Amazon Go rapidly expanding in Chicago
Only eight months after opening its first cashierless convenience store in Chicago, Amazon is adding two more. Amazon Go locations are set to open soon in a 1,400-square-foot space at Prudential Plaza and a 930-square-foot space at the Merchandise Mart. They will be the fifth and sixth outposts in the city since the first Amazon Go outside of Seattle opened in November on Franklin Street near the Willis Tower. [Curbed]
Aldermen jump to save affordable housing requirements near Obama library
Two South Side aldermen said they will introduce a plan before the City Council to protect affordable housing around the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. Property values in surrounding neighborhoods were already on the rise when the park was chosen as the site for the library. Aldermen Jeanette Taylor (20th) and Leslie Hairston (5th) said the will push a measure that will require 30 percent of all new housing be set aside as affordable, triple the 10 percent citywide requirement, among other requirements. [Chicago Tribune]
Lampert wins control of prime development site at Sears HQ
Former Sears CEO Edward Lampert won a battle over the ownership of 120 acres of undeveloped land at the retailer’s headquarters in Hoffman Estates. A bankruptcy judge ordered Sears to turn over the property to the new company Lampert established to buy the troubled chain out of bankruptcy. Now potential development of the site, which could be worth tens of millions of dollars to the new company, is in Lampert’s hands. [Crain’s]
CLK refinances Boystown apartment portfolio
CLK Properties secured a $43 million refinancing on a portfolio of nine rental buildings known as Maynard at Elaine in Boystown. The Fannie Mae loan provided by KeyBank Real Estate Capital also covers two adjacent parking lots. New York-based CLK bought the properties in 2015 and spent $9 million overhauling them. [REBusiness Online]
Toll authority picks up Elmhurst property as part of Tri-State widening
The Illinois Tollway bought a large home in Elmhurst that it plans to tear down as part of the widening of the Tri-State Tollway. The house at 505 East Crescent Avenue abuts a noise wall near the intersection of the Tri-State and the Eisenhower Expressway. It will be torn down to make room for an interchange ramp. The toll authority paid $710,000 for the property. [Chicago Tribune]