Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.
Quote/Term of the Week
Megadevelopment / noun
A multi-billion-dollar, mixed-use urban project that transforms former industrial zones, rail yards or massive parking lots into entirely new neighborhoods.
Ex: The 78 megadevelopment located along the Chicago River just south of Roosevelt Road is the planned home for the new Chicago Fire FC stadium. The name comes from the goal to make it Chicago’s 78th official community area.
The 78, new Chicago Fire stadium get a big boost
Months after Chicago Fire FC broke ground on their new stadium at The 78, the South Loop megadevelopment is getting a big influx of property tax money to support future plans at the site.
City Council voted last week to use $424 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to fund the infrastructure upgrades surrounding the Fire’s new stadium. It’s a huge step forward after years of changed plans for the $7 billion site near the Chicago River and Roosevelt Road.
A bit of history: Back in 2019, City Council approved huge public subsidies for two of Chicago’s most controversial megadevelopments – Lincoln Yards and The 78.
Plans for The 78 have changed since then, partly in response to the commercial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March, the Chicago Fire, owned by Morningstar founder and billionaire investor Joe Mansueto, broke ground on the privately-financed $750 million stadium.
The 78 developer Related Midwest is expected to build new roads and set up utilities that connect the 62-acre, mixed-use development and former railyard to the surrounding neighborhoods, accompanied by a new walkable riverfront, walkways and adjustments to nearby Metra tracks.
Other aspects of the development include a $216 million podium base featuring a 1,200-space parking garage and a public plaza above it. All of the site improvements are critical to connecting the site to Roosevelt Avenue, which backers say is necessary to draw more projects.
“We need density in this city, and that density is made possible through privately financed vertical development. We cannot achieve this without the necessary physical infrastructure,” said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), whose ward includes the site.
Initially, the plan was for the developer to get reimbursed for those infrastructure costs through the new property tax revenue The 78 generated. Now, the company is getting some help, thanks to $425 million in TIF funds, most of which will be moved over from another TIF district in the West Loop.
Chicago has a controversial history about how the city uses TIF funds. TIFs, and TIF districts are a complex aspect of Chicago’s tax structure. They are supposed to isolate and dedicate a portion of one area’s property tax collections to fund economic developments and infrastructure projects in a geographic area that is considered “blighted” or in danger of blight.
Funding for this project will draw from the nearby Canal/Congress and the Roosevelt/Clark TIF districts, a move which brought criticism from local alders.
Downtown Ald. Bill Conway (34th) voiced concern that diverting funds from the Canal/Congress tax district won’t leave enough for the upkeep of Union Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center and the Greyhound bus station the city will soon own.
While it’s not uncommon to pull funds from adjacent TIF districts in order to spur nearby development, alders and community members continue to question the benefit of the project to Chicagoans citywide.
“I think this is a bad deal for taxpayers,” Conway said. “It’s paired with vague promises of housing and jobs, and I sincerely hope those aspirations come to fruition, but at this point in time the numbers just make no sense.”
Chicago City Council by Carolina Ruiz Baldin
What you can do:
Catch up on the headlines and history:
Policy changes that could signal the future of development in Chicago | City Bureau
3 Questions About Megadevelopments | City Cast Chicago
Lincoln Yards megadeal on North Side morphs into a tale of 2 projects | Chicago Sun-Times
Attend a City Council meeting: Check for upcoming City Council meetings here at the Chicago City Clerk website. To learn more about how you can give public comment – in-person or virtually – at a City Council meeting, click here.
Parking meter vote stalls
The future of Chicago’s parking meters is (deep breath) … still unknown.
The Committee on Finance was set to vote on the $2.5 billion sale of Chicago Parking Meters to private equity firm Stonepeak Partners. But Finance Committee Chair Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) called off the vote amid discussions with the firm.
Stonepeak Partners recently faced questions from alders in light of the private equity firm’s involvement with the Department of Homeland Security.
In 2025, Stonepeak paid $3.1 billion to acquire Omni Air International, an airline contractor with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Since then, the company has provided transportation for dozens of deportations, many of which were third-country removals. The company faces various allegations of wrongdoing, elevating concerns from City Council. An April investigation from Mother Jones surfaced allegations of human rights abuses and inhumane treatment, including carrying out flights that last longer than 24 hours.
Current owners and Stonepeak are asking alders to vote by July 24. Under law, City Council has to approve the sale of the parking meters.
There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding how Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office pursued — and ultimately abandoned — plans to buy back the meters for $3.3 billion, clearing the way for Stonepeak to win the bid and the coveted money that the meters will collect for decades.
Here’s a new thing we didn’t know: the city actually submitted three bids going back to October, Block Club’s Mick Dumke reported.
After submitting the $3.3 billion proposal, city officials scuttled the plan upon realizing they would need to borrow heavily in order to buy the meters, then use the meter revenues, tickets fines and more to pay down that loan. Tl;dr: It would have been a while before we saw any of that revenue circle back into our own city’s budget.
What you can do:
We want to hear from you: If you have unpaid parking, red-light or traffic tickets, have ever had your car booted or are unsure whether you owe money to the city, we want to hear about your experiences and how they affect you. Contact us at civicinfo@citybureau.org to share your story with us.
Contact your alderperson: Click here to find your alderperson and let them know your thoughts on the future of Chicago’s parking meters.
Check out our debt resource guide: Did you know Chicago is trying to sell up to $1 billion of debt? Even if that doesn’t affect you, city-owned debt can be a lot to navigate. But we got you.
A version of this story was first published in the July 22, 2026 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.
Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.