Highly regarded Chicago Sun-Times business columnist and commercial real estate expert David Roeder today has published a “letter” to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley as a part of his weekly column.

“Dear Mayor Daley,” Roeder writes.  “ It seems as if you are doing this [Michael Reese demolition] out of spite because the city lost the 2016 Olympics bid… You are clearing nearly 37 acres on the Near South Side when your administration has no clue what will go there or when.”

Today’s piece is one of several in recent weeks in which Mr. Roeder has turned his attention to the unfolding Michael Reese Hospital disaster. 

The Gropius in Chicago Coalition is especially thankful for Mr. Roeder’s investigation into the business side of the Reese demolition problem.  We maintain that the financial aspect of the Reese program is a central and unavoidable topic facing the City of Chicago today, and that preservation can factor heavily into the equation.  Regardless of the ultimate outcome at Michael Reese Hospital, future Chicagoans will have to contend with the $91 Million mortgage on the property, the South Side’s newly empty and devalued land, and the City-mandated rebuilding of Bronzeville.

Please read Mr. Roeder’s excellent column at the web site of the Sun Times.