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Four stories from this week

A $65M data center deal to save a county, mega-development coming back from the dead, $2.5B potential parking meter sale, and Stripe going all in on Chicago

All Chicago, all worth your attention.

Logan County, Illinois has 28,000 residents.

In recent years the county has watched hundreds of jobs disappear through the 2024 closure of Lincoln Christian University, the 2022 closure of Lincoln College, and the 2019 closure of Ardagh Group's glass container production plant.

The county isn't generating meaningful new tax revenue, and with no other developers in the pipeline, people are openly warning that property tax increases may be unavoidable without new investment.

Enter Hut 8. A Miami-based AI infrastructure company which is pitching a $5B+ data center promising 1,500+ construction jobs, around 200 permanent positions, enforceable terms on water usage caps and environmental compliance, and by the company's own estimate, up to $65M a year in property taxes.

That's more than the county collects in total today, for one data center.

For a county that's watched its institutions close one by one, the Hut 8 offer isn't just a real estate deal. It's the a developer with a solution.

The most famous failed mega-development in Chicago history is finally moving. JDL Development and Kayne Anderson Real Estate are in line for $202M in TIF funding to build Foundry Park on the northern section of the former Lincoln Yards site, with the city's Community Development Commission signing off on negotiations this month.

The plan wants to build up to 3,737 housing units, a new riverwalk, parks, a boutique hotel, and a 39-story mixed-use tower at Kingsbury and Cortland.

Sterling Bay ultimately surrendered the northern section to a lender in March 2025.

JDL is targeting a groundbreaking before the end of October. The southern section was recently picked up by Novak Construction, whose plans remain undisclosed.

The North Side might finally getting something built.

In 2008, Mayor Daley sold a 75-year lease on Chicago's 36,000 parking meters for $1.15B, widely considered one of the worst municipal deals in US history. By the end of last year, Chicago Parking Meters LLC had collected about $2.2B in total revenues.

Rates in some neighborhoods are up more than 500%. There are still 57 years left.

Now a Morgan Stanley-led group wants to sell the lease to New York-based Stonepeak Partners for $2.5B.

The plot twist is that Mayor Johnson's team secretly bid $3.3B to buy the meters back, never told City Council, signed an NDA with Morgan Stanley without informing alderpersons, and waited until two weeks before the deadline to disclose a June 30 vote deadline even existed.

At least 22 council members say they'll vote no, less about Stonepeak specifically and more about being kept in the dark entirely. The full has until July 24 to hold a vote.

Chicago can't undo 2008. But we can decide who collects the next 57 years of meter revenue.

Whether buying back the meters makes financial sense or not, there may be creative structures, phased buybacks, revenue-sharing agreements, or renegotiated rate caps, that a future mayoral administration could pursue with full transparency.

The lack of transparency from Johnson's team doesn't just hurt this vote. It narrows Chicago's options.

The parking meter deal is a 2027 mayoral campaign issue whether candidates want it to be or not.

For professionals following developments in AI and technology, the need to keep learning is clear. What can be harder to determine is what comes next in your educational journey: a single course, deeper study in a specific field, preparation for graduate school, or a new academic direction altogether.

The University of Chicago’s Graduate Student-at-Large bridge programs offer a flexible way to explore those possibilities. Through Graduate Student-at-Large (GSAL) and Graduate Student-at-Large: Business (GSALB), students can take graduate-level courses, receive academic advising, and experience the rigor of UChicago coursework without committing to a full degree program.

See Where GSAL Can Lead at an In-Person Alumni Conversation on July 20

If you are considering GSAL but still weighing what graduate study could mean for your career, this event offers a practical next step: hear from alumni who have navigated those questions, ask your own, and connect with others exploring similar academic and professional possibilities.

Alumni panelists from fields including policy, business, and technology will reflect on their professional journeys, the ideas and questions that shaped them during their time at the University of Chicago, and how intellectual curiosity continues to inform their work today.

Following the conversation, guests are invited to continue the discussion during a networking reception with alumni, prospective students, and members of the Graham School community. It is an opportunity to move beyond the program description and hear how GSAL has shaped real academic and professional paths.

Remarks from 5:30–7:00 p.m. | Networking Reception at 7:00 p.m.

Registration Required

Stripe just inked one of the biggest downtown office expansions in years, more than doubling its footprint to over 222,000 sq feet at 350 N Orleans in River North.

This is Stripe's third expansion at the same building since first arriving in 2022. From 45K to 89K to 222K sq feet. Stripe is represented by Brad Serot and Tony Coglianese of CBRE’s Tech Practice Group

What matters most to me is what Stripe is actually doing in Chicago. Stripe has always seen Chicago as more than just a sales hub.

When Stripe first came here in 2019, it was for our engineering and tech talent that the coasts couldn’t retain at the same cost. Stripe's Chicago presence has historically included engineering and product roles.

Chicago's physical footprint is expanding in both directions, residential density on the North Side and an office anchor doubling down in River North.

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