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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Cities and neighborhoods, like businesses, rise or fall based on investment. Many parts of Chicago—downtown in particular—have boomed thanks to public and private investment in such projects as residential Dearborn Park, the restoration of Wacker Drive and, most recently, Millennium Park on Chicago's magnificent lakefront.

Assembled here is a portfolio of Chicago's next great investment opportunities.

These projects are the most investment-ready of hundreds to emerge from a series of quality-of-life plans written by neighborhood residents under the leadership of local organizations.

Some of the projects call for substantial residential and commercial redevelopment—project values run more than $245 million in the aggregate. Others are modest in dollar amounts, but heavy on civic spirit: ethnic wall murals by local artists, a retail feasibility study, expansion of a training program for auto mechanics.

Many have key partners in place while others are looking for co-developers. Virtually all seek "seed investment" to trigger something larger. How large? Large enough to change these neighborhoods—and this city—in important ways. Large enough to help reconnect these communities and their residents to the region's economic mainstream. Look carefully at what the NCP neighborhoods propose for themselves and for their city. We think you'll agree. It is time to invest.

Click below to read about the Community Portfolios:

NCPInvestmentPortfolio.pdf