Politics

2 More Developments Designed to Transform Chicago’s Financial District Into a Residential Neighborhood Advance

Two proposals that will use $165.5 million from Chicago taxpayers to breathe new life into Chicago’s Financial District by transforming it into the city’s newest residential neighborhood advanced Monday.

The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee endorsed the $241 million plan from Riverside Investment & Development/AmTrust to transform the 1.3 million-square-foot building that used to be home to Bank of America at 135 S. LaSalle St. into an apartment building with 386 units, including 116 units set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans.

The project relies on $98 million in city subsidies, and includes “event and cultural spaces as well as a fresh-market grocer,” according to the developer.

The Finance Committee also OK’d the $183.5 million plan from Primera Group Inc. to transform the upper floors of the Clark Adams Building at 105 W. Adams St. into 400 units, including 121 units set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans.

That project relies on $67.5 million in city subsidies.

A final vote on both proposals, which would create 786 new homes, including 237 units of affordable housing, is set for the Sept. 25 City Council meeting.

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.

If approved by the City Council as expected after the Finance Committee’s unanimous endorsement, the projects will be the fourth and fifth commercial buildings in the heart of the city’s financial district to get the green light to be transformed into residential buildings.

Mayor Brandon Johnson embraced the effort launched by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot that will build 1,416 apartments in what is now mostly empty office space as part of an effort to reduce segregation in Chicago and chip away at the city’s shortage of affordable homes, officials said.

In all, the five projects will get $259.5 million in TIF funding and create 433 units of affordable housing in an area that has almost no apartments or condominiums within reach of most Chicagoans, records show.

Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward) called the subsidies an investment into 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.

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.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

---