Chicago Clout helped build flawed luxury homes

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Four years ago, a gusty wind raced through a luxury housing development near the Chicago River, tearing apart a two-story home in the later stages of construction.

The debris was quickly swept away, and the project—the largest development of single family homes in the city—went on to win awards and attract more than 100 buyers, some of whom paid more than $1 million for their homes.

But the 2003 collapse eventually led to the conclusion that the buildings had structural problems so severe that they needed to be supported by towering steel braces between the homes—an unprecedented engineering fix designed to prevent their wood frames from twisting in strong winds.

Many residents are wondering why the city allowed such flawed houses to be built in the first place and why the defects did not come to light sooner.

The answer, pieced together through interviews, court records and city documents obtained by the Tribune through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, involves the familiar Chicago mix of political clout and lax oversight.

The homes are in Mayor Richard Daley's native Bridgeport neighborhood in the 11th Ward and their creation feature a cast of political heavy-hitters with close ties to the mayor. Daley himself took an unusual interest, at one point asking his aides for a list of those buying homes in the project, known as Bridgeport Village.

Is the 11th Ward Democratic organization a racketeering enterprise?