The owner of the Uptown Theatre says it will take roughly $200 million to bring the 1925 movie palace back to life, and that the project will not move an inch without a much larger public subsidy than City Hall has floated so far. Jerry Mickelson’s push for more tax increment financing has turned a long-running preservation cause into a wider fight over where Chicago sends its redevelopment dollars.
According to The Real Deal, Mickelson has told local outlets that a full renovation would cost about $200 million and that “the majority” of that tab would need to come from public sources. The outlet reports he has contrasted his ask with recent downtown office conversions that landed seven-figure TIF awards, saying the city has offered him only about half of what some LaSalle Street projects received. City planning staff also told reporters that the 2018 public private agreement that was supposed to move the Uptown plan forward fell apart after partner Farpoint Development exited in 2021.
Historic plans left on hold
The Uptown has been on the brink of a comeback before, only to stall out. Preservation Chicago has detailed the complex funding mix that was assembled in 2018 and the hole it left when private partners walked away, while the Chicago Sun-Times has traced Mickelson’s long tenure as owner and the theater’s outsized cultural role on the North Side.
How the Uptown’s ask measures up
City staff typically aim TIF subsidies at projects where public dollars make up a minority share, roughly 30 percent, a benchmark that has framed coverage of the Uptown proposal. By comparison, developers of the Foundry Park megaproject have sought about $201.6 million in potential TIF reimbursements for infrastructure, according to CoStar. Downtown office to residential conversions have also secured sizable awards, including a roughly $57 million package for one LaSalle Street project approved earlier this year, per the Chicago Business Journal.
Politics and public priorities
Big TIF deals tend to ignite political fights, and this one is no exception. Aldermen and neighborhood groups have sparred over whether subsidies should go first to schools, affordable housing or aging cultural landmarks. That tension has surfaced around Foundry Park and other marquee projects, where elected officials and community advocates have pushed for clearer commitments on traffic, infrastructure and public benefit, according to reporting in the Chicago Sun-Times.
No TIF package has been approved for the Uptown so far. Any deal would have to clear city staff review, win a recommendation from the Community Development Commission and then survive a City Council vote. At each step, the city and developers will be weighing the theater’s preservation value against fiscal guidelines and a crowded field of subsidy requests. Foundry Park’s progress shows that City Hall is willing to entertain large infrastructure reimbursements, but the Uptown plan still faces a steep approval path, according to CoStar.
