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Latest Lincoln Yards twist only ratchets up music club owners’ anxiety

Chicago’s music community, skeptical from the start about a $5 billion Lincoln Yards makeover that would include an entertainment district run by Live Nation, has not been assuaged by Ald. Brian Hopkins’ recent announcement that he would oppose certain aspects of the project.

Hopkins said he had informed developer Sterling Bay that he would not support plans to build a 20,000-seat soccer stadium as well as an entertainment district co-owned by Live Nation with multiple venues ranging between 3,000 and 6,000 capacity in Lincoln Yards.

Yet independent club owners throughout Chicago, whose businesses would be threatened by such a development, weren’t celebrating.

“People are saying they killed the entertainment district, but all that it (Hopkins’ statement) means is the venues won’t be in one mega-mall building and owned by Live Nation,” said Robert Gomez, a club owner (Subterranean, Beat Kitchen) who is co-chair of the Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL). “Nothing really changes.”

“There has still been no disclosure about what kind of venues are being proposed,” he added. “We were told privately that it would be multiple venues with up to 10,000 capacity collectively. Even if Live Nation can’t own the venues, they can still lease them or control them. Or what about AEG or any other large player (national concert promoter) coming in and taking control? You still have all these power brokers for music that we would all have to dance around that could come in there and take over.”

CIVL, a consortium of independent music clubs, came together in part to give the city’s music community a voice in the Lincoln Yards project, which most directly threatens the future of the nearby Hideout, but is also seen as a potential disruption of the local music scene. “If all these new venues come in, some other venues will have to go,” said Double Door owner Sean Mulroney.

Club owners were taken aback that the city was prepared to help bankroll corporate-owned competitors through tax increment financing (TIF). In interviews with a dozen club owners and members of the music community across Chicago, all felt blind-sided by the project, which came into view less than a year ago.

“The communication (between developer Sterling Bay and the community) in general has been minimal,” Gomez said. “The feeling is that the intent all along was to fly this under the radar until it was a done deal.”

Adding to the sense of anxiety is that the Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to consider a revised Lincoln Yards plan, presumably tailored to address Hopkins’ objections, at its Jan. 24 meeting.

“It’s been close to a year now, and we still haven’t seen a detailed plan for how they (Sterling Bay) are going to do this,” said club owner Bruce Finkelman, who owns multiple venues including the Empty Bottle and Thalia Hall. “Why would you consider pushing something like this through when the people who are going to be affected by it haven’t even seen a plan of exactly what this involves?”

CIVL members says they remain focused on their original goal: putting the brakes on the project until a new city administration takes office in May, following the Feb. 26 election to determine Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s successor.

“There will be a new administration coming in, and something this large should involve the new administration as part of the decision-making process because they’ll have to live with it,” Finkelman said. “Instead of trying to push through a TIF when most people who will be affected by it don’t even understand what the plan is, let’s slow down until we have the facts and figures in front of us.”

greg@gregkot.com