Council OKs acquisition of Michael Reese Hospital for Olympic Village
The City Council on Wednesday took an $86 million gamble that the moribund housing market will come roaring back — by authorizing the acquisition of Michael Reese Hospital to make way for a $1.1 billion Olympic Village.
But black and Hispanic aldermen also put Chicago 2016 on notice: The Reese borrowing will be the last Olympic agreement to receive Council approval if minorities don’t get a bigger piece of the pie.
That’s a significant and timely threat.
Next month, aldermen will be asked to reaffirm a $500 million Olympic guarantee to cover bills if Games revenues fall short now that the real estate collapse has removed a $225 million level of protection insulating Chicago taxpayers.
They must also agree to provide free sanitation, transportation and medical services during the 2016 Summer Games now that international rules changes prohibit the city from charging for those services.
“I want some skin in my community,” said Ald. Ed Smith (28th).
Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) demanded a “spreading of the wealth in a non-communistic kind of sense because it’s happening in our house” and Olympic planners have to “play by our rules.”
“These are the rules of the game here in Chicago — and it’s not a pay-to-play, to those [investigators] with the mics and vests. It’s just a sharing of the equities. It is the way things should be done — without us saying it,” Lyle said.
Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) said she was appalled to learn that minorities got only 6 percent of the contracts awarded by Olympic planners this year.
“Everybody making decisions at Chicago 2016 — you all think alike. You don’t know any people of color. You can’t find any people of color. That is wrong. I’m telling you today there will be consequences. There will be actions taken if you all continue . . . excluding people of color in every aspect of 2016,” she said.
After the 48-0 vote, Daley acknowledged that the “word has been sent” to Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan to diversify in contracts and hiring.
“They have to realize this is a global city and you need global participation. Just like in your industry and in every industry — you have to have diversity,” the mayor said.
He added, “They’re gonna have good numbers. They haven’t even started construction yet. So, let’s not write” the story yet.
Aldermen described the Reese acquistion as a “good real estate deal” and expressed confidence that “seller financing” will help the city unload the 37 acres of prime lakefront real estate to a private developer long before Chicago taxpayers are ever on the hook.
The city aims to resell the land to developers who would build the Olympic Village, then convert it to as many as 7,500 units of housing after the 2016 games.
As for the city’s $500 million Olympic guarantee, Daley said he remains equally confident that will never be tapped. The mayor once promised that, “not a dime” of taxpayer money would be used to host the Olympics.