For the past two years, Mayor Emanuel has knocked over the civic and business elite in this town like a bowling ball crashing through pins.
Yet McHugh’s pretty much the only thing standing between the mayor and his $92 million plan to build a basketball arena and hotel in the South Loop.
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Most property owners have one of three different reactions when the city moves to seize their land. There’s the response of resignation, when they take whatever they can get since they figure there’s little point in fighting City Hall anyway. Alas, this is how thousands of relatively poor south- and west-siders have reacted to various urban renewal programs through the years.
But other property owners try another approach that goes something like this: Kiss my ass! You’ll never get me off my land no matter how many lawyers you send at me.
Before I get to the specifics of McHugh’s suit, let me remind you of what’s at stake. Mayor Emanuel’s proposing to spend at least—and I emphasize at least—$92 million in property tax funds to buy land near the intersection of Michigan and Cermak that will be used for a Marriott hotel and DePaul basketball arena.
Moreover, on December 2, 2009—when Daley was still mayor—the City Council unanimously approved McHugh’s application for the zoning change he needed to build the storage center.
Here’s my favorite part: McPier “offered to acquire” the property “by purchase and/or in exchange for nearby parcels of property.” In other words, McPier was trying to sweeten the deal by offering to throw in some unspecified land that the agency didn’t even own yet.
