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Chicago's Magnificent Mile is ‘not invincible.’ Flagship mall faces huge challenges
Almost a half-century after opening, Water Tower Place, the once-bustling retail mall at the north end of Chicago's Magnificent Mile, remains shiny marble on the outside, but inside it’s losing some of its sparkle. Macy’s, which anchors the south end of the building, announced plans last week to close in a few months, leaving behind a more than 300,000-square-foot hole. In June, restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You closed Foodlife, credited by some as Chicago’s first food hall, and Mity Nice Bar & Grill. Both had been there for 27 years. Another Water Tower retailer, Gap, which has been clos...
Chicago Tribune
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Chicago rents fell 12% in 2020. For renters, it ‘restores your faith in humanity.’ For landlords, ‘it’s a huge hit.’
CHICAGO — This summer, Marianna Harrison, 41, saw something unexpected on her lease renewal form. Rather than the annual hike in rent she’d received over the past 12 years for her one-bedroom apartment in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago, her rent for 2021 went down by $50. “That doesn’t seem like a lot, but honestly, to me, that is a lot,” Harrison said. “It adds up.” After the COVID-19 pandemic pummeled the film industry, Harrison lost work as a script supervisor. The decrease in rent will save her $600 in 2021, bringing her previous monthly rent of $1,200 to $1,150. And she’s not alone;...
Chicago Tribune
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Mike Jensen: Big gift from Sixers super fan has Philadelphia Youth Basketball shooting high
PHILADELPHIA — Alan Horwitz is putting his mouth where his money is. The money part, make no mistake, is huge: A $5 million gift from the famous 76ers super fan — yeah, he’s that guy, courtside in his Sixth Man Sixers jersey — gets a long-awaited $25 million Philadelphia Youth Basketball foundation facility fast-breaking toward a groundbreaking, now planned for late this year on Wissahickon Avenue, on the site of a former manufacturer of gaming-industry equipment. Horwitz doesn’t intend to end his involvement with writing a check. “It will have my heart, my passion,” Horwitz said, adding that ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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For the first time in 100 years, Seattle renters outnumber homeowners
The last time there were more renters than homeowners in Seattle, Pike Place Market (est. 1907) was a new thing. Census data shows that in 1910, there were about 15,000 more Seattle residents living in a rental than in an owned home. But by 1920, owners had moved into the majority, and it remained that way for a century. Until now, that is. In 2019, the estimated renter population in Seattle was roughly 366,000, according to census data — just slightly larger than the estimated homeowner population, which was about 362,000. Granted, these figures are estimates, with a margin of error built in....
The Seattle Times
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From ‘war workers’ to ‘Good Times,’ Jane Byrne and demolition: Timeline of Cabrini-Green
CHICAGO — Built over two decades starting in 1942, the story of the towers and row homes of Cabrini-Green have mirrored Chicago’s troubled history of grappling with racism and poverty. Here is how the story unfolded. Aug. 29, 1942: Mayor Edward J. Kelly dedicates the Frances Cabrini Rowhouses, the city’s first wartime housing project, at the intersection of Chestnut Street and Cambridge Avenue. The development is named after Mother Frances X. Cabrini, an Italian American nun, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the first American citizen to be named a saint. Cons...
Chicago Tribune
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After deadly Columbia gas leak, Congress mandates detectors in public housing
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A provision included in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill signed by President Donald Trump this week will require carbon monoxide detectors in all federally subsidized housing. The new rules come nearly two years after two residents in Columbia's Allen Benedict Court housing project died from a gas leak there. The city's code enforcement later found 869 code violations at the property, including missing carbon monoxide detectors. An investigation from NBC News revealed that at least 13 public housing residents nationwide have died from carbon monoxide poisoning since 201...
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
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This area tops list of toughest places in the US to buy a home
SEATTLE — When Eric Seiler started looking to buy a house near Spanaway, Washington, at the height of this year's coronavirus lockdowns, he thought he might find a buyers' market. Instead, Seiler and his fiancée started on a home search that involved making at least 15 offers on homes, only to be beat out by other buyers. "There were a couple where we offered $15,000 over asking price and our offer was beat by $20,000 or $30,000," Seiler said. "Just ridiculous shifts in cost versus asking price." Eventually, the couple found a three-bedroom house with a yard for their dog, Luna. They paid $375...
The Seattle Times
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Jobs in shipping and e-commerce are booming, but they’re inconveniently located. New transit solutions are helping workers commute
CHICAGO – Home Chef is in the midst of a hiring spree at its Bedford Park, Illinois, plant, where employees prep, package and ship meal kits that have soared in popularity during the pandemic. But filling those jobs can be a challenge, and not only because it requires toiling in 40-degree temperatures. Bedford Park, a hub for manufacturing employers just outside the Chicago city limits, can be difficult to get to for those who don’t drive. Without a car, the commute to the plant requires multiple buses and trains and a long walk through an industrial park, often at odd hours when public transi...
Chicago Tribune
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Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch is sold for $22 million to former pal Ron Burkle
Peter Pan still hasn’t grown up, but Neverland has finally sold. Michael Jackson’s famous 2,700-acre Southern California ranch sold for $22 million to billionaire Ron Burkle, The Wall Street Journal reported. Burkle, who Forbes estimates is worth $1.5 billion, was a friend of Jackson who helped manage his money in the mid-2000s, according to the Journal. He’s also co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Neverland was first put on the market in 2015, available for $100 million six years after Jackson’s death. Colony Capital, a real estate investment firm, owned the Los Olivos, California, property...
New York Daily News
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It’s time to rethink the single-family home as the American dream, author says
PHILADELPHIA — Housing today looks largely the same as it did in 1950, Diana Lind observes in her new book "Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing." Many builders are still constructing 2,500-square-foot homes with two-car garages on tree-lined streets. But a lot has changed since the single-family house was, as Lind writes, “a practical response to the desire for more space and access to nature.” Today, average family size is smaller — just 3.14 people, and nearly a third of Americans live alone, her research found. Divorce hovers between 40% and 50%, and life expecta...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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