Committee on Housing and Real Estate [remote]

Item #1: an intergovernmental permit license agreement between Chicago’s water reclamation district, the Department of Health + UIC’S discovery partners institute. The partners from UIC want to sample wastewater from sewer systems at the North, Southwest + Calumet sites.

The researchers would collect wastewater samples and test them, but they would not do anything to treat the sewer water. The turnaround time for these samples is 48 hours.

The ordinance will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #2 on the agenda: authorizing a partial ownership transfer to Chicago Riverwalk Concessionaire Island Party Hut.

Michelle Woods of the Department of Assets says there has been no pushback against the ownership transfer. The item will be recommended to the full city council.

The agenda has paused to allow Mr. Blakemore to have 5 minutes of public comment.

Blakemore says he has a right to speak on every item on the agenda, one at a time. He has worked to advocate for the public and feels the council tries to undo his work.

Blakemore calls for all of the council members to resign. He asks the council to listen to him and others as they speak at public comment.

“I don’t serve. You serve US.”

Item #3: sale of city-owned vacant property at 4810-4834 S Cottage Grove Avenue.

The buyer is Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, who will provide the sale of a vacant developer’s lot at 4833 S Evans Avenue as credit towards the sale.

The project built in Bronzeville will be a multi-story building that contains medical offices, ground-level retail, community space, and an open-air parking structure.

A slide show presentation is being shown to the council, but it is not available for live-stream viewers.

Alderman Kaplan says this is just blocks away from UoC medical center and asks the project manager from NW Memorial Health Care about this proximity.

The project manager says she acknowledges the competition aspect, but there is a big gap in care in Bronzeville and they are viewing it as an additive for the community and not as something that would hinder U of C’s care.

The ordinance will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

The next item is the city acquisition of vacant lots at 518-522 E 47th Street and 526 E 47th Street in the 3rd ward.

The first lot is the Central Arms Hotel, formerly a Single Room Occupancy hotel.

The goal of this project is to remove “signs of blight” and attract private investment in the area.

Alderman Moore asks if the city is purchasing the land.

Answer: Although purchasing the land is an option, they are looking for better options. There are over 50 city violations and delinquent taxes on this building. Its current state is unsafe for the community.

Alderman Kaplan asks when the SRO was abandoned.

Answer: It was abandoned after the SRO ordinance & there were no residents in the building.

Kaplan: Per the ordinance, each resident should’ve paid $10,600 if forced to vacate. Did that happen?

The department is unsure.

The ordinance will be recommended at the next city council meeting.

The next item on the agenda is the sale of city-owned property at 1736 N Ridgeway Avenue in the 26th ward to Ana Del Valle and Disifredo Del Valle.

James Michael of the Department of Planning & Development says the property will be used as parking for their adjacent property. The Del Valles purchased their home is 2001 and were unaware that their garage was on city-owned property

The item will be recommended to city council

The next item is the sale of city-owned property at 3108 S Wood St to Luis Miguel Rios Cruz and Lidia
Aadelita Merrando Gonzalez.

The recommendation will be reported at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Next is item #8, the sale of vacant city-owned property at 5952 S Loomis Boulevard in West Englewood to Emma Hudson. The property would be used to expand Hudson’s yard at the adjacent property.

The recommendation will be passed at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #9 is the sale of City-owned property at 103 W 110th Place to Eyvis B Garcia Palma. The property will be used to expand her yard.

The item will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #10 is the sale of vacant city-owned property at 2747 W Jackson Boulevard in the 27th ward to Martin
Nunez. The property will extend Nunez’s yard at the adjacent property.

The item will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #11 is the sale of vacant city-owned property at 2445 E 74th Street to Michael Dennis Lofton
II.

The item will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #12: an amendment of the ordinance which sold various lots to Joudeh Investments LLC & MKB Business Strategies LLC.

Brian O’Donnell with the department of housing says the sale was approved in September 2021. The developers are building single-family homes on this land.

The city is now relinquishing 2339 W Monroe so a memorial to Fred Hampton can be built there. The developers are asking to substitute 2433 W Congress Parkway for their project.

The item passes and will be recommended to the city council at tomorrow’s meeting.

On a personal note, I’d like to mention that today’s presentations have been extremely brief, and not being able to view the visual presentations via the live-stream makes it difficult to catch all of the information that is being quickly touched on.

Item #1: an intergovernmental permit license agreement between Chicago’s water reclamation district, the Department of Health + UIC’S discovery partners institute. The partners from UIC want to sample wastewater from sewer systems at the North, Southwest + Calumet sites.

The researchers would collect wastewater samples and test them, but they would not do anything to treat the sewer water. The turnaround time for these samples is 48 hours.

The ordinance will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #2 on the agenda: authorizing a partial ownership transfer to Chicago Riverwalk Concessionaire Island Party Hut.

Michelle Woods of the Department of Assets says there has been no pushback against the ownership transfer. The item will be recommended to the full city council.

The agenda has paused to allow Mr. Blakemore to have 5 minutes of public comment.

Blakemore says he has a right to speak on every item on the agenda, one at a time. He has worked to advocate for the public and feels the council tries to undo his work.

Blakemore calls for all of the council members to resign. He asks the council to listen to him and others as they speak at public comment.

“I don’t serve. You serve US.”

Item #3: sale of city-owned vacant property at 4810-4834 S Cottage Grove Avenue.

The buyer is Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, who will provide the sale of a vacant developer’s lot at 4833 S Evans Avenue as credit towards the sale.

The project built in Bronzeville will be a multi-story building that contains medical offices, ground-level retail, community space, and an open-air parking structure.

A slide show presentation is being shown to the council, but it is not available for live-stream viewers.

Alderman Kaplan says this is just blocks away from UoC medical center and asks the project manager from NW Memorial Health Care about this proximity.

The project manager says she acknowledges the competition aspect, but there is a big gap in care in Bronzeville and they are viewing it as an additive for the community and not as something that would hinder U of C’s care.

The ordinance will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

The next item is the city acquisition of vacant lots at 518-522 E 47th Street and 526 E 47th Street in the 3rd ward.

The first lot is the Central Arms Hotel, formerly a Single Room Occupancy hotel.

The goal of this project is to remove “signs of blight” and attract private investment in the area.

Alderman Moore asks if the city is purchasing the land.

Answer: Although purchasing the land is an option, they are looking for better options. There are over 50 city violations and delinquent taxes on this building. Its current state is unsafe for the community.

Alderman Kaplan asks when the SRO was abandoned.

Answer: It was abandoned after the SRO ordinance & there were no residents in the building.

Kaplan: Per the ordinance, each resident should’ve paid $10,600 if forced to vacate. Did that happen?

The department is unsure.

The ordinance will be recommended at the next city council meeting.

The next item on the agenda is the sale of city-owned property at 1736 N Ridgeway Avenue in the 26th ward to Ana Del Valle and Disifredo Del Valle.

James Michael of the Department of Planning & Development says the property will be used as parking for their adjacent property. The Del Valles purchased their home is 2001 and were unaware that their garage was on city-owned property

The item will be recommended to city council

The next item is the sale of city-owned property at 3108 S Wood St to Luis Miguel Rios Cruz and Lidia
Aadelita Merrando Gonzalez.

The recommendation will be reported at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Next is item #8, the sale of vacant city-owned property at 5952 S Loomis Boulevard in West Englewood to Emma Hudson. The property would be used to expand Hudson’s yard at the adjacent property.

The recommendation will be passed at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #9 is the sale of City-owned property at 103 W 110th Place to Eyvis B Garcia Palma. The property will be used to expand her yard.

The item will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #10 is the sale of vacant city-owned property at 2747 W Jackson Boulevard in the 27th ward to Martin
Nunez. The property will extend Nunez’s yard at the adjacent property.

The item will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #11 is the sale of vacant city-owned property at 2445 E 74th Street to Michael Dennis Lofton
II.

The item will be recommended at tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Item #12: an amendment of the ordinance which sold various lots to Joudeh Investments LLC & MKB Business Strategies LLC.

Brian O’Donnell with the department of housing says the sale was approved in September 2021. The developers are building single-family homes on this land.

The city is now relinquishing 2339 W Monroe so a memorial to Fred Hampton can be built there. The developers are asking to substitute 2433 W Congress Parkway for their project.

The item passes and will be recommended to the city council at tomorrow’s meeting.

On a personal note, I’d like to mention that today’s presentations have been extremely brief, and not being able to view the visual presentations via the live-stream makes it difficult to catch all of the information that is being quickly touched on.