Today, Chicago Public Radio ran the following story
Food Options Coming to Bronzeville
The City of Chicago Community Development Commission is giving the green light on a project that would create food opportunities in Bronzeville. Bronzeville is one of several South Side communities that have been dubbed “food deserts” because of the lack of grocery options.
“Cuisine of the Diaspora” would bring 130 jobs to the neighborhood. This food desert community would also have casual dining options ranging from vegan to Jamaican. In addition the plans include a fresh produce store.
Bernard Loyd is the developer of this $8-million-dollar-plus project.
LOYD: Good food brings people together in a community. Good food creates a lot of jobs. Good food brings people into a community and good food allows a community to tell its story.
Loyd’s group plans to buy a city-owned parcel for $10,000. The city is giving the investors a $3 million grant in tax increment financing dollars. The land is at 51st between Prairie and Calumet. Loyd says groundbreaking will begin in 2010.
How did this get pass him?
Let's see ... are there any differences here? The City donates the land to an $8 million project relying on start-up businesses with no track record and probably modest revenue projections. Doubtful that those 130 jobs will be union, high paying, or come with much job security. The shopping center Walmart wants to go to is a $100 million plus development, with tens of millions invested in roads, utilities, remediation and infrastructure benefiting the community. That land isn't being donated for $10,000, and the project needs to generate sales and real estate taxes to justify the massive investment. The number of jobs created by Walmart and other retailers and national restaurants that would follow them to the center dwarfs the Bronzeville project, and they are likely to be far more secure. Wish the Bronzeville project all the success in the world, but it's a stretch to think that it could replace the economic potential of Walmart and other retailers who would come to Chatham if allowed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are differences in the projects but I find it hard to believe that the city did not shop this to Alderman Brookins as a potential business to come to Chatham Market.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I'm not willing to sell out this community on projections and wishful thinking that Walmart will be the Messiah and all will come running because its at 83rd street. No one has yet talked about who is going to have to pay for the infrastructure improvements especially the bridge on the Dan Ryan. Also, we have one of the largest retailer in the country Home Depot at 87th along with the 2nd highest grossing movie complex in the city and have not yet attracted a national restaurant to take the outlot.
The infrastructure improvements for the shopping center have already been built -- new roads, sewers, utilities, traffic improvements, etc. The bridge over the Dan Ryan is not part of that project, and it's doubtful it will ever be built. The Home Depot is fine but doesn't offer what a Walmart would. Allowing Walmart to come in and the other retailers that would follow would be an enormous boon to the theater -- just ask its owners. Walmart's projections are pretty reliable, and it's hard to see how thriving retail and family restaurants creating jobs and generating revenue to the City constitutes "selling out" the community. Remember that a few years back this portion of the community was a run-down, environmentally contaminated steel plant. In this case, letting go of the opportunity for commercial development is truly "selling out" a community.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,would you please tell us whats your and wallmart projections about how many jobs will be lost if Alderman Brookins bid for wallmart is successful?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but my guess would be zero. The Walmart in Ald. Mitts' ward spurred tremendous growth in the area near the new store, and you could expect the Chatham Walmart to be followed by restaurants and other stores in the center that will provide even more jobs. Will some of the small businesses along 87th east of the Dan Ryan be affected? Hard to say, but that didn't stop Ald. Lyle from courting Target to come to 87th Street, something she touts on her website as an economic driver for the community. Strong businesses benefit from more economic activity in their area, they don't try to keep it out.
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