These businessmen had a brainstorm for a new venture -- rehabbing rundown buildings for poor black families.
Rezko and Mahru had no construction experience. Yet City Hall gave their new company, Rezmar Corp., a $629,000 loan to help fix up an abandoned apartment building at 46th and Drexel.
They had applied for the loan just six days after Richard M. Daley won his first term as mayor in 1989, having campaigned on a promise to build more housing for the poor.
Rezko and Mahru got the loan four months later, and quickly became one of the Daley administration's favored developers. They got deal after deal -- between 1989 and 1998, more than $100 million from the city, state and federal governments and bank loans to rehabilitate 30 buildings in Chicago.
Rezmar was paid at least $6.9 million to develop those apartments.
Taxpayers have lost $5.7 million in grants and loans written off by the Daley administration, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found. Millions more could be written off, based on court records and interviews.
And the IRS has so far demanded that corporations repay $7.8 million in tax breaks they got for investing in Rezmar apartments that failed to provide low-income housing for at least 15 years.
Rezmar was supposed to provide 1,025 apartments for the poor. But today:
• Six of its 30 buildings are boarded up.
• Seventeen went into in foreclosure, most after Rezmar abandoned them.
• An 18th building is being foreclosed on by the state. Rezmar walked away from it, leaving it to the corporate investors, who got a state loan to try to save it but failed. The building is now boarded up.
• Hundreds of apartments are vacant, most in need of major repairs.
"Every one of these properties has failed,'' said Phillip Kupritz, the architect on every Rezmar low-income rehab.
In a brief interview, Mahru said, "We did our best.''
Rezko did not respond to interview requests regarding the low-income housing deals. Rezko is under federal indictment on unrelated charges, accused of demanding kickbacks from companies seeking state business under the Blagojevich administration. He's also charged with fraudulently obtaining a $10 million loan for pizza restaurants he began while fixing up low-income buildings with tax dollars.
15 comments:
Two commercial fisherman out of Glouster killed in the line of duty.....as per the Sunday Herald (Jan,4th.) and 8-9 more killed during the 1990's out of Glouster.......what do these poor souls get in recognition of having laid their lifes down making a living???
Think we can at least take some of the $6,000,000 that is supposed to go toward building a monstrosity of a Firefighters memorial at Institute Park and use it to fund future college educations for the children of these men killed at sea....and maybe some other worthwhile causes for these now fatherlees families and pregnant woman left behind.
Commercial fishing, truly & statistically the most dangerous occupation in the world...followed by timber harvesters. Let's hope no one gets hurt in Worcester harvesting teh beetle!!!!!
I'm missing the connect b/t this story and low-income housing. Does this imply low-income housing developers are corrupt like tony Resko?
the connection being that these non-profiters are anything but non-profit when you look at what the execuive directors are paid...and few if any of these non-profiters live amoungst their benefactors or the neighborhoods that they bring down
Paul:
Correct my point also that this is big business for the "developers" and for trades groups that get the work all under the cover of "low income housing".
If Donald Trump ever came to Worcester and wanted to build high rise condos for "rich" people, he would hav e to jump through every single hoop imaginable, pay every fee, get no variances, fix his own sidewalks and shovel them.
If he came to Worcester and proposed a high rise for low income housing, the red carpet would be rolled out.
Bill
Bill, as a result of over populating the city with LIH we have a city on the precipice of decline, if it isnt already there.
Please dont forget that these LIH dev'ers are also deemd the good guys, while any for profit builders are deemed slum lords, not good, etc.
How Many of these entities do we have burying us in LIH...7,8,9??
I dont care what anyone says about McGovern, he's the trigger mechanism in all of this. More LIH = more McGovern voters. Get McGoverns finger off the LIH housing trigger and is the only way to stop this crap.
Just read a piece about how people & capitalism are starting to flee Californi, Because it is too costly to function out there.
Did anyone see todays T&G headline about how Obrien i spleased with 2008 in Worc. This guy is good...no doubt about it.....primarily b/c he has private sector experinece for 15 yrs prior to becoming CM. Sorry, I just dont things as all that Rosey in Worcester.
A DPW bigwig ....a 100% shoveling scofflaw????...(not shoveled at all??).............stay tuned........I got Clark Kent investigating this potential story ......
funny blog post printed in this weeks WOMAG....the comment
"that a strictly capitalist controlled country can not be so."
we are so far removed from being a capitalist controlled country anymore due to the increasing destrucive social programs that are created each year and in mine and many others opinion are the root evil of the incredible generational dolers that we have in this country and are destroying our cities that were once prosperous...one bad economy and all of a sudden we have so many economists out there......where does this bloggah think the capital=money to bail out all the greeders is coming from??? The wealth created in this country and equaled no where else due to a capitalist society!
Survive a few up & down economies and then one should be able to write such nonsense...
I have always been leery of polititions who have never had a real job...I am a supporter of Pols and I understand the job..to me real life experience should be a pre-requisite!
SHOVELGATE:
I have just rec'd reports that the sidewalk in front of the property of "a" Robert L Moylan is not shoveled.
I will not post the address. It's easy enough to find. Jeff, how's that cell phone camera?
Folks, IMO this is the frosting on the cake of SHOVELGATE.
Anoymous:
The connect is that there is corruption in tax subsidized low income housing. It does not mean that all tax subsidized low income housing developers are corrupt, but to blindly accept every "low income" housing developer with no track history is stupid.
Don't you love these anonymous posts from?
Bill
I would love to know what the qualifications are for the developer of the project at Main & May..anyone can develop a property with an endless hole of moolah
Never mind teh dev'ment co ( non profit)....what about the employee talent pool.
Can someone please tell me what relevant talents/skill sets the CEO's of Worc Common Ground or Mann South CDC or Oak Hill CDC had prior to being annointed to their positions
Bill -
Can't a girl post here w/o harassment? Its your feature having anon. posts. It was just a question. jeez, do you all want debate or a dead blogsite? You could all pat each other on the back for yer views or have a debate. Maybe I don't want "John" driving by my house, with his creepy snow cam, would you?
Anoynous:
Where is the harassment?
Bill
Miss Gal;
wee bit of a thin skin..I answered your question fairly easily..Wild Will followed with an agreement on my post..start debating instead of picking out one sentence in a post
Senor Janh is not creepy..he is ornery...you can not be both in this town
Anonymous, no one will believe this, but I dont have a cell phone and the only "creepy" camera I have has not been used in eons. I may have to call the MCAD if anyone continues to refer to my camera as creepy.
I do have eyes and I dont like what I see with city chieftains (some of them municipal legisltors) not living up to the rules of the game.
Now .....I have waited for a day like today........sidewalks compleltley ice covered. How do I remove it? Sanding it doesnt remove it. Salting it will loosen it with time, but again doesnt remove it immediately . What am I supposed to do........run hot water on it and hope the hot water doesnt freeze? Does the city remove the ice from the streets or do they just treat it with sane & salt?
With the benefit of hindsight.....If one didnt remove the snow from their sidewalks they'd be better off on a day like today ....and frnkly I have to ask if we're better off not to shovel the sdiewalks b/c most people will just walk in the street rather than try to negoiaate 8" of snow...and big deal if if they fall in the snow...............it acts to cushion the fall..........right???
Are we being held to an even higher standard for our sidewalks than the city DPW is being held to for streets that have 10's of thousands of 1.5 ton pieces of machinery operating on them all them daily?
Sometiems I have to wonder about the legality of being held responsible for the condition of someone elses real estate. Problem is no one will ever contest b/c most slip & fall tort actions are for chump change and ins co's will not even consider fighting a mere $7,000 settlement. It isnt worth it.
Bill, maybe you can give us some further insight into what Ins co's call nuisance claims.... i.e. small suits that are more chealpy settled w/o spending 20,000 for an attorney to defend against a 5000$ claim.
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