Monday, March 19, 2012

Are Daley and Rahm at war?

The Sun Times is reporting that Rahm is taking Daley's deals apart. I don't think that was part of the deal. Rahm was not invited to the Daley family party at Chicago Cut last Saturday. I wonder what else is going on.
Now that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has reworked the sweetheart deal that former Mayor Richard M. Daley gave Lollapalooza, his lawyers will be back in court Monday trying to undo another Daley deal that Emanuel says is shortchanging taxpayers.

Emanuel wants to undo the concession agreement that Daley gave the Park Grill restaurant in Millennium Park. The restaurant has paid less than Emanuel thinks it should — a total of $2.4 million — in rent since it opened in 2003. Park Grill gets garbage pickup and natural gas courtesy of taxpayers, too.

Emanuel’s leverage: Park Grill operators James Horan and Matthew A. O’Malley want to sell the remainder of the 20-year concession agreement to Levy Restaurants for $8.8 million — but they need permission from Emanuel’s Chicago Park District board.


Emanuel’s argument: O’Malley and Horan got permission from the park district — but not Daley and the City Council — to operate on a city easement in Millennium Park, which means the restaurant has no legal right to be there. “Those are the kinds of grants only the City Council can give, and they have to be in writing,” says Stephen R. Patton, the city’s top lawyer.

But the restaurant’s lawyers say Daley met in his office with Horan and O’Malley to discuss Park Grill plans. Daley also attended the restaurant’s grand opening in 2003 and later signed off on its liquor license.
Both sides are back Monday before Cook County Judge Moshe Jacobius, who’ll decide whether he wants to hear more evidence in the case, which he has called “a difficult conundrum.” Jacobius recently delivered a blow to the Park Grill, ruling that the city indeed has an easement on the park district land where the restaurant sits.
Park Grill’s attorneys say if Jacobius ultimately rules in favor of City Hall, the restaurant will sue the park district for granting a concession deal on land it didn’t control.

Under the deal with Daley’s park district, the restaurant doesn’t pay its base rent of $275,000 a year until its clout-heavy investors, including Daley’s friends and relatives, recoup their investment of $7 million to build and open the restaurant.
The park district has received $2.4 million from the Park Grill, less than 3 percent of the $83.4 million the restaurant grossed between its November 2003 opening and Dec. 31, 2011. Park Grill’s revenues have fallen the past three years, reaching their lowest point last year.
Emanuel sued Park Grill on Dec. 1, at the same time park district officials were renegotiating their contract with Lollapalooza, a deal that had been negotiated by Daley’s nephew Mark Vanecko. A new deal was announced Wednesday when the concert festival’s promoters agreed to increase their payments to the park district and start paying amusement and liquor taxes.
  Tim Novak and Chris Fusco

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/19/2012

    Rahm is cleaning house. He threw the Joyces out of O'Hare, ouch. and replaced them with Westfeld. Now O'Malley is about to be out and replaced with Levy Bros.

    Daley relatives are retiring from the city by droves. If they cant retire they are going to Cook county or Water reclamation.

    In a year or 2, its going to look like Tel Avi here.

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  2. Anonymous3/19/2012

    Check out Terminal 5 concessions program on google,thn take a peek at Peter Lowy (Westfield owner) and his 65 million offshore tax shelter.

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  3. Anonymous3/19/2012

    Got to admit this is hysterical ! Good for Rahm ! How does it feel to be on the "outside" oh clouted ones ! Bunch a money grabbin jerks...Now we need to throw out Fran Hurley tomorrow and give Mr. Martin a chance. Unfortunately Mr. Hodoroweicz is running a distant third. So a vote against the machine candidate and for Mr. H. is really just a vote for Fran Hurley...so vote against the most viable alternative to the Machine candidate....Martin !!

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