The biggest building project by far would be the Olympic Village, to be constructed on land the city has agreed to buy for $86 million. The city will use an unspecified amount of property tax revenues to pay for infrastructure costs such as new streets and sewers for the development, which would be turned into a new residential community even if the city doesn’t win the Olympics.
Chicago hopes to sidestep Vancouver-type problems, Ryan said, by using multiple developers and lenders on the village development. “Vancouver selected a single long-term financial partner, and that’s where the problem came.”
Eleven developers have already expressed interest in the property, including Joseph Freed & Associates, Magellan Development Group, Related Midwest and a team made up of Enterprise Development, Fogelson Properties and Forest City Enterprises, of Cleveland. Another interested party is Habitat Co., whose former chief executive was Valerie Jarrett. Before becoming a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, Jarrett was a vice chairman of the Chicago bid team.
*********************************
And we wonder why Obama lobbied for the Olympic Games to be in Chicago.