Members of Chicago’s City Council were surprised to find that the city plans to purchase the moribund Greyhound Bus Station in downtown Chicago. Melody Mercado reports at Block Club Chicago:
DOWNTOWN — A permanent fix for Chicago’s Greyhound bus station is on the horizon, with a $50 million line item allocated for the station in the city’s TIF financing reports that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said will be used to buy the site.
Ald. Bill Conway (34th) said during a Department of Planning and Development budget hearing Tuesday that he “happened upon” the line item while reviewing tax-increment financing reports outlining ward projects. Page 61 of the report shows $35 million in 2026 and $15 million in 2027 allocated from the Canal/Congress TIF fund for a Greyhound bus station.
Conway also said Tuesday that he had received no communication from the city about this project before finding the line item.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Mayor’s Office confirmed to Block Club Chicago that the city intends to purchase and rehab the station at 630 W. Harrison St.
There are any number of worthwhile things that can be accomplished with enough money. The city doesn’t have any. Apparently, that isn’t stopping Mayor Johnson. By most accounts his present approval rating in Chicago is less than 30%. It has been as low as 6%. It’s the Chicago limbo! How low can he go?
Do approval ratings matter anymore in single party states/cities?
I rode to that bus station in a visit to Chicago a long, long time ago. Surprising it isn’t city owned or Greyhound owned.
Does the City intend to integrate the terminal into Chicago’s public transit system? Does the City control the public transit system, or is it a separate entity?
Or, is this a money laundering scheme?
Makes you wonder what else is buried in those TLDR (by design?) documents given to council critters.
The CTA is a city agency not a separately taxing entity. However, like most else in Chicago, the issue is complicated. Does the mayor or the city council actually control the CTA or is it on auto-pilot to some degree?