Business
1st Development Designed to Transform Chicago’s Financial District Advances
LaSalle Street in Chicago. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
The first of four proposals to use millions of dollars in taxpayer money to breathe new life into Chicago’s Financial District by transforming it into the city’s newest residential neighborhood is one step away from approval.
The City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously endorsed the $64.2 million plan from R2 Co. and the Campari Group to transform the 14-story office building at 79 W. Monroe St. into an apartment building with 117 units, including 41 units set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans.
The plan relies on $28 million in city subsidies. The full City Council is set to consider the proposal at its meeting scheduled for Oct. 9.
“This is a phenomenal project to start this LaSalle vision,” Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) said.
The redevelopment of the former Bell Federal Savings & Loan Building, built in 1906 and perhaps best known for its weather prediction clock, will test the effort embraced by Chicago’s business community to chart a new future for LaSalle Street between Washington Street and Jackson Boulevard, an area of the city significantly changed by the shift triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in how and where Chicagoans work and shop.
Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward) said the project would start the transformation of downtown Chicago.
Mayor Brandon Johnson embraced the effort launched by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot that would build approximately 1,000 apartments in what is now mostly empty office space, including 300 units set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans as part of an effort to reduce segregation in Chicago and chip away at the city’s shortage of affordable homes, officials said.
City officials said their goal was to transform the Financial District into an area that is vital 24 hours a day, seven days a week — not just during the workweek, as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The residential developments along LaSalle Street will be required to put aside 30% of their units for Chicagoans earning 60% or less of the area’s median income, which is $66,180 for a family of four, according to city data, in order to get millions of dollars in city subsidies from the downtown tax-increment financing, or TIF, district.
By law, TIF districts capture all growth in the property tax base in a designated area for a set period of time, usually 23 years or more, and divert all that growth into a special fund for projects designed to spur redevelopment or for public projects such as schools or bridges.
While the number of people living downtown has doubled since 2000, that growth has bypassed LaSalle Street, where many of the historic buildings were built during a bygone era and are beloved but little used historic landmarks.
In addition, there is essentially no affordable housing in the Loop, ensuring that only wealthy Chicagoans can live downtown.
The other proposals set for City Council consideration are:
- 111 W. Monroe St., where Prime/Capri Interests, LLC, wants to spend $203 million to build 345 apartments, including 105 affordable units, as part of a development that would include a 228-room hotel. The project has requested a $40 million subsidy.
- 208 S. LaSalle St., where the Prime Group wants to spend $123 million to build 226 apartments, including 84 affordable units, sandwiched between two hotels. The project has requested a $26.2 million subsidy.
- 30 N. LaSalle St., where Golub & Co. wants to spend $130 million to create 349 units, with 105 affordable. The original proposal included ground-floor retail, as well as green space and seating on streets bordering the property. The project has requested a $57 million subsidy.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
