by Linda Portiera-Peace
Special to Inside
Ald. Patrick J. O'Connor (40th) hosted a community meeting at St. Gregory's Parish Hall, 1609 W. Gregory St., on Wednesday, April 28. The meeting presented Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the vacant Edgewater Hospital site on the 6000 block of N. Ashland Ave. Although, at this time, there is no plan to develop, demolish or rehab the existing hospital building, O'Connor said he envisions a residential development, which is the primary purpose for the [Edgewater Hospital] TIF.
S.B. Friedman & Company, representatives of the City-hired development advisors, prepared a parcel-by-parcel analysis of the 8.6 acre site. In the meeting, the company's Edgewater Project Summary defined Tax Increment Financing as "a program that allocates future increases in property taxes from a designated area to pay for improvements only within that area. The program lasts for 23 years from the creation of the TIF district. The rationale for the TIF is that only cities have the responsibility and authority to support redevelopment and economic development. All taxing bodies benefit in the long run from these activities. Therefore it is appropriate to utilize the taxes to help pay for costs necessary to bring about redevelopment from which they will benefit."
Community input will be limited in order to expedite the development—unlike other TIF districts such as North Center Senior Campus in the 47th Ward and Wilson Yard in Uptown. Community organizations will not be utilized as part of the development and land use recommendations, O'Connor said.
French owned bank Dexia was named receiver of the bankrupt hospital after it closed its doors in 2001.
The TIF is expected to be awarded in late summer or early fall of this year.
Planning for the vacant south parking lot development is already under way. It will consist of 27 upscale single family homes starting at $700,000. The north parking lot serves as auxiliary parking for Gethsemane Nursery on Clark Street.
No development plans for the hospital are on the table. "At this time, the [Edgewater Hospital] TIF is in the infancy stages," a City of Chicago Department of Development spokesman said.
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