Latest news with #Owings
Indianapolis Star
28-05-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
How much it costs to keep 'cutting edge' Indiana football staffer from joining Big Ten rival
BLOOMINGTON — Derek Owings' new contract with Indiana, signed in early May, places him among the top five highest-paid strength coaches in America. Per a USA Today database, Owings' new salary — $925,000, with $400,000 in base salary and the rest in outside compensation — ranks third nationally behind only Oklahoma State's Rob Glass and Alabama's David Ballou. Owings also received a third year on his contract, which now runs through May 1, 2028. That marks a significant increase on the $635,000 per year Owings was scheduled to make per the terms of an improved contract signed last winter, in the afterglow of IU football's appearance in the College Football Playoff. The university at that time rewarded Curt Cignetti and nearly every member of his staff (Tino Sunseri left for UCLA) with new deals after the Hoosiers reached a program-record 11 wins in 2024. Owings, who has been with Cignetti since his time at James Madison, is often cited by his coach as a key cog in Cignetti's winning process. 'Derek Owings is a guy I've got a lot of confidence in,' Cignetti said in February 2024. 'Strength and conditioning has really changed through the years. It's become a very scientific thing. I think he's on the cutting edge, gets great results. I have 100% confidence in him. I don't mess with him. That's his area. I let him go.' Cignetti's confidence transformed into outside appeal, in the wake of that playoff run. Owings was reportedly a serious candidate for the same position under Lincoln Riley at Southern Cal earlier this spring. That prompted IU to offer Owings improved terms, which he accepted May 2. In addition to his base salary and outside, marketing and promotional income (OMPI), Owings can earn bonuses for a variety of team-performance benchmarks. He receives 10% of his base salary, for example, if IU reaches a bowl game and he remains employed at the time that game is played. Owings also receives 12% of his base salary if IU reaches nine wins, 15% if the Hoosiers get to 10 wins and 20% if they reach 11 wins. Other bonuses include appearances and success in both the Big Ten title game and the College Football Playoff. All bonuses are payable only if Owings remains employed at the time of the game in question. Insider: How 'Operation Bigfoot' brought Hoosier the bison back to life. Why IU finds value in mascot His new contract also affords Owings meaningful buyout protection. IU would owe 100% of his guaranteed annual compensation if Owings is fired without cause before the end of his contract, subject to mitigation. The university would also owe him six months' guaranteed income if Cignetti left or was fired. Owings would likewise owe Indiana if he chooses to break his contract early. He's required to pay 50% of remaining guaranteed compensation if he leaves before April 20, 2027, and 30% of the same if he leaves May 1, 2027-May 1, 2028. This deal makes Owings the third highest-paid member of Cignetti's staff, behind only coordinators Mike Shanahan and Bryant Haines. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad earns slightly less, at $900,000 per year.
Indianapolis Star
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Curt Cignetti retains key member of Indiana football staff pursued by Big Ten rival
BLOOMINGTON — IU signed football's head strength coach, Derek Owings, to a new three-year deal on improved terms Friday, amid interest from Southern Cal. Owings, who has been with Curt Cignetti for several years dating back to Cignetti's time at James Madison, has routinely been described by his coach as among the most important members of Cignetti's staff. As recently as Thursday, during an appearance at a Boys and Girls Club fundraiser in Bloomington, Cignetti called Owings — whose official title is director of athletic performance, football — 'cutting edge' in his approach to strength and conditioning. Owings attended that fundraiser with Cignetti. And more than once during the 2024 season, which for Indiana ended in the College Football Playoff, Cignetti cited Owings as a key pillar to his program's success. All of which led USC to express serious interest in tempting Owings west to join Lincoln Riley's reclamation project in University Park. Since November, Indiana has inked Cignetti to a robust eight-year contract and handed out more lucrative deals to nearly all his assistants. Owings himself got a raise to $635,000 per year in that round of new contracts last winter. His refreshed contract now becomes the latest example of that commitment.
Indianapolis Star
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Curt Cignetti retains key member of Indiana football staff pursued by Big Ten rival
Show Caption Indiana has continued to show a financial investment to football coach Curt Cignetti, his assistants and support staff. That continued to hold off league rival USC on Friday. BLOOMINGTON — IU signed football's head strength coach, Derek Owings, to a new three-year deal on improved terms Friday, amid interest from Southern Cal. Owings, who has been with Curt Cignetti for several years dating back to Cignetti's time at James Madison, has routinely been described by his coach as among the most important members of Cignetti's staff. As recently as Thursday, during an appearance at a Boys and Girls Club fundraiser in Bloomington, Cignetti called Owings — whose official title is director of athletic performance, football — 'cutting edge' in his approach to strength and conditioning. Owings attended that fundraiser with Cignetti. And more than once during the 2024 season, which for Indiana ended in the College Football Playoff, Cignetti cited Owings as a key pillar to his program's success. All of which led USC to express serious interest in tempting Owings west to join Lincoln Riley's reclamation project in University Park. Since November, Indiana has inked Cignetti to a robust eight-year contract and handed out more lucrative deals to nearly all his assistants. Owings himself got a raise to $635,000 per year in that round of new contracts last winter. His refreshed contract now becomes the latest example of that commitment.
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.
