The city's community development commission this week recommended a 103-acre area be designated a redevelopment area in order to receive tax increment financing. The proposal has spent four years in the process, garnering support from residents and property owners at public hearings, department of planning and development officials say.
"We're in dire need of a commercial area," says 7th Ward Alderman William M. Beavers. "We spend more money in South Shore than they do up in Winnetka. People are tired. They want to see something."
Residents may see the city acquire as many as 65 parcels in the neighborhood, almost half of them vacant lots, in a land assembly effort, says Lisa Hope-Washington of the department of planning and development. Steve Patterson of the department adds the TIF designation could allow for the creation of a Small Business Improvement Fund.
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