Brown,
Tyler Quas, COO of Blue Star Properties, Paul Turillo,
the Director of Projects with Blue Star Properties, and Steve Perlman with
Steve Perlman and Associates.
The subject property is located at 2 North Riverside
Plaza on the west side of the Chicago River, located in the
42nd ward. Alderman Riley's office is supportive of
this Class L project and sent a letter of support to the committee dated
July 7th.
Okay.
This 1929 Art Deco building was designed by Holabird and
Root for the Chicago Daily News, which occupied the
building from 1929 to 1960.
It was the first building in Chicago constructed over the railroad
tracks. The Chicago Daily News columnists included
Eugene Field, Carl Sandburg, and Mike
Royko.
Because Class L is an incentive for city landmarks,
the applicants are seeking landmark designation in tandem with
this Class L incentive. The building was found to meet four
criteria for landmark designation, and the Commission on
Chicago Landmarks has provided its favorable recommendation to city
council. That ordinance was also introduced in June and referred out
to zoning committee for July 14th review.
Okay. That meeting. Okay.
The Class L eligible rehabilitation scope consists of masonry
repairs on all elevations. Limestone that is
damaged beyond repair will be replaced in kind to match.
All facades will be cleaned and tuckpointed.
Concrete sidewalk vaults will be repaired and reinforced
The river wall, which can be seen here alongside the
Chicago River, shows signs of deterioration.
It will be stabilized by resetting limestone units and
replacing them in kind where necessary.
The outdoor riverfront plaza, which was constructed over the active railroad
tracks, will be reconstructed with a waterproof membrane underneath to
address water runoff.
This just shows different existing conditions of various
elevations.
Some storefront windows will be replaced.
And as I mentioned, cleaning of all facades will occur to
remove the biological debris on the stone.
These angles show the existing conditions on the west elevation along Canal
Street, and on the north elevation along Washington Street.
This is a view of the plaza looking south.
As mentioned, the structural repairs will be performed at this level
with a new waterproof membrane laid underneath the pavers.
Interior work will consist of
demolishing some existing-
Yes
... tenant build-out space-
No, I have it. I have it
... into white box condition for-
I have it
... future tenant. Common elevator lobbies and
hallways will be finished out in anticipation
of tenants as well.
There are some discrete areas of the interior that have been
included in this designation
for landmark protection. Those consist of publicly accessible
lobby spaces, like the one seen here in this photo on the second
floor, as well as the concourse that connects through to the
Ogilvie train station, which is used very frequently
by members of the public. There are, on the left-hand
side, some older, dated
storefront treatments that were inconsistent.
Part of the scope of work will be to rehabilitate this
space and create a more unified design approach that's historically
appropriate to the building.
And these are just elevation drawings that have been reviewed by
both historic preservation staff as well as the Commission on
Chicago Landmarks.
For the project budget, the total cost of the project is just
under $70 million.
The 2025 building market value was estimated at
$38 million. A requirement for Class L
incentive is that the property owner invest at least
50% of the full market value into
eligible rehabilitation expenses.
So for this project, that minimum threshold would be $19
million. The project team is expecting to far exceed that,
and spend approximately $35 million on Class L eligible
rehabilitation scope.
DPD has estimated that the total tax abatement to the
applicant over the 12 years of the incentive is
approximately $28 million, or net present
value $20 million. The city's share of that
tax abatement is estimated to be $6.3 million,
or $4.7 million in net present value.
After the Class L period, the property is estimated to generate annual
taxes of $5.8 million, or
$2.3 million more than if the building were not
rehabilitated.
It's anticipated that the rehabilitation project will create 220
construction jobs, and once occupied, 1,400
permanent jobs.
The Commission and DPD seek the committee's favorable vote
on this Class L application. The Commission on Chicago
Landmark previously reviewed and approved both the scope and the budget,
and have advanced
this ordinance
for council review. This completes my presentation, and as mentioned,
I have members of the project team here should the committee have questions for any
of us. Thank you.
Thank you. I've had a pleasure of
touring this
beautiful landmark building. It's
such a beautiful building with tons of potential.
I'm really looking forward to
its vision to become. Is there any
questions from the committee? Alderman Mitchell.
Thank you, Chairman.
How far along is this? I understand sometimes this is the beginning stages, but
have you gotten to who would be GC-ing the work, and has that been discussed?
I'll direct that to Tyler with the development team.
Okay, the development team. Okay.
Sorry,
that's the question.
Okay. So I want to talk to the development team on who's going to be GC-ing the
work.
Can you go back to the slide where the stat, where we
see the
value?
Mm-hmm.
No, not this.
Yes. So the total project cost 69.7. All right.
So have we already decided how we're going to approach the MBE
participation?
As a matter of fact, yes. We have reached out to, I believe it's 54
assist agencies. We are hosting an open house coming up in about a week.
Okay.
And we have an open invite, and we're sourcing a lot of contacts
and trade contacts from that.
Okay. Can you ensure that the alderman get that so we can pass it out to
our-
Chairman Curtis has it.
Okay.
And we'll make sure that we send it around to everybody as well.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you for that.
Sure.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman Mitchell. Any other member?
Alderman Wackespad.
Thank you. Elish, thank you for the presentation.
You mentioned that the property was
market value of $38 million, or was it $28?
38.
38, okay. What was the purchase price?
27.5.
27.5, okay.
And then what's your vacancy rate now compared to the rest of the Loop
area?
That building in particular was 50%, and the rest of that immediate
West Loop area is typically in the 90s.
In the what?
In the 90s.
Oh, 90s.
In that sub-market.
Okay. And then, I couldn't see all the changes here, but what's your
expected vacancy rate when you finish, and how are
you redesigning the interior to-- What kind of places
or businesses are you trying to attract?
Is it one,
a mixture, or is it one larger company?
I know Sam Zell used to have his offices there, and it was pretty large, but
split that up into other businesses.
I appreciate it. Let me step back for a second. I'm with Tyler Quast.
I'm with Blue Star Properties. We are lucky enough to get
involved in this project. We have done a number of projects like this throughout
the city of Chicago.
This endeavor is our fifth landmark endeavor.
And
our excitement with this is that the structure and
what this building is, 615,000 square feet, is a kind of asset that you don't run
into very often. 1926 Holabird & Root.
It's got some very unique features.
Unfortunately, it's gone through the pandemic
slump and everything else that happened there.
Sam Zell's prior offices are still there.
They're still tenants, they're still occupants, however, not owners anymore.
Yeah.
And so our
endeavor is to create more amenity space, more opportunities for the tenants within
the building.
Lounge, fitness, redoing that passageway that is
the connector to Ogilvie, having more unique retail within that,
creating more destination.
And then being able to create opportunities for
tenancy. Our tenant mix right now, we're looking at tenants that
could do two-year to five-year to seven-year deals in that
1,500 square foot to 5,000 square foot range, which is kind of unique for that
segment of the Loop.
And we think we can cater to a whole host of other tenants
that don't typically have that opportunity otherwise.
Great. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you.
May I have a motion to recommend? So moved by
Alderman Mitchell. All in favor say aye.
All opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendations of this ordinance will be reported out at the next
city council meeting.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chairman Curtis.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Item number 16
is a resolution calling for a hearing on the application of Municipal
Code Section
2-45-165, granting
city council authority to revoke tax incentives when the purpose
of such incentives is not fulfilled.
At this moment, I'm going to defer this item.
I'm going to
defer it. I'm going to hold this item.
Yeah. Hold it. I'm going to hold this item.
Moved by
Alderman Lopez. All in favor say
aye.
Any opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
This item is held.
Item number 17
is a resolution
and expression of support for a U.S.
partnership with Taiwan
and for the formalized trade and tourism
office.
We also have a
substitute for this ordinance
with this.
We would also like...
Alderman Lopez?
Thank you, Chairman. First, I'd like to--
I'm not going to introduce the substitute at this time.
Alderman Lee has comments, and I think that should answer what
our next steps will be.
Alderman Lee.
Thank you, Chairman, and thank you to my colleague, Alderman Lopez.
As the first Chinese American to serve on the city council, and as the
representative of nearly half of all Chinese residents of Chicago, I
believe I have the most direct interest and the deepest
knowledge of this particular issue.
And as such, I've discussed with the
sponsor of this resolution
that
I've requested that this item be held.
I
was not consulted before the resolution was written or
introduced, and out of respect to my community, I'd like the
opportunity for this to be held. Chicago benefits from strong
relationships with communities and businesses connected to both Taiwan and mainland
China. That is consistent with longstanding U.S. policy.
But this is a really highly complex foreign policy matter with implications
that are far-reaching. And with due respect to my colleagues in this room,
I would hope that we take the time to ensure that we're educated about
implications of such actions that we would take.
Foreign policy issues are not typically things that we deal with in this
body, and we have so many other pressing issues to deal with
currently in our front and in our backyard to resolve.
So, I would ask that we, at a minimum, take the time to ensure that we're
appropriately educated about the issue and the dialogues within these
impacted communities. And I'd be happy to work with
the sponsor of the ordinance to bring forward some more information
so that the committee and the body can make informed decisions moving forward
on this issue.
And with that,
I ask for this to be held.
Thank you.
We have a motion by Alderman Lee to hold this item.
All in favor say aye. Any opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
This resolution will be held.
Since there's no further business, may I have a motion to adjourn?
So moved by Alderman Lopez, and
roll call, really?
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The Committee on Economic Capital Technology Development is adjourned.
Thank you, everyone.