Wal-Mart To Take Another Swing At Chicago

By Kevin Robinson in News on Mar 29, 2010 2:40PM

Back in February 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale announced to the Chicago media that he had the votes lined up to bring Chicago's second Wal-Mart store into his South side ward. The store, which is intended to be part of the Pullman Park development on the old Ryerson Steel site between 103rd and 111th streets, next to the Dan Ryan Expressway, will feature a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which includes a grocery store. "I'm confident I have the votes. I'm floating around 34 or 35," Beale told Fran Spielman at the Sun-Times. At the time, Beale was expecting the Chicago Plan Commission to vote on the proposal at its March 18th meeting, and have the development before the council in April. The development wasn't on the commission's agenda this month, but it will be in April which means it could come up before the City Council by May.

The 180-acre project includes developing 850 homes, a hotel tower, community recreation center, park and senior apartments, with Wal-Mart as the anchor for the development. While the residential portion of the development will require a substantial subsidy from the City of Chicago, supporters intend to push for approval of the commercial portion of the development first, avoiding approval by Ald. Ed Burke's Finance Committee. Burke has held up further development of city Wal-Marts, saying that the mega-retailer needs to agree to a set of community benefits such as a living wage. The commercial portion of the Pullman Park development will be privately financed, and the plan commission will vote on the site's zoning. Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon told the Sun-Times that he doubts the Beale has the 26 votes he needs to get the deal approved.

Marina Huppert, the legislative and political director for Local 881UFCW, told Chicagoist that she doesn't "see firm commitments for a Wal-Mart...I attend every council meeting and check in with aldermen on a regular basis. Even if you look at those still undecided or unwilling to commit, the required votes just aren't there. Whether it's approving a Wal-Mart outright or letting them sneak in as part of a major development, aldermen are uncomfortable in committing their support for a Wal-Mart, especially when the municipal elections are just around the corner."

The plan commission will hold it's next meeting on April 15.