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The Independent
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Your local Walmart is in line for a $1million facelift - here is what is changing
Walmart stores are getting a massive facelift - and yours could be first on the list for a remodel. The mega-retailer unveiled its plans this week, noting that remodels will occur at 650 stores in 47 states in 2025. It is part of its 'Stores of the Future' project, aimed at bringing modern displays to its locations, expanding its online pickup and delivery services and offering more products. A spokesperson for Walmart told CoStar News that each of the remodels will cost more than $1 million. The remodels reportedly represent Walmart's efforts to hold onto higher-income shoppers who started visiting the stores more frequently during the pandemic to pick up more affordable groceries. Those shoppers could continue to buy at Walmart as concerns about the country's economic future has more families watching their spending. Noting the change, Walmart started to remodel its stores more than two years ago, and in doing so began spotlighting non-grocery merchandise such as clothing and home goods - just as competitor Target does. Walmart has also been making changes to its online shopping experience to try to compete with the nation's other mega-retailer, Amazon. According to Walmart, the remodels will include "big, bold signage" to better showcase its merchandise, new items and expanded departments, an expanded online pickup and delivery system to accommodate the rise in online shoppers, and changing its pharmacies to include wider aisles, private screening rooms and privacy checkout areas. "The work we're doing to expand our assortment is another reason for our growth, as more customers are finding what they're looking for," Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said during a Friday earnings call. Texas will see the largest number of stores receiving renovations, with 67 stores getting a makeover. California will get 56 remodels. Though a full list of Walmart stores receiving remodels is not available at this time, a partial list of the upcoming renovations has been reported by USA Today.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Editorial: Does assessor Fritz Kaegi appreciate the true horrors of downtown Chicago's commercial real estate market?
Chicago is known globally for its striking skyline. But now many of the impressive towers that make up that awe-inspiring cityscape are going for a song. Is the property-value carnage happening regularly downtown registering appropriately with Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi? Case in point: The 57-story tower at 70 W. Madison St. sold earlier this month for $85 million, CoStar News reported. That sounds like a lot, but in 2014 the sellers paid $375 million — more than four times what they just got. Kaegi's office late last year reassessed 70 W. Madison for property-tax purposes. The office came up with a value of $317 million, a 27% increase from the $250 million valuation determined in 2023 by the Cook County Board of Review, which hears property owners' appeals of the assessor's work. What did the market just say the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed tower was worth? $85 million. The Board of Review presumably will take that sale into account when it considers the likely appeal later this year. Granted, this is just one building where the assessment and a fast, subsequent sale are at such sharp odds. But the shocking bath the owners of 70 W. Madison took is hardly an anomaly. The former Groupon headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave., a 1.6 million-square-foot structure running along the North Branch of the Chicago River, sold in recent days for $89 million. Just eight years ago, Chicago development firm Sterling Bay paid $510 million for the hulking structure. The primary reason for the lost value? Financially ailing Groupon, which had occupied 300,000 square feet there, decamped about a year ago for a 25,000-square-foot space in the Loop. And a deal is close to sell 311 S. Wacker Drive, a high-end office building adjacent to the Willis Tower that many recognize by its illuminated crown at the top, for around $70 million, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The owners paid $302 million in 2014, and the potential buyers even have discussed razing the tower and building something new in its place. All of the above is context for the news that Kaegi's office has completed its triennial reassessment of Chicago properties and found that, despite robustly higher values for homes in the city over the past three years, values for commercial properties as a group have risen even more. After Kaegi's reassessment, commercial properties would account for 51% of the city's tax base and residential for 49%, the Tribune reported. Currently, Chicago homeowners collectively shoulder 51% of property taxes and commercial 49%. The percentages matter a lot. Even if government property tax levies stay level (which they haven't; take a look at ever-rising levies from Chicago Public Schools, which make up well over a half of Chicago property tax bills), a change in how they're apportioned means significantly higher tax bills for homeowners or commercial property owners. As of now, businesses are set to pay more because governments are due the taxes they demand regardless of who pays what, and businesses' share of the burden will increase by the assessor's accounting. But the assessor's work is far from the last word on the matter. The three-member Board of Review, which will consider what we're sure will be a pile of appeals, has seen fit to dramatically reduce the assessor's commercial property assessments in other parts of Cook County, resulting in shockingly higher property tax bills for many suburban homeowners. Kaegi has harshly criticized the board for the financial pain those homeowners are suffering, in particular singling out for his ire Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., who represents the South and West sides and the south suburbs. Rogers has responded in kind and told us last year he may run against Kaegi for assessor in 2026. We've spoken positively in the past about Kaegi's efforts to modernize his office after the disastrous tenure of Joe Berrios. And we appreciate that the nepotism and other questionable practices associated with the Berrios years aren't an issue now. But large portions of the business community are irate at what they perceive as Kaegi's exorbitant valuations of their property, which in their view he's doing in order to lighten the load on residents. After all, businesses don't vote; people do. At least on the face of it, there's reason to wonder at the conclusions Kaegi's office has drawn in the wake of what all agree has been a painful post-pandemic hit to commercial values, particularly office. Downtown office buildings make up 20% of Chicago's tax base. The assessor found that the value of Chicago's commercial subcategory comprising office, retail and hotels rose 22% since the last assessment. In the three townships making up the Loop, the increase totaled 21%, according to Crain's. That's head-scratching in light of the parade of historically massive losses downtown office building owners have absorbed in recent transactions. Kaegi's office is categorizing some of the worst blows taken by Chicago office building owners as 'distressed' sales that don't always reflect what the assessor views as true value. Many landlords, we're confident, aren't buying that reasoning. We won't be surprised if Kaegi's numbers change radically after the Board of Review is finished. First-installment property tax bills due this coming spring just were mailed out, but they don't reflect the latest reassessments. The second-installment bills, due in the fall, will account for the changes in Chicago. For homeowners, the results could well be ugly, as we've said before. The bottom line is that this war between the assessor and the Board of Review is serving no one's interests. At the end of the day, the job of those who assess property for tax purposes is to get the calculations as correct as possible in light of what's actually happening in the market. It's not to try to redress the inequities of a municipal tax system that relies far too heavily on landowners. Those fights are for the likes of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. JB Pritzker and an independent Chicago School Board that will take full control of Chicago Public Schools in 2027. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@
Chicago Tribune
31-01-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Does assessor Fritz Kaegi appreciate the true horrors of downtown Chicago's commercial real estate market?
Chicago is known globally for its striking skyline. But now many of the impressive towers that make up that awe-inspiring cityscape are going for a song. Is the property-value carnage happening regularly downtown registering appropriately with Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi? Case in point: The 57-story tower at 70 W. Madison St. sold earlier this month for $85 million, CoStar News reported. That sounds like a lot, but in 2014 the sellers paid $375 million — more than four times what they just got. Kaegi's office late last year reassessed 70 W. Madison for property-tax purposes. The office came up with a value of $317 million, a 27% increase from the $250 million valuation determined in 2023 by the Cook County Board of Review, which hears property owners' appeals of the assessor's work. What did the market just say the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed tower was worth? $85 million. The Board of Review presumably will take that sale into account when it considers the likely appeal later this year. Granted, this is just one building where the assessment and a fast, subsequent sale are at such sharp odds. But the shocking bath the owners of 70 W. Madison took is hardly an anomaly. The former Groupon headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave., a 1.6 million-square-foot structure running along the North Branch of the Chicago River, sold in recent days for $89 million. Just eight years ago, Chicago development firm Sterling Bay paid $510 million for the hulking structure. The primary reason for the lost value? Financially ailing Groupon, which had occupied 300,000 square feet there, decamped about a year ago for a 25,000-square-foot space in the Loop. And a deal is close to sell 311 S. Wacker Drive, a high-end office building adjacent to the Willis Tower that many recognize by its illuminated crown at the top, for around $70 million, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The owners paid $302 million in 2014, and the potential buyers even have discussed razing the tower and building something new in its place. All of the above is context for the news that Kaegi's office has completed its triennial reassessment of Chicago properties and found that, despite robustly higher values for homes in the city over the past three years, values for commercial properties as a group have risen even more. After Kaegi's reassessment, commercial properties would account for 51% of the city's tax base and residential for 49%, the Tribune reported. Currently, Chicago homeowners collectively shoulder 51% of property taxes and commercial 49%. The percentages matter a lot. Even if government property tax levies stay level (which they haven't; take a look at ever-rising levies from Chicago Public Schools, which make up well over a half of Chicago property tax bills), a change in how they're apportioned means significantly higher tax bills for homeowners or commercial property owners. As of now, businesses are set to pay more because governments are due the taxes they demand regardless of who pays what, and businesses' share of the burden will increase by the assessor's accounting. But the assessor's work is far from the last word on the matter. The three-member Board of Review, which will consider what we're sure will be a pile of appeals, has seen fit to dramatically reduce the assessor's commercial property assessments in other parts of Cook County, resulting in shockingly higher property tax bills for many suburban homeowners. Kaegi has harshly criticized the board for the financial pain those homeowners are suffering, in particular singling out for his ire Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., who represents the South and West sides and the south suburbs. Rogers has responded in kind and told us last year he may run against Kaegi for assessor in 2026. We've spoken positively in the past about Kaegi's efforts to modernize his office after the disastrous tenure of Joe Berrios. And we appreciate that the nepotism and other questionable practices associated with the Berrios years aren't an issue now. But large portions of the business community are irate at what they perceive as Kaegi's exorbitant valuations of their property, which in their view he's doing in order to lighten the load on residents. After all, businesses don't vote; people do. At least on the face of it, there's reason to wonder at the conclusions Kaegi's office has drawn in the wake of what all agree has been a painful post-pandemic hit to commercial values, particularly office. Downtown office buildings make up 20% of Chicago's tax base. The assessor found that the value of Chicago's commercial subcategory comprising office, retail and hotels rose 22% since the last assessment. In the three townships making up the Loop, the increase totaled 21%, according to Crain's. That's head-scratching in light of the parade of historically massive losses downtown office building owners have absorbed in recent transactions. Kaegi's office is categorizing some of the worst blows taken by Chicago office building owners as 'distressed' sales that don't always reflect what the assessor views as true value. Many landlords, we're confident, aren't buying that reasoning. We won't be surprised if Kaegi's numbers change radically after the Board of Review is finished. First-installment property tax bills due this coming spring just were mailed out, but they don't reflect the latest reassessments. The second-installment bills, due in the fall, will account for the changes in Chicago. For homeowners, the results could well be ugly, as we've said before. The bottom line is that this war between the assessor and the Board of Review is serving no one's interests. At the end of the day, the job of those who assess property for tax purposes is to get the calculations as correct as possible in light of what's actually happening in the market. It's not to try to redress the inequities of a municipal tax system that relies far too heavily on landowners. Those fights are for the likes of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. JB Pritzker and an independent Chicago School Board that will take full control of Chicago Public Schools in 2027.
