Posted on 06/25/2023 9:46:45 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
The activity and vibrancy of Chicago's downtown area, once the heart of the city's economy, shifted dramatically in the wake of the pandemic. Physical offices and gathering places closed while remote work soared. Cities across the US are now dealing with the ramifications of that workplace upheaval, despite many companies' attempts to get their employees back into the office.
As a result, downtown crowds eating, drinking, and shopping are a fraction of what they once were. Chicago's downtown office space posted a 22.4% vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2023, which poses the question: What does the city do with all that vacant commercial office space?
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Who in hell would live in Chicongo if they didn’t have to?
I read that about 600 units might get added - probably enough to house a few days worth of new invaders.
Chicago is going to be the next Detroit and it was heading that way anyway.
I’m sure this plan will end well...
Hope they do same in San Francisco.
What other use would there be for all that property and empty buildings? - that are empty b/c of rampant crime and homelessness?
My son (IT) was called into the office for the first time in three years - to clear our his own personal office - the company is selling the building and he’ll be working remote in perpetuity (which he’s very happy about).
I can see a massive fight between black residents of Chicago and all the new “refugees” that are pouring into the city.
Who gets first dibs on Section 8 housing? Blacks are already protesting the new arrivals getting all kinds of perks that they think they should be getting.
Let ‘em fight it out - while the current and former mayor both blame “White Supremacists” for all of Chicago’s problems.
Get your popcorn ready.
Government owned housing. Where have we seen this happen before…
“Who in hell would live in Chicongo if they didn’t have to?”
Illegals. They’d live anywhere. And the rest of the city should move out when the black gangs and the Latin gangs open fire in the war zone. It’ll be like Escape from Los Angeles. But I think the blacks would have an advantage in the basketball sequence.
wy69
Commercial buildings aren't designed like residential buildings.
What's going to happen is that tenants are going to share the breakroom kitchens, the bathrooms, and basically set up bunk bends in office rooms.
Bingo. Feds learn nothing from wasted money.
Chicago is broke.
Who is paying for this? The Federales. Which means you and I am. Half the money will be grifted or stolen.
That's because it's not their own money they earned.
A lot of people just don’t understand how and why buildings are built to serve a purpose. Turning office space into apartments is not going to be cheap or easy. Let’s take fire codes. I suspect there will need to be a rated firewall built all the way through the suspended ceiling to separate every unit. As for plumbing, every 1.5 bedrooms is going to require a full bathroom. That’s a lot of plumbing. Where, exactly will you run that plumbing? Then there’s air circulation. The duct work is laid out for an office and the air handler is likely in a closet on each floor or the roof. Each apartment will require a separate air unit. What about escaping the building in an emergency? It’s likely to be different between an office and an apartment. The problems are likely to be so expensive to fix by retrofit it would be cheaper to tear down the buildings and then build special units.
Socialism to the rescue!
No stove, no sink, no shower, unless you want to share communally.
Ventilation ditto. Of course, if we must share the ventilation, we can't put up any walls to block it off, so forget about privacy too.
It's the new, efficient way to live - dormatory style. You'll get used to it.
Ah new Cabrini Green and Robert Taylor like housing projects on the way!
So when this work at home doesn’t last will the workers return to the office to find several derelicts lying on the floor smoking cigarettes and drinking cheap booze? And it will be against the law to evict them? Work will be like an urban subway or bus ride.
There used to be (may still be) a federal law that an employer may not fire an employee for drunkeness at work or being unable to communicate due to narcotics. Reason: If the person was getting some kind of counseling or treatment then the firing would impede their recovery. So stay on the job.
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