SHARELet’s stipulate at the top that landlords aren’t the most admired group of people.Everyone has an experience with a bad landlord. It’s like having a bad boss. It poisons your outlook on life.But it also helps to acknowledge that most landlords are decent, small-business owners working on tenuous profit margins. The pandemic has torn through their daily affairs.Now, amid signs our COVID-19 cloud is lifting and businesses that depend on public gatherings are slowly coming to life, landlords wonder if they’re being left behind in official recovery plans.They had to shoulder a strange...…SHARELet’s stipulate at the top that landlords aren’t the most admired group of people.Everyone has an experience with a bad landlord. It’s like having a bad boss. It poisons your outlook on life.But it also helps to acknowledge that most landlords are decent, small-business owners working on tenuous profit margins. The pandemic has torn through their daily affairs.Now, amid signs our COVID-19 cloud is lifting and businesses that depend on public gatherings are slowly coming to life, landlords wonder if they’re being left behind in official recovery plans.They had to shoulder a strange...WW…

SHAREJack Sandner, chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for most of the 1980s and 1990s, used to glory in showing VIPs and everyday visitors the colorful, chaotic trading floor he oversaw. He would call it “the cathedral of capitalism,” words spoken with gratitude and reverence.But he also knew change was coming to his cathedral, and that it would have to adjust. He was involved in the first steps toward computerized trading that would change the character of futures trading, a core Chicago industry.In 1997, he announced to the Chicago Sun-Times a revolutionary plan: allowing traders...…SHAREJack Sandner, chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for most of the 1980s and 1990s, used to glory in showing VIPs and everyday visitors the colorful, chaotic trading floor he oversaw. He would call it “the cathedral of capitalism,” words spoken with gratitude and reverence.But he also knew change was coming to his cathedral, and that it would have to adjust. He was involved in the first steps toward computerized trading that would change the character of futures trading, a core Chicago industry.In 1997, he announced to the Chicago Sun-Times a revolutionary plan: allowing traders...WW…

SHAREThe developer of the $20 billion One Central megaproject proposed near Soldier Field voiced confidence Tuesday in its feasibility despite the pandemic and cited progress in dealing with public transit agencies that are key to its success.Bob Dunn, president of Landmark Development, said he had reached an agreement with Metra that would govern work to build “above, alongside and beneath” the Metra Electric tracks without disrupting commuter operations. His project foresees more than 9,000 residences, a hotel and office space built on air rights over the tracks.Without spending of its...…SHAREThe developer of the $20 billion One Central megaproject proposed near Soldier Field voiced confidence Tuesday in its feasibility despite the pandemic and cited progress in dealing with public transit agencies that are key to its success.Bob Dunn, president of Landmark Development, said he had reached an agreement with Metra that would govern work to build “above, alongside and beneath” the Metra Electric tracks without disrupting commuter operations. His project foresees more than 9,000 residences, a hotel and office space built on air rights over the tracks.Without spending of its...WW…

SHAREWander the sidewalks of the Near West Side, and it’s easy to get an eerie sensation. It’s almost like a “Twilight Zone” episode about a place with evidence of human habitation right there, maybe just around the corner, and yet you don’t see anybody.It’s just the mind playing tricks, after all. Whatever name applies — West Loop, Fulton Market, West Town — the region was Chicago’s busiest place for development and an extension of downtown’s commercial might.It’s hushed now, as people are still staying out of offices. With capacity limits in place, restaurants are groggily stirring to...…SHAREWander the sidewalks of the Near West Side, and it’s easy to get an eerie sensation. It’s almost like a “Twilight Zone” episode about a place with evidence of human habitation right there, maybe just around the corner, and yet you don’t see anybody.It’s just the mind playing tricks, after all. Whatever name applies — West Loop, Fulton Market, West Town — the region was Chicago’s busiest place for development and an extension of downtown’s commercial might.It’s hushed now, as people are still staying out of offices. With capacity limits in place, restaurants are groggily stirring to...WW…

SHAREIt isn’t often that state and local government in Illinois get singled out for a pro-business mindset, but that’s the message coming from people connected to a thriving submarket in industrial real estate — data centers.As development projects go, data centers aren’t the flashiest things. Some have occupied space in attractive old buildings, the best example being the old R.R. Donnelley plant at 350 E. Cermak Road, reputedly among the largest such facilities in the world.Chicago Enterprise bugThe newer ones are custom built in industrial areas, low-slung buildings that are necessarily...…SHAREIt isn’t often that state and local government in Illinois get singled out for a pro-business mindset, but that’s the message coming from people connected to a thriving submarket in industrial real estate — data centers.As development projects go, data centers aren’t the flashiest things. Some have occupied space in attractive old buildings, the best example being the old R.R. Donnelley plant at 350 E. Cermak Road, reputedly among the largest such facilities in the world.Chicago Enterprise bugThe newer ones are custom built in industrial areas, low-slung buildings that are necessarily...WW…

SHAREA spokesman for Tribune Publishing, owner of the Chicago Tribune, declined to comment Thursday on a report it is discussing a sale to its largest shareholder, Alden Global Capital.The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, said a deal could be reached this month. Alden, holder of a 32% stake in Tribune, for $14.25. On Dec. 31, Tribune said it appointed a committee of independent directors to evaluate the terms, but it has not furnished comments since then. Lazard, the investment bank Tribune hired to advise it, did not return a message seeking comment. The company’s other properties...…SHAREA spokesman for Tribune Publishing, owner of the Chicago Tribune, declined to comment Thursday on a report it is discussing a sale to its largest shareholder, Alden Global Capital.The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, said a deal could be reached this month. Alden, holder of a 32% stake in Tribune, for $14.25. On Dec. 31, Tribune said it appointed a committee of independent directors to evaluate the terms, but it has not furnished comments since then. Lazard, the investment bank Tribune hired to advise it, did not return a message seeking comment. The company’s other properties...WW…

SHAREIf someone wants to put up a building in Chicago, the process can be as muddy as our baseball diamonds in the spring thaw. Whether and how the developer needs a zoning change can be tricky enough, and then there’s the towering question of “aldermanic prerogative.”It’s a political courtesy City Council members allow one another. If a particular alderman doesn’t want something approved in his or her ward, the others are unlikely to vote it through.It confers enormous power not only on aldermen but on community groups able to raise a fuss. At its best, it’s a veto for something a...…SHAREIf someone wants to put up a building in Chicago, the process can be as muddy as our baseball diamonds in the spring thaw. Whether and how the developer needs a zoning change can be tricky enough, and then there’s the towering question of “aldermanic prerogative.”It’s a political courtesy City Council members allow one another. If a particular alderman doesn’t want something approved in his or her ward, the others are unlikely to vote it through.It confers enormous power not only on aldermen but on community groups able to raise a fuss. At its best, it’s a veto for something a...WW…

SHAREChicago’s business and government leaders have a lot on their plates, but there’s an impertinent pertinent question to ask them.What are you going to do about a casino?It seems like a long-term issue, but the city and state need money fast and sportsbooks are the new frenzy. Planning and construction take time, so it behooves everyone to work on this pronto. The first order of business is picking a site.Where, oh where, to put this thing, a singular destination that depending on the execution can abet or degrade everything around it? It’s a topic batted around for years before the city...…SHAREChicago’s business and government leaders have a lot on their plates, but there’s an impertinent pertinent question to ask them.What are you going to do about a casino?It seems like a long-term issue, but the city and state need money fast and sportsbooks are the new frenzy. Planning and construction take time, so it behooves everyone to work on this pronto. The first order of business is picking a site.Where, oh where, to put this thing, a singular destination that depending on the execution can abet or degrade everything around it? It’s a topic batted around for years before the city...WW…

Filed under:In-law apartments and other accessory dwelling units, forbidden in Chicago since 1957, would be allowed in five broad areas under a pilot program.Chicago’s 63-year-old ban on coach houses and basement or attic apartments would be repealed for five broad areas of the city under a pilot program proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and endorsed Tuesday by two aldermanic committees.The proposal was approved 22-1 after a two-hour joint meeting of the City Council’s Zoning and Housing committees. The vote sends the ordinance to the full council for final action.It allows construction of...…Filed under:In-law apartments and other accessory dwelling units, forbidden in Chicago since 1957, would be allowed in five broad areas under a pilot program.Chicago’s 63-year-old ban on coach houses and basement or attic apartments would be repealed for five broad areas of the city under a pilot program proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and endorsed Tuesday by two aldermanic committees.The proposal was approved 22-1 after a two-hour joint meeting of the City Council’s Zoning and Housing committees. The vote sends the ordinance to the full council for final action.It allows construction of...WW…

SHAREWalgreens said Wednesday it is spending $35 million to reopen Chicago stores hit by looting and vandalism in recent months and to expand health services in Chatham under a pilot program Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to see expanded to the West Side.The pharmacy chain said 70 of its 118 city locations sustained damage in recent weeks amid unrest connected to national anger over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. All but six of the stores have reopened and the rest will be completed “as quickly as possible,” a Walgreens spokeswoman said.She later added that...…SHAREWalgreens said Wednesday it is spending $35 million to reopen Chicago stores hit by looting and vandalism in recent months and to expand health services in Chatham under a pilot program Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to see expanded to the West Side.The pharmacy chain said 70 of its 118 city locations sustained damage in recent weeks amid unrest connected to national anger over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. All but six of the stores have reopened and the rest will be completed “as quickly as possible,” a Walgreens spokeswoman said.She later added that...WW…