Chicago Proposes $278M TIF Raid for Related’s The 78

Chicago officials are set to throw $287 million of property tax revenue into the megaproject that includes Major League Soccer team the Chicago Fire’s new stadium in the South Loop.

The proposal for the project known as the 78 is being considered by the Chicago City Council Finance Committee. The shift in funding is expected to partially reorganize a tax increment financing subsidy for the project’s developer, Related Midwest, according to Crain’s.

The revised agreement would add $287 million from the Canal/Congress TIF district to the TIF district that the 78 sits in, meaning the project’s developers would not have to lean as hard on the tax revenue it generates after development. Not everyone is happy about the mixed-use urban renewal project for the Fire getting a fresh can of lighter fluid, however.

“What gives me concern is the plan to raid the Canal/Congress TIF in order to pay for [the 78],” Alderman Bill Conway told the outlet, elaborating that the move would pull funds earmarked for Union Station maintenance.

The original TIF plan was to shift $85 million over three years to the 78’s area, the Roosevelt/Clark TIF zone. The Canal/Congress area creates upwards of $65 million in TIF money each year, according to the outlet. The new proposal is a substantial jump, and when combined with another transfer for a bridge over Taylor Street, could stand to essentially take all Canal/Congress’s TIF revenue for the next nine years, Conway told the outlet.

However, city officials view the 78 as a potential catalyst for the area; the proverbial rising tide that lifts all boats. According to the publication, the problem is that the pivot from office and mixed-use into a sports stadium paired with the current plan would provide less projected property tax revenue for Roosevelt/Clark. Paying Related more now would also reduce interest accrued by TIF IOUs given to the developer.

— Hunter Cooke