Latest news with #Onni
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Zoning Committee defers action on massive River West apartment complex, as labor unions press developer for an agreement
The City Council's Zoning Committee took no action Tuesday on a controversial $1.1 billion proposal to develop several thousand riverfront apartments just north of where Bally's Corp. is building its permanent Chicago casino. The deferral sets up a possible up-or-down vote by the full City Council on June 20 for Vancouver-based Onni Group, which wants to build several skyscrapers up to 650 feet tall on a bend in the Chicago River at 700 W. Chicago Ave. The proposed River West project would involve a total of 2,451 residences, including nearly 500 affordable units. The influential Service Employees International Union Local 1, a 50,000-member union that represents janitors, security officers and door staff at many Chicago-area buildings, currently opposes the development. The group wants a labor peace agreement with Onni, making it easier to organize staff at the company's Chicago buildings, before endorsing the massive development. Other unions in the construction trades support Onni's proposal. Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, chair of the Zoning Committee, said he had held off holding a vote on Onni's proposal ever since the Chicago Plan Commission approved it last June, hoping the parties would forge an agreement. 'Everybody, they're playing chicken, we're in the middle of a chicken game,' he said Tuesday. The development site is in Burnett's ward, and he supported it at the 2024 Plan Commission meeting. Onni Group is using a rare procedure, authorized by a 2022 zoning reform, that allows some developers proposing large amounts of affordable housing to sidestep the Zoning Committee and secure a full City Council vote. The company sent a letter on April 21 to Burnett requesting the committee take up the proposal, called Halsted Landing. If no action is taken in 60 days, it gets a vote at the June 20 City Council meeting. The Zoning Committee is scheduled to meet next Tuesday, but according to the published agenda, it's a special meeting where members will discuss an environmental ordinance backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and no votes will be taken. Richard Klawiter, a DLA Piper attorney representing Onni, outlined for committee members the benefits of giving the project a green light. In addition to the much-needed affordable housing, Onni would contribute about $26 million to city programs such as the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, eventually pay tens of millions in property taxes, and create thousands of construction jobs. The company had agreed to the union's demand for a neutrality agreement but balked at providing contact information for employees, including names and addresses, and the Zoning Committee was not the place to settle the yearlong dispute, Klawiter said. 'This is not the National Labor Relations Board, but rather, the Committee on Zoning,' he said. A union spokesperson on Tuesday said SEIU Local 1 does not have a comment at this time. There was some confusion during the committee hearing. When Onni's proposal came up for discussion, Burnett was in the room behind council chambers speaking with Jason Lee, a senior adviser to Johnson. Council members typically defer to the local alderman when it comes to development decisions, a tradition known as 'aldermanic prerogative,' and several said they were reluctant to discuss the matter. 'I would recommend we hold this until we hear from the chairman,' said Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th. Burnett returned only after discussion on the development was paused, ran through the rest of the meeting's agenda, but then adjourned the meeting without recalling Onni's proposal. The Onni Group did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The 2022 zoning reform, known as the Connected Communities Ordinance, overhauled city zoning law. It allows developers proposing large amounts of affordable housing in high-cost areas such as River West another way to secure approvals if they hit political roadblocks. They need to hold a community meeting in the affected neighborhood, which Onni did in January, and send a letter to the Zoning Committee chair requesting a vote, starting the 60-day timetable. Sterling Bay is the only other developer to choose this route. It held a community meeting in January in Lincoln Park, and said it wanted to use Connected Communities to secure approval for its plan to construct 615 units in a pair of skyscrapers at 1840 N. Marcey St. near the CTA's Red Line. Local Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, has said he opposes the project because many neighbors say it's out-of-scale with the surrounding neighborhood. Burnett was coy after the Zoning Committee meeting about whether he would support Onni next month, or whether enough council members would be willing to buck the unions. 'I don't know what the City Council is doing,' he said. 'The unions are lobbying everybody. So, people are conflicted. Everybody hopes they can work it out.'
Chicago Tribune
20-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Zoning Committee defers action on massive River West apartment complex, as labor unions press developer for an agreement
The City Council's Zoning Committee took no action Tuesday on a controversial $1.1 billion proposal to develop several thousand riverfront apartments just north of where Bally's Corp. is building its permanent Chicago casino. The deferral sets up a possible up-or-down vote by the full City Council on June 20 for Vancouver-based Onni Group, which wants to build several skyscrapers up to 650 feet tall on a bend in the Chicago River at 700 W. Chicago Ave. The proposed River West project would involve a total of 2,451 residences, including nearly 500 affordable units. The influential Service Employees International Union Local 1, a 50,000-member union that represents janitors, security officers and door staff at many Chicago-area buildings, currently opposes the development. The group wants a labor peace agreement with Onni, making it easier to organize staff at the company's Chicago buildings, before endorsing the massive development. Other unions in the construction trades support Onni's proposal. Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, chair of the Zoning Committee, said he had held off holding a vote on Onni's proposal ever since the Chicago Plan Commission approved it last June, hoping the parties would forge an agreement. 'Everybody, they're playing chicken, we're in the middle of a chicken game,' he said Tuesday. The development site is in Burnett's ward, and he supported it at the 2024 Plan Commission meeting. Onni Group is using a rare procedure, authorized by a 2022 zoning reform, that allows some developers proposing large amounts of affordable housing to sidestep the Zoning Committee and secure a full City Council vote. The company sent a letter on April 21 to Burnett requesting the committee take up the proposal, called Halsted Landing. If no action is taken in 60 days, it gets a vote at the June 20 City Council meeting. The Zoning Committee is scheduled to meet next Tuesday, but according to the published agenda, it's a special meeting where members will discuss an environmental ordinance backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and no votes will be taken. Richard Klawiter, a DLA Piper attorney representing Onni, outlined for committee members the benefits of giving the project a green light. In addition to the much-needed affordable housing, Onni would contribute about $26 million to city programs such as the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, eventually pay tens of millions in property taxes, and create thousands of construction jobs. The company had agreed to the union's demand for a neutrality agreement but balked at providing contact information for employees, including names and addresses, and the Zoning Committee was not the place to settle the yearlong dispute, Klawiter said. 'This is not the National Labor Relations Board, but rather, the Committee on Zoning,' he said. A union spokesperson on Tuesday said SEIU Local 1 does not have a comment at this time. There was some confusion during the committee hearing. When Onni's proposal came up for discussion, Burnett was in the room behind council chambers speaking with Jason Lee, a senior adviser to Johnson. Council members typically defer to the local alderman when it comes to development decisions, a tradition known as 'aldermanic prerogative,' and several said they were reluctant to discuss the matter. 'I would recommend we hold this until we hear from the chairman,' said Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th. Burnett returned only after discussion on the development was paused, ran through the rest of the meeting's agenda, but then adjourned the meeting without recalling Onni's proposal. The Onni Group did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The 2022 zoning reform, known as the Connected Communities Ordinance, overhauled city zoning law. It allows developers proposing large amounts of affordable housing in high-cost areas such as River West another way to secure approvals if they hit political roadblocks. They need to hold a community meeting in the affected neighborhood, which Onni did in January, and send a letter to the Zoning Committee chair requesting a vote, starting the 60-day timetable. Sterling Bay is the only other developer to choose this route. It held a community meeting in January in Lincoln Park, and said it wanted to use Connected Communities to secure approval for its plan to construct 615 units in a pair of skyscrapers at 1840 N. Marcey St. near the CTA's Red Line. Local Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, has said he opposes the project because many neighbors say it's out-of-scale with the surrounding neighborhood. Burnett was coy after the Zoning Committee meeting about whether he would support Onni next month, or whether enough council members would be willing to buck the unions. 'I don't know what the City Council is doing,' he said. 'The unions are lobbying everybody. So, people are conflicted. Everybody hopes they can work it out.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Editorial: A big Canadian developer just says no to Chicago political extortion
There's been a lot of talk of late at City Hall about housing in Chicago — that is, how we need more of it. A lot more. And fast. So it's curious that Ald. Walter Burnett, chair of the City Council's Zoning Committee and vice mayor, has been sitting on a zoning application for a massive apartment building planned for a vacant 7-acre lot in River West for almost a year. The $1.1 billion project seems to be made exactly to order for Mayor Brandon Johnson. Canadian developer Onni Group, which owns multiple commercial and residential towers in Chicago, has proposed three buildings on the site next to what used to be the Chicago Tribune's Freedom Center and is soon supposed to be Chicago's long-awaited casino. The project would create more than 2,450 new units, including 490 affordable apartments. Onni obtained approval from the Chicago Plan Commission last June, teeing up the project for Burnett's Zoning Committee back then. Since then? Crickets. What's apparently behind the delay, according to recent reporting from Crain's Chicago Business, is that one of Chicago's most politically powerful unions, Service Employees International Union Local 1, views the zoning approval as leverage to force Onni to make it easier for SEIU to unionize the staff at not just this new project but all of Onni's residential buildings in Chicago. The developer has refused to budge and recently moved to bypass Burnett's committee, which an applicant is allowed to do under zoning rules meant to overcome the opposition of a single alderman to proposals for new affordable housing. Such NIMBY-based opposition — enabled by Chicago's tradition of aldermanic prerogative, which has given aldermen effective veto power over developments in their wards — is part of the reason Chicago is suffering such a housing shortage. But Burnett's blockage isn't a NIMBY story at all. It's a new chapter in a different age-old tale in this town — of unions using their influence over local government to boost their membership rolls. Onni's audacious move sets up a City Council vote this summer that potentially would force aldermen to choose between risking the displeasure of SEIU, which contributes generously to local campaigns and helps provide organizational muscle as well, and furthering what virtually all these City Council members espouse — building more affordable places to live. Of course, there is nothing preventing SEIU from attempting to organize workers at Onni's existing Chicago apartment buildings, which include the three high-rise Old Town Park buildings in Old Town and the 41-story 369 Grand in River North, both high-end projects. What SEIU wants the City Council to do is force Onni into a 'labor peace' agreement in which it wouldn't oppose SEIU's organizing efforts and would provide contact information for employees to help the union get the job done. Onni told Crain's only that it was continuing to 'work with the city and all parties.' We know little else about why Onni opposes union organization of its apartment-building staff in Chicago. The family-owned company is a very large real estate concern, with multiple buildings in Southern California, Vancouver, Phoenix, Toronto and Seattle, in addition to Chicago. It's known for having never sold a project it developed since its founding in the late 1950s, according to CoStar. What we do know is that it's wrong to attempt to use what should be a relatively routine, uncontroversial action in the City Council to extort a private-sector employer in this way. Chicago may be a 'union town,' as many in the City Council would aver, but it should be open to business to any company willing to invest here, whether it's a union shop or not. Given its moribund local economy and declining population, Chicago is in no position right now to attempt to throw its weight around with a large-scale player that can and does invest in many other markets. This is an opportunity for Mayor Johnson to put his money where his mouth is. So far, the mayor has been mum on whether this project should go forward even if SEIU (a major contributor to Johnson's 2023 campaign) is in opposition. In a wide-ranging meeting we had Thursday with Johnson's housing commissioner, Lissette Castañeda, she declined to take a side. Johnson ought to tell his vice mayor, Ald. Burnett, to move this important development forward. If Burnett refuses, aldermen should set aside their political loyalties and do what's best for Chicago once it comes to the full council for a vote. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: A big Canadian developer just says no to Chicago political extortion
There's been a lot of talk of late at City Hall about housing in Chicago — that is, how we need more of it. A lot more. And fast. So it's curious that Ald. Walter Burnett, chair of the City Council's Zoning Committee and vice mayor, has been sitting on a zoning application for a massive apartment building planned for a vacant 7-acre lot in River West for almost a year. The $1.1 billion project seems to be made exactly to order for Mayor Brandon Johnson. Canadian developer Onni Group, which owns multiple commercial and residential towers in Chicago, has proposed three buildings on the site next to what used to be the Chicago Tribune's Freedom Center and is soon supposed to be Chicago's long-awaited casino. The project would create more than 2,450 new units, including 490 affordable apartments. Onni obtained approval from the Chicago Plan Commission last June, teeing up the project for Burnett's Zoning Committee back then. Since then? Crickets. What's apparently behind the delay, according to recent reporting from Crain's Chicago Business, is that one of Chicago's most politically powerful unions, Service Employees International Union Local 1, views the zoning approval as leverage to force Onni to make it easier for SEIU to unionize the staff at not just this new project but all of Onni's residential buildings in Chicago. The developer has refused to budge and recently moved to bypass Burnett's committee, which an applicant is allowed to do under zoning rules meant to overcome the opposition of a single alderman to proposals for new affordable housing. Such NIMBY-based opposition — enabled by Chicago's tradition of aldermanic prerogative, which has given aldermen effective veto power over developments in their wards — is part of the reason Chicago is suffering such a housing shortage. But Burnett's blockage isn't a NIMBY story at all. It's a new chapter in a different age-old tale in this town — of unions using their influence over local government to boost their membership rolls. Onni's audacious move sets up a City Council vote this summer that potentially would force aldermen to choose between risking the displeasure of SEIU, which contributes generously to local campaigns and helps provide organizational muscle as well, and furthering what virtually all these City Council members espouse — building more affordable places to live. Of course, there is nothing preventing SEIU from attempting to organize workers at Onni's existing Chicago apartment buildings, which include the three high-rise Old Town Park buildings in Old Town and the 41-story 369 Grand in River North, both high-end projects. What SEIU wants the City Council to do is force Onni into a 'labor peace' agreement in which it wouldn't oppose SEIU's organizing efforts and would provide contact information for employees to help the union get the job done. Onni told Crain's only that it was continuing to 'work with the city and all parties.' We know little else about why Onni opposes union organization of its apartment-building staff in Chicago. The family-owned company is a very large real estate concern, with multiple buildings in Southern California, Vancouver, Phoenix, Toronto and Seattle, in addition to Chicago. It's known for having never sold a project it developed since its founding in the late 1950s, according to CoStar. What we do know is that it's wrong to attempt to use what should be a relatively routine, uncontroversial action in the City Council to extort a private-sector employer in this way. Chicago may be a 'union town,' as many in the City Council would aver, but it should be open to business to any company willing to invest here, whether it's a union shop or not. Given its moribund local economy and declining population, Chicago is in no position right now to attempt to throw its weight around with a large-scale player that can and does invest in many other markets. This is an opportunity for Mayor Johnson to put his money where his mouth is. So far, the mayor has been mum on whether this project should go forward even if SEIU (a major contributor to Johnson's 2023 campaign) is in opposition. In a wide-ranging meeting we had Thursday with Johnson's housing commissioner, Lissette Castañeda, she declined to take a side. Johnson ought to tell his vice mayor, Ald. Burnett, to move this important development forward. If Burnett refuses, aldermen should set aside their political loyalties and do what's best for Chicago once it comes to the full council for a vote.
