-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Two veteran real estate developers are closing in on a deal to buy one of Chicago's tallest office skyscrapers, 311 South Wacker, for less than 25% of what it traded for over a decade ago, a deal that would complete one of the biggest losses of value ever for a downtown office building.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Kind of makes you wonder what will happen to the real estate taxes for this property. It definitely won’t help Mayor Johnson’s future Chicago budgets.
Buy it at your own risk. Not sure it is worth very much. Chicago Downtown is in for a long haul recovery (if ever).
Spot on, downtown Detroit has been recovering for decades!