4 towers will soon replace the Tribune’s former distro center on the Chicago River

Neighborhood news

• Some Chinatown residents and business owners oppose a new Special Service Area (often called a Business Improvement District in other cities) because of the tax increase it would bring (Gazette)
• Op-ed: The Obama library isn’t the only controversial planning process in Jackson Park; there’s also the golf course proposal that would take up more public land (Hyde Park Herald)
• Hot right now: The latest renderings of the buildings that will replace the Chicago Tribune’s former distribution center are up, showing more details about uses & layout. The developer is Riverside Investment & Development, and the architecture firm is Goettsch Partners (Curbed)

• Natalie Moore reports for WBEZ about the desire and issues in attracting younger buyers to Black neighborhoods on the South Side:

Williams installs all the HGTV-style features to her homes that buyers expect these days, such as an open concept floor plan, marble in the master bathroom and white kitchen cabinets. She plans to list the 3,000 square-foot, five-bedroom home for $225,000.

“This same house on the North Side — in Lincoln Park or Andersonville or Logan Square — would probably be about $700,000,” Williams said.

• 10 faculty members from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) architecture college will be participating in the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, which begins September 16 (Architect magazine)
• The “billboard building” in Logan Square (known because it has two large and empty billboard shells) might be getting a hotel. Our 2 cents: Might it be better as housing? (DNAinfo)
• Another parking lot will bite the dust: Hail Investments is going to propose a 10-story building with 69 units and 5 parking spaces at 315 S Jefferson St. in the (original) West Loop (Curbed)