Chicago taxpayers should help bankroll development of a “cultural and entertainment district” around the West Side’s United Center, a key city panel said Monday.
The City Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development voted unanimously to provide $54.7 million in tax breaks for the first phase of the massive development planned by the owners of the Bulls and the Blackhawks. The measure still needs full City Council approval.
The $7 billion “1901 Project” is meant to transform surface parking lots around the United Center into an entertainment district with a 6,000-seat music hall, public parks, a hotel and residential units.
The tax abatement — which would be applied over 12 years — would be the first infusion of public funding for the privately-owned stadium and came as “a surprise to some of us,” said Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), since it wasn’t part of the initial announcement of the project.
The tax relief would come in the form of a 7(b) incentive for the first phase, which allows the property to be assessed at a lower percentage than it would be otherwise.
That type of incentive is only for projects that would not be viable without the tax assistance, and where the project is located in an economically depressed area in need of development. The measure advanced Monday also requires the developers to invest $500 million into the first phase.
The measure was approved despite some pushback from members concerned about diversity, who were angered to learn that none of the construction firms tapped for the first phase of the project thus far are Latino-owned.
In response, a lawyer representing the owners of the United Center vowed that “there will be Latino… participation in this project.”
“We haven’t started construction yet, and so we haven’t identified some of those sub[contractors],” said Katie Jahnke Dale, with the firm DLA Piper. “But I, just, none of us here have the answer on how the first three [contractors] were selected.”
Committee chair Derrick Curtis (18th) said that questions about representation should be answered before he calls the measure for a full council vote.
Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced the tax assistance plan in March and has defended it since, even as the city remains cash-strapped and Johnson has railed against tax incentives being considered at the state level for the Chicago Bears and a proposed stadium in Arlington Heights.
Johnson said in March that the project would bring much needed jobs and development to the West Side.
“This is a project that is going to create thousands of jobs and opportunities for the people across the city, but particularly for development on the West Side,” Johnson told reporters.
The project will be the first major development in the area in decades.
It will be overseen by freshman Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett (27th) who succeeded his father last year and grew up near the United Center.
“When people think about West Loop and Fulton Market, they assume that the United Center, Near West Side, is a part of that. It’s not the case. We’ve seen more buildings deconstructed west of Ashland than we have in any other part on the West Side of Chicago,” Burnett said.
“I remember personally going to Popeyes on Ashland and Madison growing up, because that was the closest restaurant that we had. That was demolished 10 years ago.”