Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday that the city will provide more support for restaurants and stores in the Loop, an area still struggling to fully recover from the pandemic.
The city will also pay for upgrades at the future site of a downtown museum showcasing the Board of Trade’s history. Other Loop businesses can apply for a new round of funding in September.Most companies have brought workers back to the office for at least a few days per week, and downtown foot traffic is up 22% since 2022, according to a Chicago Loop Alliance report.
Johnson noted that Loop businesses have recently gotten a lot of good news. JPMorgan Chase announced Monday it will launch a, its iconic 60-story skyscraper at 10 S. Dearborn St., instead of seeking out new office space for the building’s 7,200 employees. The move follows Google’s 2022 decision to take over the now-empty James R. Thompson Center and transform it into a hub for thousands of well-paid tech workers.
Google was committed to a major expansion in Chicago because of the large pool of well-educated workers but was initially reluctant to take over the Helmut Jahn-designed Thompson Center, which for years was plagued by heating and cooling issues, said Quintin Primo, executive chairman of Capri Investment Group, during a question-and answer session at Thursday’s meeting.