By Steve Rhodes
“Touting what would be downtown Chicago’s largest new real estate development since the 2008 financial crisis, representatives of the Kennedy family and three financial partners on Tuesday provided the first glimpse of a proposed three-tower office and apartment complex on a historic but long-underutilized site along the Chicago River,” the Tribune reports.
“The project, whose cost is pegged at more than $1 billion, calls for a slope-roofed office building of more than 900 feet, which would be Chicago’s eighth-tallest structure. A second office building and an apartment high-rise would bring the project’s combined square footage to nearly 3 million square feet, more than the biggest skyscraper of the boom years, the 2.6 million-square-foot Trump International Hotel & Tower.
“The plans for the triangular Wolf Point parcel southwest of the Merchandise Mart were made public at a community meeting called by Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, that was attended by more than 300 people. The Kennedys sold the Merchandise Mart in 1998, but still control Wolf Point, once home to pioneer taverns, a hotel and trading posts.”
Can we go back to that instead? Seriously. A little Wild West village that’s operational. We don’t need more office towers and it could employ the river. An old-time Chicago trading post! Seriously.
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“When Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced May 16 that Chicago would kick in $29 million toward another Hines development along the riverfront – the 45-story River Point office tower in the West Loop – he said it would be the largest new real estate project to break ground in the city since the 2008 economic downturn.
“But the Wolf Point project, whose developers are not requesting a public subsidy, would dwarf River Point.”
I believe the term is “little people.”
But I digress. Could we at least require the Kennedys to pick up that $29 million in exchange for allowing their project to dwarf this one?
Meter-Made
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse than the last time we said it was just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse than the last time we though it couldn’t get any worse . . .
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Soliciting artwork for Mayor Meter, Our New(ish) Overlord.
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I wonder what kind of ink was used to write the meter lease, because it seems like new provisions reveal themselves every week.
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FLASHBACK: Aldermen Approve Parking Meter Lease. Featuring this gem:
Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), who backs the deal, said 72 hours was enough time to review it.
“How many of us read the stuff we do get, OK?,” Mell said. “I try to. I try to. I try to. But being realistic, being realistic, it’s like getting your insurance policy. It’s small print, OK?”
Meet Judge Carl Boyd
He’ll soon be administering justice to many of his peers.
Ghost President
“When the University of Illinois trustees gather for their regularly scheduled meeting Thursday morning, one notable person plans to be absent: President Michael Hogan,” Jodi S. Cohen reports for the Tribune.
“And it won’t be the first time Hogan has been a no-show at key events since he stepped down under pressure in March, with a resignation date of July 1. He skipped graduation ceremonies and a state budget hearing, and a review of his calendar shows an overall sparse schedule, even though he is still the institution’s top official.
“By extending his resignation date until July 1 – his two-year anniversary at U. of I. – Hogan will receive an additional year of his retention bonus, or $37,500. He also will continue to be paid at his annual rate of $651,000 until July. Then he will begin a paid one-year sabbatical at his new faculty salary of $285,100.”
When he comes back I may enroll in one of his classes just to heckle him.
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If students aren’t throwing eggs at his house right now, it’s only because they can’t afford them.
No Relation
Kelly Hogan’s Moment.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Momentous.
Posted on May 31, 2012