The Biz Week That Was: Bears deal should happen ‘sooner,’ data centers face hurdle
Pritzker: Bears stadium deal should happen ‘sooner rather than later’
As lawmakers returned to Springfield Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker said that a deal to get a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights “needs to happen sooner rather than later,” but is in the hands of the state legislature. “We’ve done a lot of work in our administration to try to put something together that will work for both the state — the legislature and their concerns — and the team itself,” Pritzker said in Springfield Tuesday morning.
Aurora restricts where new data centers can be built, limits noise and water and electricity usage
Aurora has put new restrictions on where data centers can be built, the noise they emit, the water and electricity they use and how they handle biometric data. The vote Tuesday came as a six-month moratorium on building data centers is expiring. The city council added a definition of “data center” to the city’s zoning law, and decided they can only be built in areas that are zoned for some manufacturing, or for office, research and light-industrial businesses.
McHenry shopping center with Aldi, Kohl’s sells for $13.7M
The McHenry Town Center strip mall recently sold for $13.74 million, according to a news release from the real estate brokerage that made the deal. The eight-suite, 94,658-square-foot shopping center at 2226 N. Richmond Road sits on 8.9 acres and was built in 2003. Current tenants include Aldi, Kohl’s, Treehouse Play Cafe and Bath & Body Works.
‘Microshifting’ puts a new spin on 9-to-5 schedules
A trend of wage earners engaging in “microshifting,” a flexible scheduling approach that involves tackling job duties in short, productive bursts instead of a single nine-to-five stretch, is growing.
Prescription drug price control bill passes first committee hurdle
Legislation to establish a prescription drug affordability board in Illinois has passed its first legislative hurdle despite a range of concerns from state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The bill would create an independent board with the power to set a maximum price on certain prescription drugs that meet price thresholds.
Several suburban small businesses awarded $10K enhancement grants
A dozen Illinois small businesses will receive $10,000 Backing Small Business enhancement grants from American Express and Main Street America. Among the recipients are: Bocaditos Cafe, Inc. of Batavia; Abalabix Books of Crystal Lake; Andre Alfonso Music of Lake Villa; and Reeses Barkery & Pawtique in McHenry.
New developer seeks to adopt previously approved plan for 69 townhouses in Prospect Heights
A developer is asking the Prospect Heights city council for permission to take over a controversial proposal to build 69 townhouses that was previously approved, but never built. The council voted 3-2 in November 2020 in favor Lexington Homes’ residential development north of Muir Park.
Affordable housing in St. Charles? Apartment developer cites ‘revenue gap’ if units set aside
A 29-acre site in St. Charles — one of the last remaining open properties in town for residential development — is becoming a flashpoint for housing affordability in the city. With a new proposal on the table, some city officials are requesting affordable units while the project’s developers argue it would hurt their private equity-backed bottom line. Two developments are proposed to divide up the site on the south side of Route 38, west of the Meijer grocery store.