CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[left of center]

They did, but by then Amazon had already invested billions on warehousing infrastructure across state lines so there was no need to do anything at first. They started moving in once those fulfillment centers reached capacity, and initially this was in far away exurbs were land was cheap. As faster delivery options became more popular in the last few years, it highlighted the need for logistics operations to move closer to population centers, which explains why we are seeing so much more leasing by Amazon in the city and inner suburbs. Cicero landed a huge Amazon facility last year that spans half a mile on Laramie, for instance. Always great seeing formerly abandoned industrial areas getting investment.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Remember back when Rahm used to talk about these headlines, and plug Chicago's virtues to the world?

Sigh........ we simply don't have a local economic champion among elected leaders any more.

Instead of complimenting the job of our current Mayor, it figures that the one guy on this forum with a long history of saying and even being suspended for espousing racist bullshit... it figures he would be the guy to extol the virtues of the Mayor that is no longer in office.

Like he knows what Lori is championing to the world. Like he is sitting in on all of her phone calls and meetings. Obviously she is doing quite a bit campaigning for Chicago but no, it takes this guy of dubious character to ignore what she is doing and plug the guy who is no longer here.

[Chi-Sky21]

I know they have a large distribution center already in Joliet and just opened one where 355 and 88 intersect. I work right there and the amount of trucks that go in and out of there is crazy. Great for the gas station at the corner though, always filled with amazon trucks now.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Halsted & Villagio

Instead of complimenting the job of our current Mayor, it figures that the one guy on this forum with a long history of saying and even being suspended for espousing racist bullshit... it figures he would be the guy to extol the virtues of the Mayor that is no longer in office.

Like he knows what Lori is championing to the world. Like he is sitting in on all of her phone calls and meetings. Obviously she is doing quite a bit campaigning for Chicago but no, it takes this guy of dubious character to ignore what she is doing and plug the guy who is no longer here.

Wow, here we go again with this insufferable (and totally baseless) nonsense What on God's earth does race have to do with this?

I remember that Harold Washington used to go around the world selling Chicago. That's what Chicago needs. A promoter. Lori doesn't seem to have that style, and I am criticizing that about her. Get over it.

[jboy560]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Remember back when Rahm used to talk about these headlines, and plug Chicago's virtues to the world?

Sigh........ we simply don't have a local economic champion among elected leaders any more.

The article posted by bnk literally starts by stating Lori Lightfoot announced Chicago topped the list for the 8th year in a row and quotes the mayor speaking about Chicago’s strengths, touting the accomplishment, and “plugging Chicago’s virtues” as you said. It sounds like she’s doing a good job marketing Chicago and highlighting this achievement to the business community. Out of curiosity, what in particular do you think Rahm would’ve said or done that Lori hasn’t?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by jboy560

The article posted by bnk literally starts by stating Lori Lightfoot announced Chicago topped the list for the 8th year in a row and mentions multiple quotes from the mayor regarding Chicago’s strengths, touting the accomplishment, and “plugging Chicago’s virtues” as you said. It sounds like she’s doing a good job marketing Chicago’s strengths and highlighting this achievement to the business community. What would Rahm have said or done that Lori hasn’t?

Just a few published press statements are nice, but I think Rahm pretty clearly championed Chicago in away that even his predecessors didn't. He fought hard to get companies to move to Chicago. Even Daley didn't do that. We all watched the fruit of those efforts over the 8 years that he was Mayor when countless jobs and companies moved downtown.

I think we've lost some of that momentum during the Lightfoot years, and it's not just due to COVID. I think her focus is different. I just prefer Rahm's style and focus more, this being the "Chicago Economy Thread" and all. Any and all nonsensical accusations about 'racism' and criticisms of my 'questionable moral character' for saying so are, in my opinion, internet bullying and I will ignore any of these comments as such.

[jboy560]

That’s fair. I chalked most of the loss of momentum up to COVID, to be honest, but I agree Rahm was primarily focused on the economy whereas Lori’s focus is different and not as singular.

[SIGSEGV]

Lori has been on TV a lot over the last year. She's certainly been quite public. Maybe Rahm was on TV more, but it's also possible that he was just more heavily covered by the media since he was former WH chief of staff.

[marothisu]

While I agree that Rahm was a huge champion of Chicago quite clearly, and I loved it.....from afar (NYC) Lori still isn't quiet. Which is a good thing. Whether it's her or not, or in part carry over from Rahm...2020 was the biggest VC year for Chicago since something like 2005 or 2006. There was also a global pandemic and in hospitality industries there was massive unemployment thru the entire country. The areas with mass tourism haven't fared well for those things no matter what state they belong to.

All things considered, I think thats quite a good place to be in for VC being the largest on 15+ years and warehousing in the city and region literally being #1 in the entire country for growth, all thru a pandemic. 2020 was a challenging year to say the least for the entire country. Lori is vocal, but I think this is apples to oranges. You are comparing someone who didn't have to deal with a global pandemic, massive rioting and looting, etc with someone who did. There are more pressing matters for someone to focus on publicly than consistently tout how Chicago has 48.6MM sq ft of new industrial leases every day.

[the urban politician]

^ Yes, for sure COVID has been a huge factor.

But I really think too many here are too timid or "walking on eggshells" about criticism of Lightfoot, and I don't see any reason why that is necessary in 2021. She's a grown (and obviously tough) woman and doesn't need pampering. Lets not undersell what Rahm did during his 8 years. Those efforts count.

Meeting CEO's, business leaders, and pushing for them to open offices and relocate to Chicago make a difference. Plugging Chicago to the world, as adamantly as Rahm obviously did, made a difference. These things matter, otherwise leaders wouldn't be doing them. He really worked hard on this one issue, I think those of us who followed the news over those years could see that. He also worked very hard to redirect private investment from downtown developers towards businesses in the struggling areas of the city.

That was his thrust. One can see that Lightfoot does not show the same passion about these things. She ran on different issues, her passion is to address different issues. That's all fine, but at the end of the day I am concerned because Chicago perpetually needs an economic champion. We aren't New York. We can never rest on our laurels with the coasts sucking up talent, and booming cities in the south (Texas, Atlanta, etc) constantly nipping away at us...

[marothisu]

Optics vs. Reality. And you know I loved Rahm's economic efforts around various industries but how do you know Lightfoot isn't doing this?

Just because you don't hear as much about it publicly doesn't mean it's not happening. Again, given all the challenges going on right now, it would be dumb for her to publicly talk too much about certain things. If you have ever had to manage anything in your life where optics matter, you will understand exactly what I'm saying. Sometimes for "political reasons", you don't advertise everything you are doing. And sometimes you wait a certain amount of time to even tell anybody else not involved.

I have no idea what she's doing, but all things considered it would be stupid of her to spend too much time on it publicity wise given whats going on right now and higher priority items.

Apple to oranges, again. Remember in the last few years of Rahm, he stopped giving downtown *as much* attention publicity wise? That's not because he stopped doing it as much. It was a political move because of some events going on in Chicago at the time. Its not because he stopped doing it so much, but it had more to do with the optics. At the time,, he was considering running again for mayor.. Yes, that is 2nd hand insider Info.

[UPChicago]

Rahm was not as great of a mayor as people make him out to be. Chicago remained the number one location for corporate relocations without him, kudos Lori, kudos Chicago. If he wasn't so shortsighted maybe he would still be mayor, he can't even get a job in the White House at the point.

[marothisu]

I didn't see this posted but certainly fits right into one of the conversations ..

Amazon strikes $45 million deal to buy SW Side steel plant; it could become site of its biggest warehouse in Chicago

https://www.chicagotribune.com/colum...3xy-story.html

Amazon plans to buy the sprawling Central Steel & Wire plant on the city’s Southwest Side, agreeing to pay about $45 million to add to the e-commerce giant’s vast network of warehouse space in Chicago.

Ryerson Holdings Corp., which owns the more than 70-acre site in the Gage Park neighborhood, has a contract to sell it to Amazon and lease it back for about two years, according to people familiar with the deal.

..

The deal has not been completed and could fall apart. If the sale is finalized as expected, Amazon eventually would redevelop the site at 3000 W. 51st St. as part of the company’s ever-growing network of storage and distribution space.

The site is about 3 miles from the Stevenson Expressway, which is farther from highway access than many warehouse users prefer, said Mike Senner, a Colliers International broker who is not involved in the deal.

Yet there’s enough land to develop a warehouse as large as 1.5 million square feet or more, with ample room left for parking, Senner said. That would be Amazon’s largest building in Chicago to date.

Amazon already leases storage space a few blocks west at 3507 W. 51st St.

Amazon spokeswoman Nikki Wheeler declined to comment.

Seattle-based Amazon has invested more than $8 billion in Illinois, creating more than 36,000 full- and part-time jobs, she said in an email Tuesday.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Remember back when Rahm used to talk about these headlines, and plug Chicago's virtues to the world?

Sigh........ we simply don't have a local economic champion among elected leaders any more.

I think she doesn't want to spark the sjw who will complain about her wanting to attract big wigs while forgetting the south and west sides. Seriously.

But thanks for all the posts yall, some great news!

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Lori has been on TV a lot over the last year. She's certainly been quite public. Maybe Rahm was on TV more, but it's also possible that he was just more heavily covered by the media since he was former WH chief of staff.

But why has she been on tv so much? Covid, riots over the summer, crime, and a few community projects etc.

To be fair, this year was a weird one, but I haven't seen her promoting industry like the last mayor. Hell, I remember him doing that and I didn't even live in Chicago or consumed local news.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I think she doesn't want to spark the sjw who will complain about her wanting to attract big wigs while forgetting the south and west sides. Seriously.

But thanks for all the posts yall, some great news!

In part, this is what I was talking about before but not specific to sjw. I mean there's some serious stuff that's gone down in the last year. Like "hey, I know thousands of people in our city died from this new virus, and there was a bunch of social unrest and a bunch of looting, property damage, serious racial conversations, etc....but let me talk about the new 25,000 sw ft lease Facebook signed instead!!" Seriously you'd have to be pretty fucking tone deaf to think that giving equal or more airtime to something like "great year for VC!!" would go over well. It's actually a tough spot to be in and there's pretty much no winning. Don't spend enough time talking about social unrest and the virus? Tons of people pissed at you. Don't spend enough time talking about new jobs? Tons of people pissed at you.

It's just not a good look. Anybody who had managed anything in their lives where optics matter knows exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes when serious stuff is going down, it's smarter to not talk about certain things as much. Mention them, but you have to tone it down a bit for awhile until the serious thing boils over.

What I was talking about with Rahm before.. It's exactly why he started publicly talking about the south and west sides more in the last few years of his term. Trying new programs and what not. He was going to run again and people there were pissed. So he started to pay attention to them to get support back. By the time he had to make the decision to run again, he didn't have enough support. His efforts didn't work and therefore he told everyone it was his last term. He knew he wouldn't win. There were actually some downtown projects that he basically ignored or paid little attention to because of this optics thing. He was trying to basically get support from the south and west sides again, and didn't want to show favoritism publicly to downtown anymore. Again..insider info.

Regardless, comparing someone dealing with an entire year of a pandemic plus all the social unrest to someone who never had to go through that. Sorry, but thats just amateur hour.

[galleyfox]

And there it is. Discover officially announces the Chatham call center for 8560 S Cottage Grove

Discover to Open New Customer Care Center in Chicago’s Chatham Neighborhood and Bring Nearly 1,000 Full-time Jobs to the Area

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...bs-to-the-Area

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

And there it is. Discover officially announces the Chatham call center for 8560 S Cottage Grove

Discover to Open New Customer Care Center in Chicago’s Chatham Neighborhood and Bring Nearly 1,000 Full-time Jobs to the Area

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...bs-to-the-Area

That's great news. $17.50/hr starting on 50 full hour weeks per year is about $35K. Again not amazing but potentially livable in some areas down there especially.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by marothisu

In part, this is what I was talking about before but not specific to sjw. I mean there's some serious stuff that's gone down in the last year. Like "hey, I know thousands of people in our city died from this new virus, and there was a bunch of social unrest and a bunch of looting, property damage, serious racial conversations, etc....but let me talk about the new 25,000 sw ft lease Facebook signed instead!!" Seriously you'd have to be pretty fucking tone deaf to think that giving equal or more airtime to something like "great year for VC!!" would go over well. It's actually a tough spot to be in and there's pretty much no winning. Don't spend enough time talking about social unrest and the virus? Tons of people pissed at you. Don't spend enough time talking about new jobs? Tons of people pissed at you.

It's just not a good look. Anybody who had managed anything in their lives where optics matter knows exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes when serious stuff is going down, it's smarter to not talk about certain things as much. Mention them, but you have to tone it down a bit for awhile until the serious thing boils over.

What I was talking about with Rahm before.. It's exactly why he started publicly talking about the south and west sides more in the last few years of his term. Trying new programs and what not. He was going to run again and people there were pissed. So he started to pay attention to them to get support back. By the time he had to make the decision to run again, he didn't have enough support. His efforts didn't work and therefore he told everyone it was his last term. He knew he wouldn't win. There were actually some downtown projects that he basically ignored or paid little attention to because of this optics thing. He was trying to basically get support from the south and west sides again, and didn't want to show favoritism publicly to downtown anymore. Again..insider info.

Regardless, comparing someone dealing with an entire year of a pandemic plus all the social unrest to someone who never had to go through that. Sorry, but thats just amateur hour.

All of this, 100%.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

And there it is. Discover officially announces the Chatham call center for 8560 S Cottage Grove

Discover to Open New Customer Care Center in Chicago’s Chatham Neighborhood and Bring Nearly 1,000 Full-time Jobs to the Area

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...bs-to-the-Area

I watched that press conference this morning and thought of this thread. Great news. Those wages will certainly be nice in a neighborhood with such low rents. A married couple both working there will have their lives changed.