Bio
Reporter covering the West Side for @BlockClubChi. Got a tip? Slide in my DMs! [email protected]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to reverse decades of disinvestment on Chicago’s South and West sides — and when she took office, she found a nearly $57 million pot of money earmarked for just that purpose.
Stung by accusations that Chicago’s neighborhoods languished on his watch, Mayor Rahm Emanuel created the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund in 2016 in an attempt to capitalize on the boom Downtown and in the West Loop by giving developers the green light to build taller and denser projects — for a price.
After Emanuel’s ‘smoke and mirrors,’ Lightfoot claims Neighborhood Opportunity Fund as her own
A rendering of the Laramie State Bank redevelopment including a museum, housing, cafe, business incubator, community plaza on Chicago Avenue. [City of Chicago]
A plan to redevelop the long-vacant Laramie State Bank is moving forward.
The Chicago Plan Commission voted Thursday to approve a sweeping proposal to transform the historic bank building, 5200 W. Chicago Ave. into a museum, mixed-income housing, community plaza, business incubator and café. The proposal now will go to the City Council’s Committee on Zoning before a final vote from all 50 alderpeople.
Laramie State Bank redevelopment bringing museum, housing, café, plaza to long-vacant building gets key city approval
A rendering of the planned industrial complex and community center proposed by Related Midwest and 548 Development. [Provided]
This article was first published in Block Club Chicago.
In the early ’90s, the massive lot at Roosevelt Road and Kostner Avenue was home to one of the nation’s most notorious environmental justice disasters: an illegal dumping ground for hazardous waste that caused health issues for residents.
Silver Shovel site’s future: city picks $38 million Related Midwest project to revamp notorious West Side dumping ground
An artist's rendering of the police training facility in development. [provided]
This article was originally published in Block Club Chicago.
A city plan to establish a new Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago on the grounds of a much-maligned police and fire training facility is moving forward.
Controversial plan to build West Side youth center on police academy campus gets key city approval
A Chicago polling place. [Heather Cherone]
In the 2019 mayoral election, over 20 candidates vied to get the signatures within the 90-day window to secure their spot on the ballot, and many of them succeeded — at first. But then, rival candidates became embroiled in a bitter legal struggle to knock each other off the ballot by calling into question the validity of the signatures on the petitions.
Is requiring 12,500 petition signatures to run for mayor unfair? New proposal would lower the requirement
Mayor Lightfoot tours 345 Art Gallery with owner Corry Williams PASCAL SABINO / BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
Applications are now open through the end of February for $10 million in new business development grants provided by the city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund program.
The grants will be a driving force behind Mayor Lori Lighfoot’s INVEST South/West initiative to support equitable development in commercial corridors on the South and West sides. The city recently unveiled changes to the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund program that aim to make the program more accessible to the businesses that could benefit most from the money.
Lightfoot unveils new rules for Neighborhood Opportunity Fund
Bio
Reporter covering the West Side for @BlockClubChi. Got a tip? Slide in my DMs! [email protected]
