Places we've been
Community. Development. Excellence. Words we live by.
Here are some examples of projects which have been brought to fruition with JRG's help.
City Hyde Park Mixed Use Redevelopment
MGM/TGI 105th Street, LLC
188 West Randolph
CCH/Wolters Kluwer Industrial Retention
Chicago Public Schools Strategic TIF Consulting
City of Chicago TIF RDA Payout Model
City Hyde Park Mixed Use Redevelopment
Developed by Antheus Capital and designed by renowned architect Jean Gang, this residential and commercial project represented the first non-university housing development in Hyde Park in decades. The high cost of underground parking and challenges with securing financing created a financial gap that was closed with $11,300,000 in TIF assistance and Enterprise Zone incentives.
To address complex and prohibitive commitments that limited the developer’s ability to utilize their own incremental TIF revenue, JRG strategically implemented TIF strategies to maximize the term and revenue potential of the redevelopment project resulting in $2,000,000 in additional TIF revenue. JRG analyzed the impact and benefits of removing project PINs from the original 53rd Street TIF and creating a new TIF to assure stability in the old TIF and secure new increment for the City Hyde Park redevelopment project. JRG also facilitated the use of Enterprise Zone incentives for the project, resulting in tangible cost savings on construction materials. Project details include:
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120,000 square feet of retail, anchored by Whole Foods
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180 apartments, including 36 affordable units
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350 underground parking spaces
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200 permanent jobs
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200+ construction jobs
City Hyde Park broke ground in 2014 and anticipates project completion in 2016.
MGM/TGI 105th Street, LLC
JRG and staff have seen this project through the many stages of its storied path, beginning with the original designation of the former Chicago Bridge and Iron Works as a TIF District in 2001. After successful environmental cleanup and launch of a new residential development on this industrial brownfield site, the project faltered in 2008 with the real estate crash. Eight hopeful homeowners had moved in amidst a partially completed street system. JRG successfully renegotiated an amended redevelopment agreement between the developer and the City, preserving the burgeoning community and allowing the continued development of the site.
JRG worked with the developer in preparing development proformas for the revised development plan, negotiated an amended RDA, assisted the developer in securing critical TIF funds at closing, and established achievable milestones for payment during the course of construction. JRG assisted the developer and the developer’s bank with the preparation of compliance reports and requisition materials for payments during construction.
As a follow up to the original project, in 2012 JRG completed an amendment to the TIF area, greatly expanding the TIF’s area and enhancing TIF increment generation. Project details include:
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108 new single family homes, including 22 affordable homes
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1.4 miles of new roadway infrastructure
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2 acre new park site, to be dedicated to the Chicago Park District
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70 construction jobs
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Remediation of an environmentally hazardous industrial site
188 West Randolph
Randolph Tower is a Landmark Gothic Revival building constructed in the late 1920s and was among the tallest skyscrapers of its day. The building is characterized by striking vertical forms and highly detailed terra cotta façade. Over time, the building grew obsolete as an office building and years of deferred maintenance became a safety hazard when pieces of terra cotta began falling from the building.
Village Green bought the building at auction and sought TIF assistance for an adaptive reuse of the building for apartments with ground floor retail. JRG prepared a TIF application for the developer and negotiated terms of the RDA for an historic building renovation and conversion of an office building into a luxury apartment building (with 20% affordable units). The project was achieved through a challenging and complex financing structure bolstered by TIF, Historic Tax Credits and Low Income Housing Tax Credits. JRG helped the developer secure an award of $34 million in TIF funding, including a critical cash payment of $29 million and a $5 million TIF Note.
A critical analysis of negative TIF increment in the key TIF funding sources identified an early warning of dangerous recessionary impacts to the TIF revenue streams for 188 W. Randolph and other redevelopment projects. JRG worked with the City of Chicago to evaluate and optimize tax codes within select TIFs to preserve the positive calculation of TIF revenue as intended by the TIF Act.
The project achieved completion in 2012 and the developer came to JRG to assist them with the execution and feasibility analysis of the Note. JRG conducted a complex but rigorous Feasibility Study for the $5 million tax-exempt TIF Note that clarified the structure of two supporting TIFs, a cascading flow of funds and multiple obligations and enabled the successful marketing and sale of the Note to investors.
CCH/Wolters Kluwer Industrial Retention
CCH is a long standing member and employer of Chicago’s industrial community. CCH had been leasing their facility within the Pulaski Peterson Industrial Corridor for 53 years. The aging Chicago facility was one of two CCH locations in the Chicago region and the company was evaluating the feasibility of property acquisition and improvement or facility consolidation. The facility required significant modernization to the interior building systems, warehouse, office, production spaces and the exterior portions of the building. Facility renovation/development program consisted of a variety of improvements in order to adapt it to the needs of a contemporary publishing company allowing CCH to retain its operations in the City.
JRG was instrumental in the capital planning, financing, and legislative approval of the project. With TIF assistance valued at $4,900,000, CCH purchased the Chicago facility to house subscription and publication activities and implemented much needed upgrades and enhancements. JRG prepared or participated in:
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Negotiation, development, and processing of TIF term sheet and redevelopment agreement Development of project budgets and TIF eligible costs budgets
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Solicitation of MBE/WBE contractor participation
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Application to City of Chicago for TIF funding assistance
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Coordination of Aldermanic and Peterson Pulaski Industrial Council presentations
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Assistance with maintaining City compliance requirements and securing TIF drawdown payments
The project was completed in 2013.
Chicago Public Schools
Strategic TIF Consulting and Advisory Services
JRG has assisted Chicago Public Schools in securing TIF assistance for new school development, additions and rehabilitation improvements, both small and large. JRG was instrumental in developing a large scale, city-wide capital improvement program called Modern Schools Across Chicago, which garnered more than $500 million in TIF funding for new schools and additions. JRG works with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development and the City of Chicago Department of Finance on Tax Increment Financing initiatives to support the Board’s Capital Improvement Program; Services and analyses include:
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preparation and detailed financial analyses of available tax increment revenues;
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negotiation of financial commitments and agreements with the City of Chicago;
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development of strategies and mechanisms to coordinate negotiations with the City of Chicago including receiving tax increment revenues from the City of Chicago;
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advising on alternative strategies and long range planning assistance to the Board;
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feasibility studies for specific projects relating to availability of tax increment revenues;
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strategic assessment of tax increment revenues and potential revenue opportunities.
City of Chicago TIF RDA Payout Model
JRG has developed a computerized payment model that processes all TIF-related development agreement payments for the City of Chicago. JRG has developed a TIF-by-TIF Financial Plan that documents the financial and compliance parameters for all existing and planned agreements (public and private) and calculates the value of third party agreements with the City and developed an estimate of the net available funds in every TIF district within the City of Chicago.
This complex and dynamic database is tailored to the unique specifications of each TIF redevelopment agreement, and has proven to be an invaluable management tool for the City’s Department of Housing and Economic Development.
