City subsidy increased for third time to spur Congress Theater rehab

A City Council committee agreed Thursday to up the ante to save the landmark Congress Theater amid warnings that the deteriorating movie palace-turned-concert-venue won’t make it through another brutal Chicago winter.

It’s the third time the Council’s Finance Committee has agreed to revise a city subsidy to pave the way for an $87.8 million “gut rehab” of the 104-year-old theater at 2135 N. Milwaukee in Logan Square.

Last year, local Ald. Daniel LaSpata (1st) convinced his colleagues to extend the life of the Fullerton/Milwaukee tax increment financing district by three years — until Dec. 31, 2027 — and grant the latest development team tackling the formidable project a $27 million subsidy.

The extension and increased TIF subsidy — up from $7 million the year before — was supposed to give a team led by Baum Revision time to complete the complex and ambitious project that had eluded the previous developer.

It still hasn’t happened. That’s apparently why the deal was sweetened yet again in hopes the third time will be the charm.

Baum Revisions now will receive $250,000 in additional TIF money and other city assistance. The city will “restructure TIF dispersement milestones” into four installments. And the funds will be “converted from a grant to forgiveable loans,” the Finance Committee was told.

Deputy Planning and Development Commissioner Jeffrey Cohen said the “primary purpose” of the revised agreement is to “provide a pathway of navigating a very difficult capital market for projects of this size and nature” and spare developers “unnecessary interest costs" that would “make the development financially unfeasible.”

With single-digit temperatures on the coldest day of the year, Cohen argued the $250,000s not only is “warranted” but also is “necessary” to ensure “interior demolition and winterization” of the historic 104-year-old theater “can commence before another Chicago winter like today.”

“This structure, as modified, will generate approximately $1.02 million in interest savings. A portion of the loan balance will be forgiven on an annual basis throughout the compliance period provided the project remains in good standing," Cohen told the Finance Committee.

La Spata said it's been a "difficult road to walk to get here" and a "difficult road ahead" remains. But he has seldom seen a project where "every square foot solves a problem for" the surrounding community.

“For arts groups at risk of displacement in our neighborhood, this building provides affordable spaces for them to continue their work. For the hundreds of workers in our commercial retail spaces along Milwaukee Avenue, this provides apartments for them to live in,” he said.

The “catalytic impact” of the development is already evidenced by “interest in vacant lots, vacant storefronts along Milwaukee Avenue" and it's "only going to get stronger," LaSpata said.

Under the current plan — the latest in a series of rehab proposals — the Congress would be reborn as a “state of the art, 3,500-seat live music venue” operated by AEG Presents.

The project also includes13,000 square feet of retail space along Milwaukee Avenue, 23,000 square feet of office space dedicated to nonprofits and community groups and developing16 residential units, with 14 of those qualifying as affordable housing.

Roof replacement and restoration of the theater’s familiar marquee are in the plan. City planners also say a “significant amount of exterior stabilization” is needed to keep the Congress operating for the next century. Inside, there will be a “total rehab” of interior systems and spaces with a particular focus on restoring the theater’s “historic features,” including lobby spaces and ornate fixtures.

The city’s investment will be protected by a redevelopment agreement requiring “at least 75%” of the retail, commercial and affordable housing units to be “leased and occupied” and that AEG “continuously operate the theater for no less than 10 years.”

The developer must also provide retail and commercial spaces — to locally owned artists, businesses and neighborhood-based organizations — at rents “no greater than 70% of the neighborhood’s market rate,” he said.

If those conditions are not met, the city has the right to lien the property to re-capture TIF funds.

The Congress was built in 1926 in the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance style. The ornate movie theater was once “one of 30” of its kind in Chicago. In the 1980s, it was turned into a live music venue. It earned landmark status and a place in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

It has been closed since 2013, when the city threw the book at the facility after the latest in a series of failed inspections.