City Council Approves Lincoln Yards, The 78 Deals After Developer Concessions
The City Council Finance Committee voted to approve a total of up to $2.4 billion in tax-increment financing for the Lincoln Yards and The 78 projects.
John ByrneContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune
Hours after Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot said she would drop her opposition to public tax subsidies for two massive, controversial developments, the City Council approved the packages that outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made signature issues of his final days in office.
The council approved a tax-increment financing deal for The 78 development in the South Loop by a vote of 31-14. The vote on the Lincoln Yards TIF was 32-13.
After the votes, Emanuel defended them as ways to move the city forward. “These are investments in the future that are not bound by the boundaries of the space. They will actually have dividends throughout the city of Chicago,” he said as protesters could be heard chanting against the TIFs outside the chambers.
The City Council Finance Committee earlier voted to approve a total of up to $2.4 billion in tax-increment financing for the Lincoln Yards and The 78 projects, following a late-night statement from Lightfoot that said the developers had agreed to increase the amount of construction work going to minority- and women-owned firms.
Sterling Bay and Related Midwest will give an additional $80 million to $400 million overall in contracts to such firms, Lightfoot announced Tuesday night.
Lightfoot said late Tuesday that she planned to closely monitor the deals going forward.
“There remains much more work to do in this regard, and I am hopeful we’ll be able to get there. Under the terms of both redevelopment agreements, we have confirmed that the City has additional controls over these projects, which I am confident will allow for us to further improve these deals and to bring community voices into the process going forward,” Lightfoot said in her statement.
After Lightfoot called this week for a delay, her move cleared the way for the full council to approve the spending packages later Wednesday. But now Lightfoot, who during her mayoral campaign appealed to activists by saying she had deep misgivings about Emanuel’s financing of the projects, seemingly loses much of her platform to bash the deal.
Lightfoot supporters who were counting on her to squeeze the wealthy developers to pick up much more of the tab for the work themselves rather than relying on so much property tax revenue to pay for infrastructure improvements may be disappointed she didn’t get the companies to make considerably more concessions.
After the committee vote, Finance Committee Chairman Ald. Patrick O’Connor said there “would have been no vote” on the spending packages if Lightfoot hadn’t publicly dropped her opposition.
“I am not yet the mayor, and I recognize that the current administration and City Council must decide whether to carry this vote forward according to the interests of the constituents they serve,” Lightfoot said. “Either way, upon swearing in, I will engage with the community and committed activists who have advocated forcefully for affordable housing, park space and the responsible use of tax increment financing dollars for many months.”
Speaking against the Lincoln Yard TIF, Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, said “lies and deception have been built into this process since day one.”
But Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, whose ward includes the riverfront Lincoln Yards site, said the deal is a good one. “What is persuasive about this project is the merits of it for the people of Chicago,” he said.
As the measures cleared the Finance Committee, dozens of protesters blocked LaSalle Street outside City Hall. Six aldermen-elect joined the demonstration, including Maria Hadden, 49th; Daniel La Spata, 1st; Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th; Matt Martin, 47th; Mike Rodriguez, 22nd; and Andre Vasquez, 40th. Those candidates campaigned on a push to make the City Council a more independent, progressive governing body.
Sitting on the street beside Rodriguez and La Spata, Vasquez said it is important to make a statement “that says we’re not here for the same old politics of yesterday.”
“We’re not here for the rubber stamps,” said Vasquez, who defeated O’Connor in last week’s election. “We’re here to make sure we have productive conversations that move our city forward.”
Martin, who was elected to represent Emanuel’s home ward, noted the new incoming City Council members campaigned “specifically on fundamentally rethinking the way we do TIFs.”
“There’s no more important vote in the short-term than the ones that are happening today,” Martin said.
Hadden, who defeated Emanuel stalwart Joe Moore, said the city “should spend public dollars on our great public needs and not private projects.”
Wednesday’s drama got set up earlier in the week.
The plan ultimately calls for up to $900 million in TIF funds for infrastructure at Lincoln Yards and up to $700 for The 78. There’s also the possibility that the city could provide up to $400 million in financing — through notes or bonds — for each TIF district.
But late Sunday night, Lightfoot released a statement calling on O’Connor to hold off voting. “From day one, I have raised concerns about these deals and the deeply flawed process that has led us to this moment,” she said.
On Monday morning, Emanuel released his own statement agreeing to the delay, saying he had “made it very clear to the mayor-elect that I would not move forward on these projects if she wanted to delay the process.”
O’Connor took hours of testimony on the projects, then recessed till Wednesday for the potential vote.
Emanuel has defended the tax subsidy plans, saying the huge developments will be major tax boons to the financially struggling city and that the infrastructure upgrades paid for with the TIF money will be beneficial to lots of Chicagoans.
The TIF money for Lincoln Yards and The 78, developed by Related Midwest, have drawn intense criticism because the developments are in prosperous parts of the city where activists contend the developers should be made to pay for infrastructure improvements like new bridges rather than relying on a subsidy that pulls tax money out of Chicago public schools and other public agencies that need it.
Earlier Tuesday, demonstrators aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union crowded City Hall to demand council members delay or cancel a potential vote.
“Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot ran on a promise of putting a brake on TIF giveaways to wealthy developers,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.
“We should not be spending precious dollars that come out of the taxing authority of our schools, that come out of the taxing authority of our parks and our waterways. We should not be spending those tax dollars on development handouts to wealthy developers that are going to make people rich.”
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, said the vote should be left to the next council and mayoral administration.
“This lame duck council should not be taking up these unprecedented mega-TIF projects,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
“Money that should be going to schools, money that should be going to our children to ensure that they have a world-class education, will instead over the next several decades line the pockets, the very deep, filled pockets, of luxury developers.”
Chicago Tribune reporters Juan Perez Jr. and Gregory Pratt contributed.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
John ByrneContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune
Hours after Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot said she would drop her opposition to public tax subsidies for two massive, controversial developments, the City Council approved the packages that outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made signature issues of his final days in office.
The council approved a tax-increment financing deal for The 78 development in the South Loop by a vote of 31-14. The vote on the Lincoln Yards TIF was 32-13.
After the votes, Emanuel defended them as ways to move the city forward. “These are investments in the future that are not bound by the boundaries of the space. They will actually have dividends throughout the city of Chicago,” he said as protesters could be heard chanting against the TIFs outside the chambers.
The City Council Finance Committee earlier voted to approve a total of up to $2.4 billion in tax-increment financing for the Lincoln Yards and The 78 projects, following a late-night statement from Lightfoot that said the developers had agreed to increase the amount of construction work going to minority- and women-owned firms.
Sterling Bay and Related Midwest will give an additional $80 million to $400 million overall in contracts to such firms, Lightfoot announced Tuesday night.
Lightfoot said late Tuesday that she planned to closely monitor the deals going forward.
“There remains much more work to do in this regard, and I am hopeful we’ll be able to get there. Under the terms of both redevelopment agreements, we have confirmed that the City has additional controls over these projects, which I am confident will allow for us to further improve these deals and to bring community voices into the process going forward,” Lightfoot said in her statement.
After Lightfoot called this week for a delay, her move cleared the way for the full council to approve the spending packages later Wednesday. But now Lightfoot, who during her mayoral campaign appealed to activists by saying she had deep misgivings about Emanuel’s financing of the projects, seemingly loses much of her platform to bash the deal.
Lightfoot supporters who were counting on her to squeeze the wealthy developers to pick up much more of the tab for the work themselves rather than relying on so much property tax revenue to pay for infrastructure improvements may be disappointed she didn’t get the companies to make considerably more concessions.
After the committee vote, Finance Committee Chairman Ald. Patrick O’Connor said there “would have been no vote” on the spending packages if Lightfoot hadn’t publicly dropped her opposition.
“I am not yet the mayor, and I recognize that the current administration and City Council must decide whether to carry this vote forward according to the interests of the constituents they serve,” Lightfoot said. “Either way, upon swearing in, I will engage with the community and committed activists who have advocated forcefully for affordable housing, park space and the responsible use of tax increment financing dollars for many months.”
Speaking against the Lincoln Yard TIF, Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, said “lies and deception have been built into this process since day one.”
But Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, whose ward includes the riverfront Lincoln Yards site, said the deal is a good one. “What is persuasive about this project is the merits of it for the people of Chicago,” he said.
As the measures cleared the Finance Committee, dozens of protesters blocked LaSalle Street outside City Hall. Six aldermen-elect joined the demonstration, including Maria Hadden, 49th; Daniel La Spata, 1st; Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th; Matt Martin, 47th; Mike Rodriguez, 22nd; and Andre Vasquez, 40th. Those candidates campaigned on a push to make the City Council a more independent, progressive governing body.
Sitting on the street beside Rodriguez and La Spata, Vasquez said it is important to make a statement “that says we’re not here for the same old politics of yesterday.”
“We’re not here for the rubber stamps,” said Vasquez, who defeated O’Connor in last week’s election. “We’re here to make sure we have productive conversations that move our city forward.”
Martin, who was elected to represent Emanuel’s home ward, noted the new incoming City Council members campaigned “specifically on fundamentally rethinking the way we do TIFs.”
“There’s no more important vote in the short-term than the ones that are happening today,” Martin said.
Hadden, who defeated Emanuel stalwart Joe Moore, said the city “should spend public dollars on our great public needs and not private projects.”
Wednesday’s drama got set up earlier in the week.
The plan ultimately calls for up to $900 million in TIF funds for infrastructure at Lincoln Yards and up to $700 for The 78. There’s also the possibility that the city could provide up to $400 million in financing — through notes or bonds — for each TIF district.
But late Sunday night, Lightfoot released a statement calling on O’Connor to hold off voting. “From day one, I have raised concerns about these deals and the deeply flawed process that has led us to this moment,” she said.
On Monday morning, Emanuel released his own statement agreeing to the delay, saying he had “made it very clear to the mayor-elect that I would not move forward on these projects if she wanted to delay the process.”
O’Connor took hours of testimony on the projects, then recessed till Wednesday for the potential vote.
Emanuel has defended the tax subsidy plans, saying the huge developments will be major tax boons to the financially struggling city and that the infrastructure upgrades paid for with the TIF money will be beneficial to lots of Chicagoans.
The TIF money for Lincoln Yards and The 78, developed by Related Midwest, have drawn intense criticism because the developments are in prosperous parts of the city where activists contend the developers should be made to pay for infrastructure improvements like new bridges rather than relying on a subsidy that pulls tax money out of Chicago public schools and other public agencies that need it.
Earlier Tuesday, demonstrators aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union crowded City Hall to demand council members delay or cancel a potential vote.
“Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot ran on a promise of putting a brake on TIF giveaways to wealthy developers,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.
“We should not be spending precious dollars that come out of the taxing authority of our schools, that come out of the taxing authority of our parks and our waterways. We should not be spending those tax dollars on development handouts to wealthy developers that are going to make people rich.”
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, said the vote should be left to the next council and mayoral administration.
“This lame duck council should not be taking up these unprecedented mega-TIF projects,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
“Money that should be going to schools, money that should be going to our children to ensure that they have a world-class education, will instead over the next several decades line the pockets, the very deep, filled pockets, of luxury developers.”
Chicago Tribune reporters Juan Perez Jr. and Gregory Pratt contributed.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
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