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601W’s Old Main Post Office ensnared in Burke criminal probe
Documents related to massive West Loop complex were among items removed from embattled alderman’s office
The Old Main Post Office in the West Loop, currently being redeveloped by 601W Companies, has surfaced in the criminal investigation of Alderman Ed Burke (14th).
Federal agents who raided Burke’s office in November were looking for a wide range of documents, and among the items removed that day were files related to the post office, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Burke is facing criminal charges alleging he tried to shake down owners of a South Side Burger King to hire his private law firm for property tax appeal work in exchange for him supporting their city permit requests.
But the scope of the investigation apparently extends beyond those initial attempted extortion charges, according to records released Wednesday. Agents also were looking into efforts by Burke to obtain patronage jobs and other benefits for associates, along with information about his law firm’s affairs.
In addition to the Old Main Post Office documents, agents in November also removed documents and computer files regarding tax increment financing districts in Burke’s ward and businessman Perry Mandera, who just sold his North Side strip club and who recently opened a medical marijuana dispensary, according to the Sun-Times.
Representatives of New York-based 601W did not immediately return a call from The Real Deal requesting comment.
The firm is in the midst of a massive effort to convert the long-vacant, hulking structure along the Chicago River into 2.8 million square feet of office space.
Details of the raid came on the heels of the blockbuster revelation that Alderman Danny Solis (25th), who is Burke’s Council colleague and chairman of its powerful Zoning Committee, had been a mole for the FBI, secretly recording Burke for more than two years. [Chicago Sun-Times] — John O’Brien