{"id":18032,"date":"2015-10-13T16:38:57","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T21:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=18032"},"modified":"2015-10-13T16:38:57","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T21:38:57","slug":"for-sale-thompson-center-slightly-used","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-sale-thompson-center-slightly-used\/","title":{"rendered":"For sale: Thompson Center, slightly used"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Steve Musal<\/p>\n

The James R. Thompson Center will be for sale at public auction within the next year, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today.<\/span><\/p>\n

The building<\/a>, which currently houses roughly 2,200 state employees and several retail outlets, requires about $100 million in repairs, according to Rauner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a pure financial point of view, this is a compelling opportunity for the people of the state,\u201d Rauner said at a press conference in the Thompson Center. Under his plan, current employees would move, either to other locations in Chicago or to Springfield.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Illinois<\/a>
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner responds to questions regarding the proposed sale of the James R. Thompson Center Oct. 13 in Chicago. (Steve Musal\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The driving force behind the sale, Rauner said, is saving state taxpayers the costs of repairs and upkeep, which outstrip the one-time revenue gain from the sale.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIgnoring anything else, just occupancy cost, we could save anywhere between $6 million and $12 million a year,\u201d Rauner said. \u201cWe could pay people to take this building from us and save a lot of taxpayer money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The governor acknowledged that the buyer, who will be decided at a to-be-scheduled public auction, will have the final say in what happens to the Helmut Jahn-designed building<\/a>. But Rauner repeatedly expressed hope that it could be replaced with something new.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis building is ineffective,\u201d Rauner said, adding that state employees complained of noise and that offices took up three times as much space per person as other state offices in Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mayor Rahm Emanuel\u2019s office declined to comment on the sale. However, Rauner suggested the sale would be good for Chicago, estimating that private ownership would provide the city $20 million each year in taxes not currently applicable to the state-owned building.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The interior of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced plans Oct. 13 to sell the property at public auction within the next near. (Steve Musal\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was no response to Rauner\u2019s announcement from the office of Illinois House Speaker Rep. Mike Madigan, who has vocally criticized the governor\u2019s budget plans in the past weeks, though Rauner described him as \u201cforward leaning and positive\u201d about the plan. However, the governor refused to comment on whether his conversation with the speaker had led to any forward progress on or renewed discussion of the ongoing budget impasse.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned over the last nine months that discussing our conversations, the timing, the nature of who\u2019s in them, with the media tends to be counterproductive,\u201d Rauner said. \u201cSo I\u2019ve specifically not been doing that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he did ask the media to call out what he saw as hypocrisy from Democrats in regards to the budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got baloney going on, ladies and gentlemen, in the arguments,\u201d Rauner said. \u201cI need you to call it, so we stop it and get a budget with real reform.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo at top: The James R. Thompson center in Chicago. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to sell the property at public auction within the next year, he announced Oct. 13, 2015. (Primeromundo\/Public Domain<\/a>)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steve Musal The James R. Thompson Center will be for sale at public auction within the next year, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today. The building, which currently houses roughly 2,200 state employees and several retail outlets, requires about $100 million in repairs, according to Rauner. \u201cFrom a pure financial point of view, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":18037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[509,30],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-18032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-public-affairs","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nFor sale: Thompson Center, slightly used - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-sale-thompson-center-slightly-used\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For sale: Thompson Center, slightly used - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Steve Musal The James R. Thompson Center will be for sale at public auction within the next year, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today. 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