CR Magazine - Spring 2017 (Sales Awards)

ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
IN OPPORTUNITY
WARDS
As C.A.R.’s Senior Director of Government Affairs Brian Bernardoni
is well known for saying: “There is a city west of Western and south
of Roosevelt called Chicago.” It’s important to remember that there
are many neighborhoods that aren’t booming with development
— places where opportunity is ripe. Our Economic Development
panel, featuring Keith Lord from The Lord Companies, 15 th Ward
Alderman Ray Lopez and 2 nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, was
formulated with the intent to help you understand what the needs
are in neighborhoods outside of the downtown area. Here are a few
key ways that you can best effect change, work with the aldermen
and spur development.
START WITH EDUCATION
Just like in residential transactions, emerging communities provide
many opportunities for potential investors to tap into, but educating
them on resources available — like special loan programs — is
key. After all, wealth in many communities is created through the
buying, selling and leveraging of real estate. Therefore, the first key
to evoking change is through education, so that these communities
can move forward, stay connected and get the markets moving.
IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITY
Keith Lord noted that Chicago is a huge magnet city — people
want to live and work here. Millennials are driving companies back
downtown and that’s driving many others back here, as well.
Take, for example, McDonald’s relocation to Fulton Market— there’s
2,000 plus jobs, in addition to their Hamburger University, which
will require 17,500 hotel rooms in a year. So if you’re a business that
works with McDonald’s, you’re coming downtown, too. Corporate
relocations are an intriguing option for spurring redevelopment for
an entire area — something Alderman Brian Hopkins is interested in
seeing happen to the 2 nd Ward’s old Finkl Steel site.
Alderman Ray Lopez noted that there has to be a major, significant
economic driver in communities with challenges. In the 15 th Ward,
industrial areas are waiting to find the perfect use. Neighborhoods
like Back of the Yards and Austin have been newly designated
as retail enterprise zones to help deal with vacancies and get
businesses flowing so that the stagnation that has taken hold is
broken. And, keep in mind that transformative development goes
beyond just one Ward and incorporates numerous neighborhoods
— the 606 trail is a good example of this.
Lord encouraged REALTORS ® to get to know the opportunity wards,
particularly on the south side. If a REALTOR ® has the right idea or
suggestion to help fulfill a vision or need for the ward, there’s no
place easier to get something going. Opportunity wards make the
process relatively smooth to get zoning and permits.
KEITH LORD
The Lord Companies
RAY LOPEZ
15 th Ward Alderman
BRIAN HOPKINS
2 nd Ward Alderman
IDENTIFY PARTNERS
Next, it’s important to identify businesses and partners who are
willing to work with the community to effect change. Alderman Lopez
indicated an enterprise in Back of the Yards that has a brewery, and
aquaponics farming in an old industrial space. Another example is an
urban farm in West Englewood that works in connection with the new
Whole Foods and neighboring commercial tenants.
WORK WITH THE ALDERMAN
Iif you don’t understand what the Alderman wants and the
community needs, you’ll likely fail. Lord said that the best place to
make an impact as a REALTOR ® is to work with a forward-thinking
alderman; they will guide the path to get you where you need to go.
Each alderman works differently, so get to know them! Both
Alderman Hopkins and Alderman Lopez have community
members and business leaders they turn tobecause they have
a vested interest in making the community better. Working with
them to ensure you are having the best impact possible is key
to effecting change and rallying support. Coming together at
the negotiating table and finding a close consensus for the
good of the neighborhood is important for residents, REALTORS ®
and developers.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN PLANNING
A DEVELOPMENT:
• What do you want to see?
• Will it fill a need or help drive the market?
• What defines the character of the community?
How to Approach an Alderman
1. Find out who the alderman is, what’s important
to them, what they ran on, what their goals
are and what the community needs.
2. Ask for a meeting with the alderman.
3. At your one-on-one, lay out your plan: this is
what I want to do, this is how many jobs we’ll
bring, this is the tax base we’ll bring, and this
is why it’s good for the ward.
4.. Ask for feedback: what can be tweaked? Who
do you need to liase with in the community?
How do I get through this process?
5. Listen!
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