Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Chicago’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m. Please send any times or deals to tips@therealdeal.com
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The retail vacancy rate is continuing to improve in the Chicago area. It dropped for the second consecutive quarter, dipping to 10.9 percent in Q3 from 11.1 percent in Q2, following the recent peak of 11.6 percent last year, according to CBRE. [Crain’s]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot included a $300 million TIF surplus in her 2020 budget to help cover the $500 million offer already rejected by the striking Chicago Teachers Union. The move will generate $163 million for Chicago Public Schools. [Sun-Times]
Officials have approved plans for Provident Hospital’s new $240 million facility in Bronzeville. When construction wraps up on the smaller facility, expected by April 2023, the current hospital will likely be demolished. [Tribune]
CoStar reached a $10.75 million settlement with what’s left of Xceligent. The Bethesda-based real estate data giant had alleged its competitor stole thousands of images and proprietary information from its commercial listings platform. The agreement comes two years after Xceligent filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, spurred by costs associated with the legal battle. [TRD]
Opportunity Zone investment is falling short of expectations. Some 103 OZ funds have raised just 15 percent of their goals, according to research from San Francisco-based accounting firm Novogradac & Co. The analysis found that of $22.7 billion the funds are seeking, they have raised just $3 billion. [WSJ]
Trump name removed from Central Park skating rinks. The president, who is deeply unpopular in New York, had displayed his name on the rinks for years, after his firm, the Trump Organization, took over management of the attractions. [NYT]
Adam Neumann scrambled for a $100 million loan days before SoftBank bailed him out. The former WeWork CEO had paid a deposit to Churchill Real Estate Holding for a loan to refinance a Chelsea development site. But those talks have stalled in recent days as SoftBank has committed to providing Neumann with as much as $1.7 billion as part of its WeWork takeover. [TRD]
Lakeview home sales are down almost 12 percent so far this year. The significant decline in sales is due to rising prices over the last five years and a surplus of about 300 newly-constructed homes throughout the neighborhood. [Crain’s]
This year’s Logan Square Preservation election sees a huge increase in voter turnout due to the opposition of new development projects. The election, held last Thursday, drew in 280 voters, more than double seen in the 2017 election with 100 voters. [Block Club]
Country Club Hill joins the race for the Tinley Park ‘racino’ plan. After the original racino proposal went bust last week, Country Club Hill announced on Tuesday a bid for a casino development proposal. [Sun-Times]
Home sales data report shows a variety of trends in the housing market. Data for the month of September shows there was a 4.2 percent decrease in Chicago home sales but a 1.3 percent increase in statewide home sales. [Chicago Agent]
A mystery buyer paid nearly $11 million for a 25-unit rental building in Lincoln Park. It’s the largest multifamily deal in the neighborhood this year by dollar volume and units. An LLC tied to CDM Media CEO Glenn Willis was the seller. [TRD]
Regional MLS service Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) says it wants to ban pocket listings, releasing a report that claims they put the market “in jeopardy.” MRED’s membership counts more than 45,000 real estate professionals. [Inman].
Facebook wants to tackle California’s housing crisis. The company says it will provide $1 billion to build 20,000 housing units in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. The money will come in the form of grants and loans, and follows Google and Lendlease’s pledge in June to co-develop $15 billion worth of master-planned communities throughout Silicon Valley. [NYT]
SoftBank Group is taking control of WeWork. The Japanese conglomerate will provide a total of $6.5 billion in financing and buy $3 billion worth of investor shares. That wasn’t the only offer on the table. JPMorgan Chase put together a $5 billion debt package, which included high-interest bonds. SoftBank’s deal values WeWork at less than $8 billion — a humbling number, given its $47 billion valuation in January. [TRD, NYT]
But WeWork’s bills are only getting higher. The co-working company is facing rising costs from its leases and the need to build out its new spaces. According to company filings, WeWork has committed to lease payments from mid-2019 through 2023 that total $10.2 billion. And the cost of constructing new workstations could go over $1 billion. [WSJ]
Slowing foreclosures could be bad. A new study finds that policies designed to slow the home foreclosure rate can end up doing more harm than good to the housing market. The authors of the report say the unintended consequence occurs if homeowners are not able to sort out their financial problems in short order. [Inman]
Compiled by Jacqueline Flynn