CHICAGO | Lincoln Yards

[Mr Downtown]

I suppose the Burr Ridge case gives some hope, but I wouldn't be too optimistic. I expect the court, pointing to language in Kelo, will give a lot of defererence to legislative (city council) judgment.

I don't remember if there was a court case when a cornfield in Hoffman Estates was declared blighted so they could give money to Sears, but I'm sure the early decisions regarding Illinois redevelopment statutes were pretty broadly worded.

[MorganChi]

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-tif-deal-deal

[Mr Downtown]

Lawsuit dismissed; groups lacked standing to challenge the TIF deal.

The union-backed Grassroots Collaborative and Raise Your Hand education advocacy group did not have standing to challenge the city’s creation of the tax increment financing district that underpinned the subsidy sought by developer Sterling Bay, Circuit Judge Neil Cohen determined.

The two groups are advocacy organizations and couldn’t show that they were harmed by creation of the TIF district, Cohen wrote days after questioning their attorneys about the issue. The groups had argued their fight against TIF districts and Lincoln Yards in particular had diverted their time and money away from other efforts.

Cohen rejected that argument, writing that the two groups made “nothing more than a conscious choice ... as to where to direct their advocacy. This choice does not magically confer standing upon the plaintiffs to challenge the city’s decisions regarding TIF districts.”

[ardecila]

^ Yes, it always seemed weird to me that education groups are the biggest naysayers here. I guess in their minds Lincoln Yards is directly picking the pockets of teachers, by diminishing the raises they haven't even earned?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^ Yes, it always seemed weird to me that education groups are the biggest naysayers here. I guess in their minds Lincoln Yards is directly picking the pockets of teachers, by diminishing the raises they haven't even earned?

They view our tax dollars as an ATM machine for their pickings, haven't you heard?

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

They view our tax dollars as an ATM machine for their pickings, haven't you heard?

Actual quotes from CTU leadership:

“Where will the money come from? Rich people,” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said Tuesday, as she repeated the union’s call for Illinois to tax its wealthiest residents at higher rates and pointed to revenue-generating ideas that need support from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“We have a governor who has committed to legalizing recreational marijuana and putting a tax on it, we can take that as well,” Davis Gates said. “They are also talking about sports betting. We can take that. They’re talking about opening a new casino here in the city of Chicago. We can take that.”

[LouisVanDerWright]

Lol, it would be funny...

[BonoboZill4]

Yeah... I'm gonna be out of this city in a year at the rate it keeps letting stupid crap like this fly. Bankruptcy here we come...

[west-town-brad]

anyone know how much TIF money went into Lakeshore East over the past 30 years?

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

anyone know how much TIF money went into Lakeshore East over the past 30 years?

Probably none.
It isn't in a TIF district.

[BonoboZill4]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

Probably none.
It isn't in a TIF district.

Definitely none

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

They view our tax dollars as an ATM machine for their pickings, haven't you heard?

It's kind of weird how people in a position of leadership in a sizable organization would not realize that monies are allocated. I could understand if they have never been in a position of leadership that sees into a budget of any kind across multiple organizations or sub organization but...that's pretty sad.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by marothisu

It's kind of weird how people in a position of leadership in a sizable organization would not realize that monies are allocated.

I'm not following you here.

The educators are upset that the increased future tax revenues from the Lincoln Yards TIF district will go to the developers/investors, rather than to the school district and city.

What monies are "allocated?"

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I'm not following you here.

The educators are upset that the increased future tax revenues from the Lincoln Yards TIF district will go to the developers/investors, rather than to the school district and city.

What monies are "allocated?"

Perhaps I am mis understanding what they're talking about. Especially the one where they're saying "that can go to us" (or however they worded it) talking about the new taxes...

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

Probably none.
It isn't in a TIF district.

I should have asked "how much taxpayer/city money was spent on the creation of lakeshore east?"

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

I should have asked "how much taxpayer/city money was spent on the creation of lakeshore east?"

as of 2001 it looks like the city fronted at least $67 million for the park: http://www.neweastside.org/LSEassessment.html

structured like the lincoln yards TIF but not exactly.

i'd guess much more was spent over the 30+ years by the city developing lakeshore east. can't be sure though.

[Mr Downtown]

^That discusses a special assessment on the condos of LSE to pay for the park. That's a very different situation from city funding or diverted property tax revenues.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

as of 2001 it looks like the city fronted at least $67 million for the park: http://www.neweastside.org/LSEassessment.html

structured like the lincoln yards TIF but not exactly.

i'd guess much more was spent over the 30+ years by the city developing lakeshore east. can't be sure though.

Nope, nothing was spent by the city, it was developed privately. I suppose you could say straightening the z curve was sorta money spent by them...

[Tom In Chicago]

Yeah. . . the park is paid for and maintained by LSE condo association assessments. . . and since the removal of the LSD S curve back in 1986 predates LSE by about 15 years I'd hardly put the city on the hook for any of the improvements to the neighborhood. . . which is a shame, really, since the transition areas from LSE to DuSable harbor and the riverwalk could have been much better improved with city input. . . and don't get me started on all the poorly maintained bridge structures that surround the neighborhood. . .

. . .

[ardecila]

Well, I think the point is that you CAN develop a neighborhood on a challenging site and still have the developer pick up the necessary infrastructure... but is that really what we want?

As Tom mentioned, that required a lot of tradeoffs and compromises. Not all of the streets in the SOM master plan were built, Magellan weaseled out of building a public school, and there were no transit improvements to the area so the neighborhood is functionally auto-centric and dependent on Wacker and Lakeshore Drive. Even if Magellan had wanted to build transit, that's not something they could do unilaterally, the city would have to lead the process.

Love or hate Lincoln Yards, but the city holds the pursestrings on all the infrastructure projects and they have the power to hold Sterling Bay to their word as stipulated in the Redevelopment Agreement. This arrangement offers the city, and the public, more control over the development than the PD process has done at Lakeshore East. If we want Sterling Bay to prioritize the transitway so that already clogged streets don't get worse, then talk to your alderman - they have the power to make that happen.