MORE ON THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG!
You did know I'm a Cub fan, didn't you? Sad, but true! They say it's genetic - my human dad - Dean's Team Leader Dean Moss - is a Cub fan, big time! Season ticket holder - which explains why is often so forlorn!
But this crazy talk out of Wrigley Field - it's making the little white hair on the top of my head stand straight up!
First, the Tribune Company, current owners of the Cubs and Wrigley Field, want to sell Naming Rights to this, one of the most storied ballparks in the country, if not the world. Might as well sponsor Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris!
Then came Dean's annual Cubs Season Ticket Bill - up 28% this year, for a baseball team that hasn't won the World Series since before radio was invented - 1908 - 100 very, very, very long years (that's 700 dog-years, folks!)
Now, someone wants to build a fancy schmancy nine-story Hyatt Hotel, with accommodations for 135 guests, plus a separate rental building with roughly 150 apartments, 100,000 square feet of retail space, plus parking for 500 cars - right across from Wrigley Field! Within spitting distance, even!
The developer, Steven Schultz, owns the land, currently home of such neighborhood institutions as The Salt & Pepper Diner, and The Goose Island Brewery. He is working out a plan to re-develop it, seeking the blessing of community residents and Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney.
Although some feel the project would lead to unbearable congestion, others applaud it, saying it would add even more livenliness to one of the most vibrant neighborhoods on the North Side of Chicago. It would also provide a much-needed supermarket, and a rarity here - available parking. Existing businesses in the affected building would be re-established in the new campus when construction is complete.
My human daddy, Dean, was one of those who protested the installation of lights for night baseball here 20 years ago (absolutely true!), but all of these new developments are driving us "Baseball Purists" crazy.
What happened to the days when you could grab a ballgame, in an intimate, in-city park, and you didn't have to take out a second mortgage or a secured line of credit in order to buy the pups a foam finger and a couple of cold pieces of pizza? Long gone, I guess!
For more information, as well as cool video and the full story in yesterday's Chicago Tribune, click your right front paw on the Dean's Team Blog Center - BlogChicagoHomes.com - for today's post.
Progress - whoa! Or, at least, stay the heck away from this section of Chicago's Lakeview Neighborhood - at the corner of Addison and Clark Streets.
YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,
BUDDY HOLLY MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
Dean
Somethings in life are sacred. Like Wrigley field.
That cute little dog is also pretty smart.
Reagrds
Tom Braatz