Hello?
Can you hear me now?
Yeah, I can hear you, Dave.
Okay, yeah. Any guess as to when we go on here?
So, sorry, are you asking me if I'm with the city?
Well, yeah, based on our time, or anybody who knows when we go on?
No, I am not with the city.
I was invited to be one of the panelists, and I accepted the invitation,
so that's why I'm here.
So I'm not an attendee.
I'm like one of the panelists now.
So I don't know if attendees can hear you.
you're a panelist with um hello hello okay i have folks joining us on zoom uh this is the
economic capital technology development committee we are waiting to make quorum we will start
once we get there uh for now if you just want to mute your microphones uh and then we'll get
started once we get quorum if you want to just sit tight uh the special service area appointments
will be what we will tackle first there's 19 total uh there's a handful of you that we will
then ask to speak if you can just give a short introduction once we call your name um after we
do the introduction of those special service areas i know there's quite a bit of you on on
the call at this time but thank you so much for being patient yeah
Good afternoon. I want to welcome everyone to the October meeting for the Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development.
This meeting is now called to order.
We will now have a roll call to establish quorum.
Christian, please begin the roll call.
Alderman Laspada.
Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Alderwoman Mana Hoppenworth.
Alderwoman Lee.
Alderman Chico.
Alderman Lopez.
Alderman Wagespeck.
Alderman Tabarez, Alderman Mitchell, Alderman Cardona, Chairman, we have a quorum.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a quorum.
Alderman Riley has requested to participate in today's meeting remotely under Rule 59.
I will entertain a motion to allow remote participation.
Alderman Gutierrez moves to allow Alderman Riley to participate remotely, pursuant to Rule 59.
All those in favor, say aye.
all those opposed say nay in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it the all the persons
mentions are permitted to participate remotely today they will be marked as present on the quorum
on the quorum call for today's meeting we did not receive written public comments at this time we
will begin the public comment period public comments are limited to 30 minutes at a total
a total of 30 minutes out of respect for everyone's time each speaker is limited to three minutes
i've been informed that we have three that have signed up for public comment with the applicable
provisions of the sergeant at arms protocol first up is zoe lee ssa and that's the issue i see what's
going on in the seven uh what's that ward that's a sixth ward hall so a lot of them are arguing
about that ssa money that's supposed to help um with to curb at least get some security over there
with all of our businesses continue to get hit.
Bronzeville's getting hit a lot.
75th is getting hit.
I just even heard that Roseland is getting hit as well.
And it's an attack on the black business.
It's the attack on black homeowners, property owners.
And the reason why it's starting to look, starting to be out here more is because if on the federal level, if Kamala Harris would have got in, we would have been in a foreclosure crisis.
Because that's usually what happens when the Democratic Party gets in.
We always get in a foreclosure crisis.
For some reason, we always lose our homes every time on the federal level.
This time, as much as y'all hate Trump, Trump is in there.
And so now y'all are just, I mean, the property thefts and the breaking and entering and the police can't never find nobody.
I mean, everybody's all working together to remove us from our communities.
It's to the point that you think that this, in modern day, these black people right here, these black people that know the history of Chicago, know the history of our roots, know what our families have been through and fought, that you think that we cannot sustain in our own communities, that y'all think that y'all can bring people from other countries and let them in our communities and give them whatever they want.
but when it comes to us y'all can't find nothing y'all can't find a murderer y'all can't find a
person that's taking our cars taking our properties y'all can't find nothing at all all this ssa money
that y'all receive all our property tax money generations of property tax money that our people
put into this city and y'all can't find no solutions that's why y'all got to get out of
office every single one of y'all dick gregory said it was a game and he's exactly right
but this time this generation of negroes we're not going we're not we're going to use our right
to vote and vote y'all right up out of office thank you zoe lee next up we have miss jessica
Jackson.
Um, the thing that you all had on the screen before the meeting started, it had in the
small caption, property tax incentives.
Um, and it was a city worker that saw me in the Daly Center.
I'm not going to say what agency she worked for, but she stopped me and she told me that
she felt like the problem in the city is that the people were confused.
And I understand what she meant, because it is confusing.
It's confusing to see Mayor Brandon Johnson be in press conferences constantly talking about tax the rich, tax the rich, tax the rich.
But yet you sit in these rooms and you see the rich in this room that you all are looking to give contracts to.
The rich, that when we talk about our communities, talk about saving our personal property, talk about how property taxes are being accelerated so quickly through the city, Brandon Johnson, Whitcook County, that's straight up taking our private property.
The eminent domain that's going on with human bodies in our communities.
See putting all these illegals in our communities and pushing us out of housing
is a form of eminent domain towards us too. So when I sit here and I see
contractors in this room when we're talking about our private property, when
we're talking about what we work for, what our parents worked for and passed to
us, and we're looking at how we can't get no equity in peace because
you all are constantly looking for ways to steal our property and steal our
equity and then there's somebody in here have to sit here and we got to look at
they jaws get tight they didn't all tight when we say something about our
something about our personal property. We gotta look at y'all act like we making y'all
mad when we talking about our personal property, but yet Alderman Lee can talk about she don't
want her community bombarded with a railroad track. But y'all don't understand how we want
our property, our private property. Watson and Pat can talk about how that community
deserves respect, but he don't seem to understand how we deserve respect for what we done worked
for. So when the lady said that the people are confused, yeah, we're confused. How are you talking
about public safety? Public safety won't hire no police and then throwing CVI workers in the
communities that ain't doing nothing because they're not qualified to do anything. So yeah,
the people are confused. How do you sit there, black like us, and have no concern of what we're
saying to you, but then Brandon Johnson can have a bogus conference, and all y'all standing behind
him. The people are confused. Help us out. Thank you, Ms. Jackson. Next up is Ms. Peter Lara.
You know, I found surprising when I was reviewing this specific committee, and they talk about how
this reviews the attraction of our city. Our city by no means is attractive anymore.
the only thing it attracts is crime businesses that have leaked actually you know what it attracts
abandoned buildings because look downtown take a stroll because i doubt any of you politicians
ever take a stroll but take a stroll around look around so many empty buildings that were once
occupied and it wasn't so long ago it was seven eight years ago
ago it was seven eight years ago where we were somewhat booming and look at what's happening now
businesses can't sustain they can't sustain the taxes they can't sustain anything and you know
what on top of all of that they can't even sustain even being around when all they do you know when
a bunch of teenagers just go in break the windows steal the stuff they can't keep there's no livable
benefit from that how can you have a sustaining business when all of this is happening but of
course you guys want to put out your reports and make it seem like everything is all honky dory
inside the city it's not there's so many things that you guys are hiding from the public there
are so many things that i don't even know how they're even allowed legally speaking but somehow
now y'all get away with it tax incentives a tax incentives they always say i'm telling you they
all these democrats claim that conservatives oh they're they're not for the people they're only
for the rich people actually it's the exact opposite the democrats only interested in
empowering only themselves in their little posse circles that's all they love doing they don't want
to help us out i'm going to give you something to think about and i want everyone here to think
about this too why is it that the democrats consistently have a hyper concentration and
focus on the poor communities the most vulnerable communities there are mind you because they can
easily manipulate by telling people oh we're going to give you benefits we're here to help you
but you know what these vulnerable communities end up suffering the most because they have the
higher tax burdens they don't have so many resources that they should and it's all because
of democratic control you guys are getting voted out let's just put it clearly
you guys are getting voted out let's just put it clearly people are fed up with all of this
you guys are getting voted out let's just admit it you guys are getting voted out
and we're going to have a whole new array of politicians that will represent the people
of chicago not for themselves there are a bunch of bad decisions happening thank you thank you
Peter Lara. This concludes the public comment portion of our meeting. The first order of
business is approval of the September 2026 monthly report, which all members of the committee
should have received via the shared drive. Are there any questions or comments from the
committee members regarding the Rule 45 report? Move to pass Alderman. Cardona moves to approve
the monthly report. All in favor, say aye. All opposed, say nay. An opinion of the chair,
the ayes have it. The September 2026 monthly report is approved. I'd also like to recognize
Alderwoman Ruth Cruz for purposes of quorum. Items one through nine on the agenda are
appointments and reappointments to the special service areas. The following individuals are
being considered before the committee. For appointments, David Gassman, number 17-2025,
the Central Lakeview slash Wrigleyville Commission for a term effective immediately
and expiring August 31st, 2028. Alvin Bell, number 81, 87th Street. Josh Mercer, number 4,
95th Street. Maysoon Far Hour E, number 32-2014, Auburn Gresham. Martha McKnight, number 32-2014,
Auburn Grusham, Dominique Gamble, Bruton, number 81.
Dominique Gamble, Bruton, number 81, 87th Street, Jason Kaiser, number 19, Howard Street, Todd Hyatt, number 17-2025, Central Lakeview, Wrigleyville.
For reappointments, Mark Airstrope, number 60, Albany Park, Alejandra Gonzalez, number 47, 47th Street in Cottage Grove, Darlene Ortiz, number 2, Belmont Central,
Marilyn Del Valle, number two, Belmont Central.
Kelly Chang, number 34, Uptown.
David Gassman, number 18, North Halstead.
Eldora Davis, number 69, 95th and Ashland Avenue.
Todd Israel, number 34, Uptown.
Dominic Irpino, number 34, Uptown.
Jason Koss, number 21-2016, Lincoln Square.
Dominique Gamble, number 69, 95th in Ashland.
The ECTD team has confirmed the support or none objection from the following council members with appointments and reappointments within their respective wards.
Alderman Cardona, Clay, Cruz, Curtis, Hatton, Hall, Lawson,
Monahoppenworth, Martin, Moore, Mosley, O'Shea, Cusada,
Robinson, Rodriguez, Sanchez, Taylor, and Vasquez.
At this time, I will ask the appointees that are present to introduce themselves.
A letter has been provided to members regarding DPDs.
At this time, I will ask the appointees that are present to introduce yourselves.
Do we have the following appointees in person or on Zoom?
One, David Gassman.
Here.
Would you like to take a moment to introduce yourself?
Sure. My name is David Gassman.
Sure. My name is David Gassman. I've been an active participant in SSA 17 and 18 since their
receptions. 17 going back probably about 15, 16 years. Thank you so much, Mr. Gassman.
Number two, Alvin Bell. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alvin Bell. I represent
Freeman Jewelers Big Pond, and I've been in the business community for 50 years this year.
This is the first time I've been a participant in this type of commission, and I look forward to helping for my one-term service. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Bell. Josh Mercer. Final call for Josh Mercer. Next, Maysoon Faye Auri.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Maysoon Fakhoury. I'm the owner of Ada Liquors in Auburn, Gresham. I previously served on SSA 32 as a commissioner, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve again. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Fakhoury.
Next up is Martha McKnight.
Hi, my name is Martha McKnight, and I'm the general manager of Jamaica Jerk Villa Bar and Grill on 79th Street.
This is my first year joining, and I look forward.
Thank you, Ms. McKnight.
Next up is Dominique Gamble-Bruton.
Good afternoon, Councilmen and Women.
My name is Dominique Gamble-Bruton.
I have served on SSA 69 for the past three, going on four years.
I will be new to SSA 81.
new to SSA 81. However, I am one of the co-founders of a business advisory council for the 87th and
83rd Street Business District, so this particular area is close to my heart, and I am very grateful
for the opportunity to serve my community. Thank you. Thank you. Jason Kaiser. I'm Jason Kaiser. I'm
the executive director for Howard Area Community Center in Rogers Park. This is my first appointment
to SSA 19 and grateful for the opportunity to serve and work with our business alliance as well.
Thank you. Thank you. Final appointee, Todd Hyatt.
Good afternoon. I'm Todd Hyatt. My wife and I own some commercial and residential property
in Chicago, and we ran Trader Todd's restaurant in Wrigleyville for about 25 years.
Thank you, Mr. Hyatt. Would any of the members of the committee or council members like to make a statement or ask any questions?
Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Thank you, Vice Chair. I just wanted to ask, because I know it's been quite some months already that we've been inviting our commissioners to, when they're appointed or reappointed, to come in in person or online.
I just want to thank the gentleman here that made his way downtown all the way we can see
when people are interested in serving our community and even though sometimes the ride is
tough the weather is not great people show up and it really matters a lot to us and we really
appreciate you coming in person I also wanted to thank all of them other commissioners that are
online as well because you took a time of your busy day also
Well, because you took a time of your busy day also, and it shows that you care for our communities and you're ready to continue to serve our communities in your capacity.
Just thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
And just wanted to ask, if I may, the ones that are not here, are they going to be on hold or what would be the process?
Not really.
Just to be fair to the ones that came in in person and show up.
And I know life happens, but I just want to make sure that the process is consistent.
Thank you, all the women.
We'll see some comments from Mark Roshan from DPD.
Good afternoon, Mark Roshan, Assistant Commissioner at Department of Planning and Development.
So just the new appointees are required to come.
We do have some on the agenda that are reappointments, and so they are not required to come.
They are offered, invited to come down, and I believe unless Josh Mercer is still on the line, I think he's the only one that was not in attendance so far.
Mercer, are you present?
All right.
With the exception of Josh Mercer, I will entertain a motion to approve the appointments and reappointments of the special service areas.
Alderman Gutierrez, so moves, all in favor?
All opposed, say nay.
an opinion of the chair the eyes have it the due pass recommendation of appointments and
reappointments will be reported out at the next city council meeting appointees congratulations
on your confirmation and partnership with the city of chicago we look forward to working with you
item number 20 on the agenda is a resolution call for a hearing on the establishment of a business
improvement district number one the magnificent now this item we have a substitute ordinance that
we have a substitute ordinance that you should have all received in the shared drive.
May I receive a motion to accept a substitute?
Alderman Lee, so moves.
All in favor, say aye.
All opposed, say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The substitute resolution is accepted.
Mark Roshan, Assistant Commissioner for the Department of Planning and Development,
is here to present and can answer any of your questions.
Mr. Roshan, you may begin when you are ready.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
again my name is mark roshan i'm assistant commissioner at the department of planning
and development the ordinance that is being discussed here is for a public hearing request
for chicago's first business improvement district bid number one for the magnificent mile this is
necessary to establish the date for a public hearing. This matters not to actually approve
the Business Improvement District, just to approve scheduling the public hearing. That hearing
would be scheduled in early November, and at that time, supporters and anybody from the public
that wishes to attend is able to provide their testimony at that time there are also three ssa
public hearings along the same line where they are not actually up for approval but rather just to
set the public hearing date and those are for ssa's 22 andersonville ssa 26 edgewater and ssa
73 Chinatown. And we look for your favorable support of these public hearing ordinances.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Roshan. Yeah, I'll entertain questions at this time.
Chair Mitchell. Thank you, Vice Chair. Mark, I understand everything you just said.
Can you kind of share what the thinking is, why we're going down this road right now?
For the business improvement district?
Yeah, we want to establish it.
So business improvement districts are what 45 other states have as their standard type of special district.
Special service areas are only in Illinois.
They are limited in some of their functions compared to business improvement districts, such as the SSAs can only levy a certain fixed rate for all properties multiplied against the EAV of the properties.
With bids, it's a fixed charge, and as long as there's a formula that's applied evenly, those charges are fixed.
they're not based on the value of the property so there's some predictability in that also
bids are not subject to tiff diversion because unlike ssa's tips are not taxing agencies
and so that again makes bids a more stable district than an ssa could be depending on
um in certain factors in various communities so um the business community especially along
magnificent mile has been asking about bids and looking into bids for the past 15 years
it wasn't until 2020 the events of 2020 between the pandemic and the unrest that mag mile realized
that they had no resources available for to to address unforeseen circumstances and as a result
while they had been talking about bids for a while it was those series of events that coalesced
that coalesced various stakeholders to coalesce behind forming a bid and pushing for bid legislation
it required state legislation it took three years to get the proposal and the bill approved
by the general assembly it was signed in july of 2024 and since then our department has worked to
have an application process. This is the first application
that has gotten this far to a public hearing. We do have
about three other areas that are also interested in bids
and they'll be working on those continuing into next year.
A year from now, you might see some additional bid
public hearing ordinances.
Mark, thank you for that response. I appreciate it.
Thank you, Audemann Mitchell. Audemann Lee.
Thank you, Chair. Mark, over here. Hi. Can a bid overlap an SSA, or does it have to be one or the
other? No, they cannot overlap. They are both considered special taxing districts and cannot
overlap for that reason. So existing SSAs can remain, continue on and extend their terms as
SSAs, which three of them are today. They do have a choice. If they want to reorganize as a bid,
we can help facilitate that, but it's a local decision that's made by the local stakeholders.
Okay. That's great. Thank you. That's all I have, Chair.
Thank you, Audubon Lee. I'll entertain a motion to recommend approval of this ordinance. Audubon Lee, so moves. All in favor? All opposed? In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The do pass recommendation of this resolution.
The do-pass recommendation of this resolution will be reported out at the next City Council meeting.
Items number 21 to 34 on the agenda are a series of scope of services, budget, and management agreements or calls for public hearings regarding extension of tax levy for special service areas.
The following items have scope of services, budget, and management agreements for the year 2027.
at SSA No. 2, Belmont Central, SSA No. 18, North Halstead, SSA No. 19, Howard Street, SSA 24, Clark
Street, SSA No. 27, West Lakeview, SSA 28-2024, West Lakeview, SSA No. 31, Greater Ravenswood, SSA
number 43 Devon Avenue, SSA number 48 Old Town, SSA 54 Sheridan Road, SSA number 79 Lawrence
Pulaski and Elston. The following calls for public hearings on extension of tax levy and expansion
of special service areas for the year 2027 or SSA 22, SSA 26, SSA 73. Mark Roshan, Assistant
commissioner for the department of planning and development is here to present and can answer any
of your questions again mr roshan you may begin when you're ready thank you again mr vice chair
again my name is mark roshan an assistant commissioner at the department of planning
and development in addition to the public hearing ordinances we have 11 standard annual budget
ordinances each of these budgets were first developed and recommended locally from each
individual ssa commission and they were then reviewed by the local alders we have received
letters of support from all of the affected alders for these ssa budgets the budgets were
reviewed by our department and then further reviewed by the office of budget and management
by the Office of Budget and Management and Law Department.
So they're fully vetted, and we're bringing them here today.
There will be a total of 57 SSA ordinances.
So we have quite a few coming up in the next round next month,
but these are the first 11 of those annual budget ordinances,
and we look for your favorable consideration for these ordinances.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
This time we'll have questions from committee members,
starting with Alderman Lee.
Hey, Mark. I noticed for SSA 73, it's a call for a public hearing on the extension and expansion. It's not actually renewing this. So tell me what's different than the rest of these in terms of just approving the budgets.
Right. So there's the bid public hearing for Magnuson-Mild. There are three public hearings for SSA term extensions. One of those is SSA 73. And so, again, we're looking for scheduling a public hearing in early November to provide the opportunity for testimony on that.
You said that earlier.
We'll follow. Yep.
Awesome. Thank you.
You're welcome.
see no other questions is there a motion to approve so move by alderman woman gutierrez
all in favor say aye all opposed say nay in the opinions of the chair the ayes have it
the due validation of these ordinances were reported out at the next city council meeting
items number 35 on the agenda item number 35 on the agenda is in support of class 6b for tax
incentive for property at 1120 West Exchange Avenue. Alexander Benson, financial planning
analyst for the Department of Planning and Development, is here to present and can answer
any of your questions. Mr. Benson, you may begin when you are ready. Good afternoon, Vice Chair.
Good afternoon, Vice Chair Mosley and members of the Committee of Economic Capital and Technology
Development. For the record, my name is Alexander Benson, a Financial Planning Analyst in the
Department of Planning and Development's Bureau of Economic Development. I'm joined today by
Jeffrey Cohen, Managing Deputy Commissioner and representatives from the development team.
I'm here today to request your support for an ordinance authorizing an initial Cook County
class 6b property tax abatement for the property located at 1120 west exchange ave mr benson can
you just make sure your mic is on hello there we go sorry about that the the uh the project is
located at 1120 west exchange ave which is in the new community area southwest planning region and
in the 11th ward represented by alder nicole lee who is in support of this project the site
highlighted in red is located on the north side of west exchange ave the property is located in
the middle of the block with loading docks spanning the west portion of the building
shown here is the current exterior condition of the building the property consists of a single
story 88 000 square foot building the structure was built in 1970 the property was previously
occupied by sherman williams but was vacated or has been vacated since june of 2024
shown here are photos of the current interior conditions of the property demonstrating the
current conditions and vacancy this development is being led by 1120 exchange llc amy sue and
song juji formed 1120 exchange llc in 2025 with the intention to develop this property into a
distribution hub and food food product manufacturing facility the future tenant
mix will consist of growing and new businesses oak barrel corporation of food
new businesses. Oak Barrel Corporation, a food manufacturing company, Orion Intermodal LLC,
an intermodal dryage company, and Legend Enterprises Inc., an importing and distribution
company. The applicant is requesting an initial 12-year Cook County Class 6B property tax abatement.
The applicant will be leasing industrial space to three businesses at their site,
two businesses that are expanding, and one new business. This incentive is essential to the
reactivation of a vacant industrial property, the creation of a new asset for the community,
and provide these three businesses with the opportunity to gain a foothold within the local
market. The applicant acquired the subject property in September 2025. The future renovation
work for this property includes the addition of two delivery docks, the construction of a test
kitchen the renovation of the office space the replacement of the roof an upgraded hvac system
and the installation of a new security system the project is expected to cost approximately 5.9
million dollars and the total estimated tax saving for the 12 year period is 1 million 987
949 construction is anticipated to be completed by fall 2026. the development team plans to invest
approximately 5.9 million dollars at the site and is fully financed with a mix of debt and equity
1120 exchange has llc has committed 1.85 million in equity to the development of this project
hard costs for this project account for 27.4 percent of this development many of these costs
will go to towards the physical building improvements such as the roof replacement
the build-out of the kitchen, and the addition of two delivery docks.
The estimated tax abatement to the developer is $1,987,000.
the developer is $1,987,949 with a net present value of $1,480,635 over the 12-year period with
the city's share estimated to be $449,269. Supporting a Class 6B initiative for this
property will result in several positive outcomes for the city and surrounding community including
the following the support for small local businesses one business that is brand new
and two businesses that are expanding the creation of 12 full-time new jobs in an industry that
offers roles for those typically with barriers to entry 5.9 million dollar total project investment
towards the renovation of a vacant property on the southwest side thank you for your favorable
consideration of this matter. From the development team, I have Song Jujie is present, and David
Hsu is one of the future tenants of the property as well. We are available to answer any questions
the committee may have regarding this project. Thank you, Mr. Benson. Thank you, Mr. Benson.
Committee members, are there questions? Chair Mitchell? For clarity, the development team does
not own the property right now that the goal is to purchase the property they just put in the
whole thing together they purchased it in september 2025 okay so they held it for a year yes okay and
it stood vacant for a year correct why they were waiting on the application for the class or the
status of the 6b so if they don't get the 6b is it going to stay vacant no they um where are the
So where are the developers or the owners?
Yeah, let them.
Thank you, Chair. For the record, my name is David Hsu. I'm the president and CEO of Oak Barrel Corporation. We're in the building. We moved in earlier this year and started to do business in this property.
Oh, so you occupy a small space in there?
Right now, the building is occupied.
All three tenants are in there.
Oak Barrel Corporation, Orion, Intermodal, and Legend Enterprise.
Okay.
Everyone moved in.
So the pictures we just saw about the interior, is that vacant?
I mean, I'm sorry.
I need to clear that up for you.
The photos, I think that was from before January 21st.
that's the first day that oak barrel moved in we moved in on january 21st uh that photo must be
taken before that oh okay so that's not the state of it right now those pictures would have been
from the application i had received early okay we started the application uh no the application
was started uh uh september 20 um 2025 i do not recall when the application okay yeah the photo
must be taken before we move it okay okay so you're already in there you're doing business
business does pretty well uh going well thank you
um okay all right i'm pretty sure alderman lee supports this so
oh i do okay all right thank you thank you no other questions i'll turn to alderman lee
Thank you, Chair. And yes, Alderman Mitchell, I do support this. You know, anytime a business comes to me and wants to invest in the 11th Ward, I'm grateful for it because I know all of the challenges that face businesses today in this current environment. And they came in and did that.
environment. And they came in and did that. And they have three businesses that are doing really
well. And, you know, I hope they continue to expand. I know they've inquired about acquiring
additional space that's adjacent that the city currently owns. We're not willing to give that
up quite yet. But, you know, this is, I believe, a great opportunity in precisely what these tax
incentives are set up to do. I hope that all three companies are here for a very long time
and appreciate the committee's favorable consideration on this item and i move to pass
i can't do that somebody else should do it thank you thanks ray thank you alderman lopez has moved
do pass all in favor say aye all opposed say 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
congratulations and congratulations alderman lee going out of order we're going to move to item 38
on the agenda, which is an ordinance that amends the Municipal Code Section 2-45-165
by including additional review and decision-making criteria
when considering revocation of property tax incentives.
For this item, we have a substitute ordinance that has been shared with members in person.
May I receive a motion to accept the substitute?
Alderman Lopez, so moves. All in favor, say aye.
All opposed, say nay.
in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it the substitute resolution is accepted and before us
we have Jeffrey Cohen managing chairman yes I've been trying to get your attention to get
recognized rule 59 to join for quorum yes you have been recognized and counted towards quorum
thank you thank you thank you again we have Jeffrey Cohen managing deputy commissioner
of the department of planning and development and justin edge assistant corporation counsel
for the department of law to answer questions but first i hope
answer questions. But first, I open the floor to Alderman Raymond Lopez of the 15th Ward for
his opening remarks. Alderman Lopez, you have the floor. Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon,
members of the committee. Thank you for accommodating me at this time. I'd like to
thank the committee as well as the Department of Law, Department of Planning and Development
for working to address an issue that I think all of us have raised at some point or another
in this body, which is we are asked to provide tax incentives to help spur business and economic
growth routinely. We just did one. We have a couple more after this. But the question always
remains for us, what happens when our businesses don't meet the mark? What do we do when tax
incentives are given and unfortunately our expectations are not met? That has not been
an easy question to answer, I believe until now, where we have put together a framework for the
revocation of property tax incentives for individuals when they fail to meet certain
expectations or have other outstanding issues. As the substitute highlights on page two,
I believe, there are issues with regards to debt, licensing, violations, and other
redevelopment agreements which must be maintained otherwise that can trigger resolutions by the
appropriate alderman to be introduced and brought before this committee for the revocation of
whatever that particular tax incentive may be all tax incentives that are that this is applicable to
are listed on page one of the substitute ordinance under a section one where it lists
all the various classes both existing and historic and with that i would turn it over
to either department if they wish to add to that to those comments thank you so much
alderman lopez uh managing deputy commissioner
Jeff Lopez, Managing Deputy Commissioner Cohen, and Assistant Corporation Counsel Justin Edge.
Yeah. Again, Jeff Cohen, Managing Deputy DPD. I want to thank Alderman Lopez for working with
us to create this common sense amendment to the code. This allows DPD to have teeth within our
enforcement mechanisms so that everybody who enters into a redevelopment agreement with the
city lives up to those expectations and we have the appropriate recourse uh to penalize those who
do not live up to those expectations um i think this is a good common sense piece of legislation
thank you um justin edge department of law i have nothing further to add except to say thank
you to the aldermen the committee staff um and dpd to uh inviting us in to work together on this
Again, I think it's a good piece of legislation. And the Department of Law Division, the Finance Division, which works on all of these deals, was also able to work with us and review this closely. So, yeah, everyone's happy with it and very happy to have worked on it.
Thank you. I'm taking questions from the committee, starting with Chair Mitchell.
um yeah i want to take this time to uh thank ardman lopez uh his leadership on this item
um i think he knows that myself him as well as uh chairman viegas has uh really been
paying attention to our class our class incentives so i i thank you guys
for working with him on this and um at the appropriate time i moved past this item
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you.
Audowoman Lee.
Thank you, Chairman.
Just a couple of questions, and I appreciate my colleagues' work on this.
I think we definitely need accountability throughout this process, especially when we
especially when we are providing tax incentives, which, you know,
take tax dollars away from the city.
We want to make sure that everything is being done as, as it should be.
Can you, I don't know if this is a question more for you, Jeff.
How, how are we determining collectively who's,
who's sort of subject to this? So, you know,
we just had a classic speed get approved. We showed the various owners.
So does this apply to just the LLC that applied for the tax incentive, or does it extend to its owners as well?
And how are we tracking that piece of it?
Yeah, I'm more than happy to answer that.
Jeff Cohen, Managing Deputy.
So the way that the property tax incentive redevelopment agreements operate is that we enter into these agreements with the owner of the property.
So they are required to make sure that their tenants, if they are doing third party leasing, are in compliance with some of the subject matter within this ordinance.
uh typically and we did make some provisions within here so that there are smaller tenants
that may not necessarily muddy the waters for everybody um in the entire property however there
are specific instances where there are owner occupiers or sole um owners of properties that
if they are responsible for um you know missing any of the or non-compliance within the redevelopment
agreement or the code now um we would be they would be subject to the revocation so we did
take into consideration, you know, have multiple tenants within a property not being able to cause
negative outcomes for the entire group just because one of these smaller groups wasn't able
to comply. Understood. And then item X under number, or sorry, X is 10. It's been a long
month, guys. I'm like, X, that doesn't make sense. Number three, appealing taxes and otherwise
taking actions to receive the incentive benefit prior to receiving required city certification
or completion. Can you just explain what that means? Absolutely. So there are situations where
So there are situations where we could potentially encounter somebody who initiates the appeal
to the Cook County Assessor, which is how they institute the incentive benefit prior
to achieving the certificate of completion.
In those cases, we would make sure that the county is aware that they haven't made those.
And if that individual group ends up doing that without fulfilling the obligations of
the RDA, we have the ability to revocate.
The other one is where instances that the RDA does not get executed within a certain
time frame.
And again, we don't have necessarily the compliance mechanism through the redevelopment
agreement or an executed document to go after them and revocate.
So if they do not execute the redevelopment agreement in this case and then go appeal
without fulfilling the obligations, we also now have the ability to do that through the
code.
Okay.
And one last item.
That's number eight, because now I can read Roman numerals.
Failure to commence.
It's been a long week, guys.
Failure to commence construction or redevelopment without documented due cause.
That's kind of what I'm zeroing in.
What does documented due cause look like, and who's sort of determining that?
So a documented due cause would be something that the Department of Planning and Development
reviews, mainly the Bureau of Economic Development.
This would be any material change that was outside of the normal course of business or
expectations when the initial incentive was approved.
So, there are certain cases where, you know, market conditions, interest rates, and inflation
costs may deride a project from moving forward within this 12-month period, and there should
be some benefit given to those groups who can demonstrate that.
In other cases, there could be certain situations where the proposed development plan wasn't
accepted by the market, and they need to make some additional changes either to their zoning,
the PD, the project scope in general, so we would want to make sure that they're able
to effectuate those changes without having to come back to this committee to go through
to go through the whole initiation process again.
But again, I think that those are far
and few between situations.
Great, thanks, Jeff.
I'm done, Chairman.
This is great.
Thank you for the work, Alderman Lopez.
Thank you, Alderman Lee.
Returning back to Chair Mitchell.
Are you guys familiar with the ordinance
that Chairman Villegas and I passed
that's related to NBWB participation and being able to hold class incentive holders accountable for that type of penitence of that participation.
You familiar?
Yes.
Okay.
How, I read through it, and it's nothing addressing that in its substitute ordinance.
How do we include that piece? Because more often than not, in the hearings, that is one of the major pain points that we talk about, about, you know, the companies reaching not only just NBW, but also local hiring. So how do we incorporate that? How can we do that? There's nothing wrong with this now. I think it's great, like you said, common sense, but that piece is important.
Thank you for the question, Alderman. Justin Edge, Department of Law. Vast, vast majority of our tax incentives have a redevelopment agreement associated with them. And that is our recourse. That is where that's going to be addressed.
and that's where and then there are also internal policies waivers again as you know are one of the
frequent discussion points that have come up here that's a case of department policy as well but
redevelopment agreements is where we're focusing on those now a lot of these changes essentially
function as a belt and suspenders along with the redevelopment agreement although as was pointed
So, as was pointed out, nine and 10 on the list deal with situations where the redevelopment
agreement was required but wasn't signed, or they went forward without getting all of
the department approvals.
So it has all of those benefits, but then also if there is not a redevelopment agreement
in place, this also just points out that if we have repeated or substantial violations
of the code, so where they have other obligations under the code in any other place, including
obligations that may change in the future as laws change even after the issuance of the tax
incentive. So that was the idea to try to hit it from all those different points. Okay. Do you have
any, do you have any questions or Jeff, do you have any? Jeff Cohen, managing deputy DVD, just
to add to Justin's point here is that yes, within the redevelopment agreements, there are specific
clauses for mwbe compliance and there will be additional clauses for the aspirational three
percent vbe as well so in the cases where uh that i mentioned about the redevelopment agreement not
getting executed and somebody apply or appealing for the um uh incentive to tough start that would
be kind of the the boots and and suspenders mechanisms that we can then have recourse for
because they didn't fulfill those obligations either so if they don't and we also do construction
compliance throughout the construction period.
So as part of the redevelopment agreement and the construction compliance requirements,
all developers are subject to uploading to the appropriate systems so that we can track
those expenses and make sure that they are in compliance with the 26 and 6.
Okay.
Okay.
With respect to redevelopment, provide clarity to me because I don't know.
All projects don't have redevelopment agreements, correct?
No.
Right.
so class c are one of the only ones that do not have redevelopment agreements and those
are a much different threshold than what we have for the other classes of incentives
So in the absence of a redevelopment agreement, which I got what you guys said, in the absence of the redevelopment agreement, how are we really tracking the MBE participation if it's not codified?
So for that one very specific incentive, there is a very low barrier, and we're hoping that within the next year or so we can work with the county to address the Class C issues that prevent us from getting a redevelopment agreement.
So the reason there is no redevelopment agreement for class Cs is that that specific incentive requires the work to be done up front, which would then not be subject to the MWBE, and it's for specifically environmental remediation.
So in order to get that incentive, you need to perform the work and then receive the no further remediation letter from IEPA in order to initiate that.
But all other classes do have the redevelopment agreement and those requirements.
Okay. Thank you for that clarity. All right. Thank you.
Thank you, Chair Mitchell, Alderman Gutierrez.
Thank you. First of all, thank you so much, Alderman Lopez, for putting this forward.
I just have a question. Is there any way that we can add here?
Because I know some of the 6B, 7B are 10 years, 12 years for renewal.
is there any way that we can add maybe like midterm a review because you know unfortunately
a lot of and i'm grateful to see that we're working towards this because yes unfortunately
not until they're up for renewal is when either if it was approved by our predecessor we didn't
know about it now they're coming for renewal for us and sometimes it's when we start talking to
the owner we go visit the side we talk to the neighbors and then it's when we realize there's
something and also office in office we've been constantly getting to know the complaints and
what's happening around those businesses and of course it's when we start asking questions and
you know asking dpd and all different departments
and all different departments, BACP and stuff for more information
and what can we do towards it.
Is there any way within this that we can set a midterm review
instead of us waiting all till the end up for renewal, 10, 12 years?
So if it's a 10-year, maybe year five, again, I know it's more work,
more stuff to get done, but I think it would be helpful for us
to just go back and see everything is working right, you're doing good,
okay keep going other five years if not then is when we need to revocate it my understanding is
that that's not explicitly addressed with a specifically like a year criteria or anything
like that um in the code but jeff do you want to speak about the standard operating procedures
within the department which is actually i think more frequent so we do require every single uh
individual who has an active property tax incentive to submit an annual compliance report.
So those reports are submitted to DPD and reviewed by our monitoring compliance team
to make sure that they're maintaining the covenants, both operational, occupancy,
jobs throughout the compliance term. So those need to be submitted annually. And at those
point in times, if there is some kind of potential lowercase default, because they're out of
compliance with them there are some cure periods in there but if a at the end of that cure period
they are not able to fill that obligation then that would be subject for a mid incentive uh
revocation recommendation okay great to hear also another thing that i wanted to ask and thank you
for that um here also says if they owe to the city either water or anything right also sometimes the
systems do not cooperate or do not help identifying people that are in-depth
are in debt and especially these big companies that they're doing well, um, in their business
sometimes, and they're just forgetting and not caring about paying that bill. How is it going
to be new with, with these, um, for those bad actors? So again, if there is a, a bill or
something that is due to the city, um, it would need to be identified, um, as part of their
typical kind of compliance and having dpd notified so once we're made aware of a large
water bill that hasn't been rectified within the time frames outlined in the code
or in this resolution here we would then have the ability of again bringing a recommendation to this
body for revocation again if they cure that in a certain period of time and they're able to pay
those bills, then there is no recourse for that particular action. However, that is something that
could also be interpreted by the local alder person as well for bad actors in that sense.
Have you dealt with that situation like that, or it's going to be the first time because of
this new resolution? I have not encountered that situation yet, but I think that those types of
city debts that are owed were not necessarily incorporated into the redevelopment agreements.
There are other, you know, recourse actions that are also solidified here in, I think it's item, what is that?
One.
Six, three.
So again, if you're having zoning issues, you're not compliant with uses, you're having large debts owed, those are all subject now in the code to revocation.
Yeah.
And I'm glad that we're working on all of that because it's not secret to anybody that, yeah, there's a lot of money out there that needs to be collected.
so i'm glad that we're all working towards that goal that it's having everyone accountable and
of course everybody to to pay their fair share and whatever they owe thank you so much
Thank you, Alderman Gutierrez.
Returning to Alderman
Lopez to close.
Thank you, Chairman, and again, thank you
to my colleagues for all your comments and
thoughts. I will say
just briefly that
some of the things that were brought up, even
in this conversation today, I'm happy to work
with anyone who's interested in trying to
add to this
to help make it
easier for the department to be able to execute
and enforce our city's
expectations um this is an important first step that gets us on the path to accountability
while still inspiring growth and opportunity throughout the city of chicago
and we'll gladly work with whomever to address the concerns that were raised
as we continue to improve upon this process of holding our our recipients accountable for what
they pledged to do in the city of chicago and with that chairman i move due pass of this committee
if chair mitchell would rescind his i'm sorry i forgot he did or he renews his motion i refer
back to the original motion all in favor all opposed in the opinion of the chair the eyes
have it this the do pass recommendations ordinance will be reported out at the next city council
meeting congratulations and thank you so much thank you alderman lopez we're going to return
To item number five on the agenda, an appointment and reappointment to the special service areas, the following individual being considered for before the committee, Josh Mercer, number four, number four, number 90, SSA, number four, 95th Street.
The ECTD team has confirmed support or no rejection from the following council members, Haddon, with respect to their ward.
At this time, I would ask the appointee who is present to introduce himself, Mr. Mercer.
present to introduce himself, Mr. Mercer. Hi, good afternoon, everyone. I'm Joshua Mercer.
I am a business owner on 95th and Hoyne. I own an insurance agency as well as several other
properties in the area. I grew up in the area. My kids attend Kellogg, where I'm also a member
of the LSC. My wife is on the PTA. So I've been in that area for about 30 years now.
thank you mr mercer committee members are there any questions
all right um may i have a motion to recommend the approval of this ordinance uh of this appointee
so moved by alderman mitchell was the first one um all opposed all in favor say i all opposed
say nay in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it the do pass recommendation of this appointment
will be reported out at the next city council meeting next up is item number 37 which is an
ordinance on the agenda in support of a class 7d tax incentive for property at 5567 west north avenue
aaron fogeley financial planning analyst for the department of planning development is here to
present and can answer any of your questions. Mr. Fogel, you may begin when you are ready
to present.
Good afternoon, Chairman Curtis and members of the Committee on Economic Capital and Technology
Development. For the record, my name is Aaron Fogel, Financial Planning Analyst in the Department
of Planning and Development. I am also joined today by Khaldun Omer and Tawfiq Ali of the
development team. I am here today to request the approval of an ordinance supporting a Class 70
property tax incentive for Damon Grocery, Inc. for the purpose of operating a grocery store
in a food desert. The grocery store Central Fresh Market is located at 5567 West North Avenue
in the 37th Ward, the Austin Community Area, and the West Planning Region. Alderman Mitts has
provided a letter of support for the project. Here's an aerial view of this site which is
located on the south side of North Avenue between North Central Avenue and North Luna Avenue. The
site is in an eligible location for a class 70 incentive as indicated by the usda food desert
map shown here the site is the uh red small rectangle here is a view of the current conditions
of the site from the exterior and here's the interior the property owner um is 5555 west north
Avenue LLC, and PM Realty Group is the management group behind the LLC. James Dromonas owns both
entities. The tenant is Ali Omer, who owns Damon Grocery, Inc., the operating business at the site.
The project is an existing 12,300 square foot grocery store offering fresh meat, produce,
deli, household, and other grocery items to residents of a food desert in Austin.
The developer is considering additional future renovations.
The developer is considering additional future renovation with an estimated cost of about
$80,000, although the RDA will not require this construction as the incentive is on the
basis of supporting the operation of the grocery store in the food desert.
We estimate the abatement value of the Class 70 incentive to the developer to be about
$380,000 over 12 years, or about $284,000 on a net present value basis.
The city's share of this would be about $86,000 and $64,000, respectively.
The developer leased the location in July 2025 and completed $148,000 of rehabilitation work
to get the store ready for opening, which took place in March 2026.
The developer is also contemplating about $80,000 of additional rehab work to be funded
from reinvested business revenue as the company grows.
The incentive is necessary for the continued operation of the grocery store as it has been operating at a loss.
The project meets all Class 7-D eligibility criteria.
And DPD is in support of this ordinance that will help keep an eligible grocery store operating in a food desert,
has brought over $147,000 of investment to Austin with an additional $80,000 contemplated and would help maintain and create jobs.
thank you for your favorable consideration of this request i as well as members of the
development team are happy to answer any questions the committee may have thank you mr fogel
committee members other questions move to pasture thank you all the women leave moves to pass
all in favor say aye all opposed say nay and opinion
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. Congratulations.
Thank you.
You can just stay in the chair.
Last but not least,
there's a new chair
in town. All right.
Item number 36 on the agenda
is an amendment
of authorizing an ordinance in support
of a class 6B tax incentive
for the property at 1001 West 119th Street.
Siobhan Patel, Financial Planning Analyst for the Department of Planning and Development,
is here to present and answer any questions.
Please go ahead, Mr. Patel.
You may begin when you're ready.
Hi.
Good afternoon, Vice Chair Mosley and members of the Economic, Capital, and Technology Development
Committee.
For the record, my name is Siobhan Patel, Financial Planning Analyst with the Department
of Planning and Development.
I'm joined here by Rob Rose of DL3 Realty.
I'm here today to request your approval of an amending ordinance for a redevelopment agreement between the City and West Pullman Development Partners, LLC, for the purpose of authorizing a Class 6B property tax incentive.
The property is located at 1001 West 119th Street. It's represented by Alderman Mosley in the 21st Ward. It's in the West Pullman community area and far south planning region.
so here's the neighborhood context as you can see it is on 119th just south of croak center
and just north of racine or 120th sorry and then morgan on the east and here is the property
looking north and here's another view looking south so the project overview the applicant
proposes to improve a 24-acre site with two speculative industrials buildings totaling around
industrial buildings totaling around 400 000 square feet that will include accessory office
space and will be divisible for individual industrial tenants the facility will include
208 parking spaces with 10 accessible 107 loading stalls 82 loading doors and four drive-in dock
doors this amendment will update the language in the march 2025 ordinance to reflect the new
proposed site layout which offers two speculative buildings instead of one larger one the incentive
type, it's still a Class 6B. We're just amending the language and the project type. Estimated
tax savings will be around 3.3 million with an MPV of 2.4. The total project costs are
around $60 million and they hope to start construction as soon as possible. So here's
the original plan. As you can see, it was one building, 413,000 square foot split within
multiple tenants. However, the updated plan will have two buildings, a little bit smaller
than total square foot by around 10 000 square feet with the new configuration project budget
so they're hoping to split this 20 million in equity and 40 million debt financed and in terms
of uses acquisition was around 700 000 site prep around 4.5 million dollars hard cost around 41
million and soft cost at the 13.7 for a total of 60 million here's the rendering again it's just
it's an industrial light spec facility. Tax analysis impact, again, the estimated total
tax payment to the applicant will be 3.3 million MPV of 2.4, and the city share that will be 767,000
with an MPV of 570,000. So the justification behind the redemand, the biggest one was market
demand. Companies desire smaller building footprints. The plan does so while retaining
the same tenant profile. Traffic flow will also be improved in the plans for the two buildings.
they do have the two carb cuts that creates a through flow for the um property sorry and
for the properties area, and it also provides a solution
for the tight turn on 119th and Morgan.
With this update, the plans will still maintain
the original benefits of the project timeline,
costs are minimally impacted, and DL3 is keeping its focus
on the same community impacts as it was before.
Project benefits, so first of all, it's site activation.
It's a complete major environmental remediation
on a 24.5 acre vacant industrial land.
uh activation of the site on the far south side that has sat vacant for over 20 years which
includes included three city-owned lots that they had purchased uh for job creation they're looking
at a minimum of 50 permanent full-time jobs and 100 temporary construction jobs however they might
get more depending on the tenant types and for the tax savings again it's a tax savings of 3.3
million 2.4 mpv over 12 years and allow taxpayers um allow taxpayers to attract light industrial
tenants that offer quality full-time jobs uh we look forward to your favorable consideration to
this amendment for the ordinance um i am here and then joined with brian rob rose part of the
development team for any questions you may have does the committee have any questions sorry does
the committee have any questions vice chair mosley thank you chair uh would ask for the committee's
favorable support here this project allows us to return again a vacant uh large stretch of
land and the 21st warden city of chicago back to a productive use primarily head of household jobs
which has been a big big call from the community this also i think it's something that the city
should celebrate as this will be the largest industrial project for black african-american
person in the country not just the city or state but the country so what acts for the committee's
favorable consideration thank you chair thank you may i have a motion to recommend approval of this
approval of this ordinance i'll make the motion can i do that thank you mitchell all in favor say
aye aye i'll oppose say nay in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it the due past
recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city council meeting congratulations
thank you but actually you know or an adjourning meeting all right uh there are no further items
on the agenda and i will entertain a motion to adjourn uh alderman mosley so moves hearing no
objection so ordered the next meeting the october meeting of the committee uh on economic capital
and technology development so much so many words is adjourned thank you everyone it's such