Monday, August 27th at 7:00 p.m.
Simpson Center - 6333 N. Winthrop (southeast corner of Winthrop and Sheridan)
Re: Application for Tax Increment Financing assistance to rehabilitate a building at 6610-28 N. Sheridan (southwest corner of Sheridan and North Shore)
Ayman Khalil and Kareem Musawwir of Inverbrass Funds, LLC, will present their proposal to rehabilitate a "four-plus-one" apartment building at 6610-28 N. Sheridan Rd. and preserve 116 units of rental housing.
The proposal calls for approximately $2 million in assistance from the Sheridan/Devon Tax Increment Financing District.
The developers propose to reduce the number of dwelling units in the building from 140 units to 116 units, and would extensively rehabilitate the building façade.
Under the proposal, 70 apartment units would be affordable to individuals or families earning at least 80% of area median income, and 26 apartments would be affordable to individuals or families earning at least 60% of area median income.
BLOGNOTES: I've been holding this one out to see if the Alderman's office would be forthcoming with how the ZULAC meeting went on August 14th.
My guess is someone in the alderman's office knew I was baiting them, so they just didn't answer. My guess is they wanted to save face by not saying they actually voted on this project before they got community input. Not that community input means anything to Joe Moore and the secret ZULAC Club.
Here are some interesting things to think over while Joe's doling out $2 million dollars in TIF funds on this project.
* Did all tenants get proper notice when they were told to move? From the looks of things, this has Stealth Condo evictions written all over it. The only one's still left living here look like hookers, junkies, drug dealers and a few cab drivers. Are we to reward property owners who throw people out of their rental units without proper notice?
* Will these units really be used for affordable housing? Or will this project be used for Loyola student housing? We've been lied to before. Remember when Mr. Coe told us he was setting aside CPAN units? Will this be just another broken promise?
So, we'll have to see how everything plays out tomorrow. We'll have to find out why Joe Moore's ZULAC club was so secretive on what they said and did on August 14th. My guess is they'll give us some malarky about wanting to hear what the community had to say first.
Updated by Hugh: Another lie in a flyer from Joe Moore: Kareem Musawwir is not with "Inverbrass." Musawwir is an employee of the Law Offices of Samuel V.P. Banks, the law firm of zoning rainmaker James J. "Jar Jar" Banks, the most successful attorney in the history of Chicago, nephew of 36th Ward Alderman William Banks, who is also head of the City Zoning Committee. Musawwir is also a former Chief Zoning Examiner of the City of Chicago.
16 comments:
Didn't the building at Morse and Greenview look like this? That one doesn't look so bad now after what they've done. These buildings are serioulsy ugly and I welcome any change to the facade. Since it's down by Loyola, don't they have some TIF money they can kick in? RP does go north of North Shore
I thought TIF $$$$ was to improve the public domain. I guess I have made a huge error. Why didn't I pay closer attention. I could have applied for TIF funds to put on a new roof, buy a new boiler, and with all that completed I could rehab my bathrooms.
Since it looks like the work has already begun does it mean this is a done deal and the public meeting is just for show?
Does accepting TIF $$$ mean you will rent to anyone, keep one or two apartments available for the homelees who have no where to lay dowqn their heads during winter, and does it mean rent control? ie rent wont increase and anyone who wants to live there can just pay an amount they think fair.
Weird stuff with taxpayer dollars!!!
sandm, that's the point- they want to "kick in" $2MM of TIF money.
Or, in other words, our FUTURE tax money.
If you want to contribute your own money to the ownership for reno, fine, but I don't see why the citizenry at large should foot the bill for rehab.
Let the owner either fix it up with his own money or sell it to someone who can.
Preferably someone who will tear it down and build from scratch.
This bldg is ugly, but I walk past it everyday, and it was never a particular problem.
Strange how cavalier we have become about throwing tax money at private development..
... and we still can't figure out why the city is broke.
Wait till you get your property tax bill this October.
> Weird stuff with taxpayer dollars!!!
Is this part of the reason the Mayor needs more money? Why he claims there's a hole in the budget? He blames the ecomony doesn't he? But how old are these TIFS, how many and how much are they keeping from those who need it?
The economy hasn't always been ill...
It would stop if they levied a 'politican who wins surcharges and special taxes'.
interesting wiki entry on TIF
The tax increment financing dispute
TIF districts are not without criticism. Although tax increment financing is one mechanism for local governments that does not rely on federal funds or an overall increase in municipal taxes, many question whether TIF districts actually serve their resident populations. TIF districts are often implemented in blighted, lower-rent, areas. As investment in an area increases, it is not uncommon for real-estate values to rise and for gentrification to occur.[1]
Currently, thousands of districts operate nationwide in the US, from small and mid-sized cities, such as Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Akron, Ohio to the State of California, which invented tax increment financing in 1952. California maintains hundreds of TIF districts and leads the nation in debt issued through tax increment financing.[citation needed]
The city of Chicago is a major urban area which has a significant number of TIF districts and has become a prime location for examining the benefits and disadvantages of TIF districts. The city runs 131 districts with tax receipts totaling upwards of $325 million per year[citation needed], or about one-third of the city's total property tax revenue. Lori Healey, appointed commissioner of the city's Planning and Development department in 2005, was instrumental in this process. [April 23, 2007, Mayor Daley of Chicago named Healey to be his eleventh chief of staff.]
Given the influence and power held by Mayor Daley of Chicago, various elected officials have been unwilling to seem critical of the city's tax increment financing program due to the mayor's unwavering support for these districts. Cook County Commissioner Michael Quigley has been the exception, questioning the wisdom of expanding tax increment financing districts, calling for substantive reforms, and putting accountability into the governance of such districts. His office recently released a report on TIFs titled: "A Tale of Two Cities: Reinventing Tax Increment Financing."
The Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, a non-profit organization (that consisted of various member organizations and employed outreach and research staff), advocated for area resident participation in capital programs. The group also researched and analyzed the expansion of Chicago's TIF districts. Though the organization closed on February 1, 2007, their research will be available on their website for six months. [2]
The Chicago Reader, a Chicago alternative newspaper published weekly, has published articles regarding tax increment financing districts in Chicago and in Cook County, Illinois written by staff writer Ben Joravsky. Joravsky's articles are critical of tax increment financing districts as implemented in Chicago.
For examples of academic or interest group reports or papers on tax increment financing districts, see this entry's External Links
Another lie in a flyer from Moore: Kareem Musawwir is not with "Inverbrass." Musawwir is an employee of the Law Offices of Samuel V.P. Banks, the law firm of zoning rainmaker James J. "Jar Jar" Banks, the most successful attorney in the history of Chicago, nephew of 36th Ward Alderman William Banks, who is also head of the City Zoning Committee. Musawwir is also a former Chief Zoning Examiner of the City of Chicago.
Banks, Samuel
221 N. La Salle
38th fl
Chicago, IL 60601
$250.00 7/18/2005 to Democratic Party of the 49th Ward
$500.00 2/23/2004 to Democratic Party of the 49th Ward
Banks, Jim
$250.00 3/1/2001 to Citizens for Joe Moore
jeffo, TIF districts are tax increases.
What it means in the simplest terms is that taxes are "frozen" within the district, and the diff between the level at which that happens, and what they rise to is the "increment" that finances the developer.
Most TIF districts in Chicago have been failures, or very marginal successes. Nobody talks about the $100 MM March First hi tech incubator TIF any more.
TIF is a way of conveying our tax money to private developers, and don't anyone tell you otherwise.
> TIF is a way of conveying our tax money to private developers, and don't anyone tell you otherwise.
Yes, and as I understand it, the cap on tax dollars that would be allocated to schools, police, fire departments etc., are frozen at the level when the TIF goes into effect. So 2-3-10 years later, when more money is needed by schools, etc. since it's frozen at a certain dollar amount, the politicians come back at taxpayers for more money to supplement the needs of these services.
Tax the bottled water - tap is fine with me. Legalize pot and take the profit -
You have it just right, Toni.
Tax all plastic containers and legalize all the crap and tax it to the max.
But keep in mind even that all won't be nearly enough if our leaders feel free to give away the contents of the treasury to developers and corporations.
We need a unified taxpayer's revolt.
Craig,
I wish I knew about your blog before I moved out of RP. I was forced out when the house I was renting was sold for condo conversion, and Robert Coe failed to provide heat and water after the sale. I wish I could trust what developers say, but that trust is long gone.
More lies on a flyer from Moore:
Inverbrass is NOT the owner of 6610-28 N Sheridan.
The owners of 6610-28 N Sheridan are 6610 N Sheridan LLC.
6610 N Sheridan LLC purchased the 6610-28 N Sheridan (PINs 11-32-313-027 and -028) on 12/16/2005 for $11.6M!!!
The Devon-Sheridan TIF was declared 3/31/2004.
What, are 6610 N Sheridan LLC IDIOTS? Didn't they know the area was BLIGHTED? Now they need a hand-out? Where did they get the $11.6M?
Or are they just cashing in?
On 12/20/2005, National City Bank loaned 6610 N Sheridan LLC $12.2M to buy the property.
On 9/01/2006, National City Bank extended a SECOND mortgage of another HALF A MIL to 6610 N Sheridan LLC.
What, are National City Bank IDIOTS, too? Didn't they know the area is BLIGHTED? Why are they loaning big bucks like that, with NO TIF ASSISTANCE, back in 2005 and 2006? TIF is supposed to be used when NO investment would take place "but for" the TIF.
hugh, everyone involved in real estate lending in the past four years is a flaming greed-crazed lunatic, probably hopped up on Prozac to boot.
I'm sure that sales figure is no way justified by the rents this building collect, either pre-rehab or after-rehab.
THIS IS TRANSPARANTLY A BAILOUT FOR A GREEDY, DELUSIONAL SPECULATOR.
I don't give a phuque if places like National City, which is up to its figurative eyeballs in bad mortgages, fail.
Let them fail.
Let the hedge funds fail. Hey, they were screaming about the miracle of "free enterprise" on the way up, while collecting $100MM yearly bonuses and having 50 room houses in the Hamptons with 3 swimming pools built. They made out like Arab oil shieks off this runup, let them pay back their bonuses to their tanking funds.
Let the speculators fail, all of them. What makes these greedy, unscrupulous scum think that they are entitled to make a fortune in 8 figures off the taxpayers?
Let the dumb, deluded "little" borrowers who tried to "act rich" on $60K a year fail. What made these people think they could afford $325K condos on 2/28 mortgages? Did they really think that 20% a year appreciation was a God-Given entitlement?
Just don't make those of us who did not participate in the housing insanity of 2001-2006 be taxed to pay for this shit.
While we're on the lender angle, Laura asked me to post this predatory lender petition.
Thanks, Craig.
The actual title is Taxpayers Against the Wall Street and Mortgage Bailout.
Go there and sign if you resent your taxes bailing out morons and greedmongers while you live within your means and don't bite off more than you can chew.
This bailout is proposed by Senators Clinton, Dodd, and Schumer.
Clinton has lost my vote for the presidency.
What a joke -- could Joe Moore really be foolish enough to participate in a give away of this magnitude? This is such an outrageous waste of taxpayer funds -- since when did the taxpayers of the city become responsible for helping one particular landlord fix up his property?
Obviously this joker thoght he was going to convert this ugly ass POS to condos and make a fortune. Only once he kicked everyone out and started the building he realized "uh, oh -- I'm not going to be able to sell these".
So here he is begging for taxpayer help by appealing to Joe's good liberal instincts of doing something/anything to advance the cause of "affordable housing".
Relax Joe, there is no way that this structure will ever be anything but affordable housing. The market will dictate that -- nobody will pay big bucks to live here and so eventually the landlord will have to take reasonable rents. Oh and for rehab -- let this A-hole loose it in foreclosure and then someone with some sense will step in and complete the work that was started and get the units rentable.
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