Around Rogers Park - Almost Believable…
- Category: Latest News

Let’s end this wrap-up with a little humor. As reported in Block Club Chicago, no, there is no nude beach in Rogers Park …
But, given what we know about the neighborhood, it’s diverse population and open-minded ways, it almost seemed plausible that there could be, maybe somewhere a little off the beaten track and out of view. Maybe that’s why, when “Nude Beach Past This Sign” suddenly appeared at Loyola Beach, it almost seemed believable. After all, Rogers Parkers have earned their reputation as being just little more free-wheeling, uninhibited and less constrained that the residents of other, more conventional neighborhoods.
Evanston Considers Adopting “Just Cause Eviction” Provisions
- Category: Latest News

It’s been discussed in Chicago for years. It’s already been enacted in other cities and states, including Seattle, Washington D.C. and New Jersey, just to name a few. Now, Just Cause Eviction is being actively considered in Evanston and could be enacted by their City Council later this year. If this happens, it will open the door to similar ordinances across Illinois.
Bring Chicago Home
- Category: Latest News
An article in the Fall 2022 Rogers Park Builder lays out the proposal to increase Chicago’s real estate transfer tax on transactions of $1 million or higher. This proposed legislation is known as the Bring Chicago Home Ordinance. More cynically, many of its promoters like to call it the millionaire tax.
Mayor Brandon Johnson: the First 100 Days
- Category: Latest News

It’s probably way too early to say much about the new Mayor and where he’s taking the city. After all, he’s only been in office for a few months since his May 15 inauguration. But hey, you have to start somewhere.
Letter to the Editor
- Category: Latest News
- Michael Mini
- Executive Vice President
Chicagoland Apartment Association
We are not allowed to reprint Mike Mini’s excellent Letter to the Editor in the June 26, 2023 edition of Crain’s Chicago Business in its entirety due to copyright laws. But we can provide a few highlights and encourage our readers to clink this link and read the letter in full.
Marty Max, Past RPBG President and Current Member of the Finance Committee
- Category: Latest News

Whenever I do one of these profiles, I always like to start by emailing a short list of written questions so that the person I’m profiling can get a head start on what I want to cover.
Ups and Downs - Summer 2023
- Category: Latest News
- By:
- Steve Cain
Summer, 2023
It still feels like a mad, mad, mad world out there. On the climate front, it’s been quite a summer. We’ve had heat waves, smoke-filled skies, boiling oceans, and flooding rains. In politics, everyone seems to have gone completely nuts. A former President with four indictments (and counting) will probably be the Republican candidate for President in what can only be described as the battle of the geriatrics in 2024. In Chicago, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that the CTU is now more or less in control of the city – which is a way of saying the foxes are in charge of the hen house.
Clark Street Streetscape Now Underway
- Category: Latest News

Thanks to the coordinating work of the Rogers Park Business Alliance, the Clark Street corridor between Devon and Arthur Avenues is going to have a new look in the very near future. Beginning on July 5th, the Vision Clark Street Corridor Master Plan begins its transformation from a bunch of ideas and pretty drawings to actual construction and tangible results.
Ken Walchak Sells Clark-Devon to Employees
- Category: Latest News

Ken Walchak and the Rogers Park community go back a long way. Ken and his brother Ed have been deeply involved in Rogers Park for decades and have run the Clark-Devon Hardware store for half a century. They followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather who founded the company just shy of a century ago.
NBOA and LREIC Panel Discussion of Migrant Influx to Chicago
- Category: Latest News

The Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance (NBOA) and the Latino Real Estate Investors Council (LREIC), put together a fascinating and informative panel discussion via Zoom hosted by Rafael Leon, Executive Director of Chicago Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. (CMHDC), and including Alderman Andre Vazquez (40th Ward); Ami Novoryta, Chief Program Officer with Catholic Charities; Paul Roldan, President of Hispanic Housing Development Corp. (HHDC); and Kalman Resnick, Partner at Hughes Socol Piers, Resnick & Dym, Ltd.v
All-Affordable Redevelopment of the Werner Site at Howard and Paulina Hits a Roadblock
- Category: Latest News

In the Fall 2022 Newsletter, this newsletter reported on plans for an all-affordable new housing development at the northeast corner of Howard and Paulina Streets that would bring 110 units of housing to the Howard Street corridor. Like many such proposals, these plans required public assistance to make the project feasible since rents cannot exceed 60% of area median income (AMI) while construction and other development and financing costs are the same (or higher) than comparable market-rate developments.