By:

Steve Cain

Two Centuries of Immigration to Chicago – Past, Present and Future

Introduction: Chicago – City of Immigrants

Chicago has always been a city of immigrants. And few places in the metro area have played a more important role in the lives of immigrants and refugees than Rogers Park. But, in recent years, and notably since the onset of the Great Recession, Chicago’s status as a Gateway City and primary destination for immigrants and refugees has slipped. This is largely due to the region’s lackluster economic recovery. 

By:

Steve Cain
Winter 2017-18
 

It has been an interesting year in many ways, both good and bad. A turbulent 2017 in Washington spilled over into the New Year with a government shutdown marking the Trump administration’s one year anniversary. Instead of attending a gala celebrating in Mar-a-Lago, President Trump spent his weekend in Washington DC in the wake of the happily brief government shutdown. This came after an especially turbulent and acrimonious week of in-fighting in Congress that came to its seemingly inevitable climax on Friday, January 19. As the clock struck midnight, no 11th hour reprieve could be found to stitch together a divided and polarized nation.

February, 2018

The Rogers Park Business Alliance has long recognized the importance of the Clark Street corridor to the Rogers Park community. In recent years, the organization has sought ways to strengthen the vitality of the corridor, maximize its appeal to Rogers Park residents, and maintain a healthy balance of retail, commercial and residential uses along its length.

February, 2018

Despite some very high profile gun violence in the neighborhood during 2017 – most notably the tragic murder last October of Cynthia Trevillion, a beloved teacher at the Chicago Waldorf School who was gunned down in a random gang shootout on North Glenwood Avenue – homicides in Rogers Park declined from 2016 to 2017. Ms. Trevillion was one of four people killed by gunfire in Rogers Park last year, down from six gun deaths in both 2015 and 2016. Overall, the neighborhood experienced 18 shootings in 2017.

February, 2018

The ground-breaking ceremony was held this past March. But spring turned into summer, fall and winter, and the 1323 W. Morse Avenue site remained strangely quiet and empty. But now it looks like the proposed development is finally ready to go. The Chicago City Council recently gave its approval, and a $30 million construction permit was issued in early December.

February, 2018

It’s official. Construction on the new Concord at Sheridan mixed-use apartment and retail property began in early December. If all goes according to plan, the apartment building will begin to rise in February and the property will open in the fall of 2018. This is the largest, new construction building to be built in the Rogers Park community since before the onset of the recession of 2008-2009.

Verella Osborne, President, Legal Document Management, Inc.

February, 2018

As living expenses have increased, shared living arrangements have grown rapidly and are now at record levels, according to The Rental Housing Journal. More adult occupants per unit inherently cause more problems for property owners. Here are some of the primary issues that can impact landlords when renting to roommates.

February, 2018

By now, most of you have probably heard the unsettling news that Chicago, the region, and the state of Illinois are losing population. For the state, these losses have been continuous since 2014.  For the metro area, there have been net losses in both 2015 and 2016. And for the city, the population dropped from 2015 to 2016.

Mina Cardenas – RPBG Director

February, 2018

Mina Cardenas has been involved with Rogers Park Builders Group for the past two years and has served as a Director during this time. Mina credits the organization for helping her strengthen existing relationships and building new ones. Mina has worked for Wintrust Bank for the past nine years and is currently Branch Manager at the Rogers Park branch on Western Avenue. In her position at Wintrust, Mina is constantly looking for new opportunities to create and expand relationships in the Rogers Park community. Like many of us, Mina enjoys socializing and working with the community of property owners and real estate professionals that RPBG brings together, and has benefitted professionally from her association with the organization.

By:

by Tom Lisy, RPBG Director
Lisy Rentals

February, 2018

The recently passed Tax Cut and Jobs Act, signed into law on December 22, 2017, contains changes of major importance to all members of the Rogers Park Builders Group. The impact of these changes will vary greatly among members of our group, based on the organizational structure of their business, amount of property owned, number of employees (if any) and total taxable income of the individual business owner. Although it will take some time before tax professionals are able to assess the total impact of the new law on their clients, we can provide this brief synopsis of the major details that will affect us all:

By:

Mike Glasser, RPBG President
February, 2018

It has been 12 years since I last assumed the mantle of President of the Rogers Park Builders Group, so it’s been a long time since I last wrote a President’s column for The Builder. With so many issues involving Chicago, Rogers Park, and general landlord topics from which to choose, one could understandably wonder what topic I would cover in this – my first post in my second stint as RPBG President.