CME wants Chicago subsidy for renovation

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

CME Group Inc. is seeking $15 million in city aid to help pay for a major renovation of the Chicago Board of Trade Building, which became the exchange’s headquarters after its 2007 buyout of the Board of Trade.

The CME has promised to create 900 jobs over the next 10 years, in addition to the 1,800 current employees, in exchange for the tax-increment financing grant, according to Alderman Robert Fioretti (2nd), whose ward includes the building at 141 W. Jackson Blvd.

The subsidy would cover about a quarter of the $61-million cost of rehabbing the landmark Art Deco property, the longtime anchor of the LaSalle Street financial district.

The CME’s request is likely to spark more questions about the city’s use of TIF money, which critics call corporate welfare but city officials defend as an important job-creation and development tool. Mr. Fioretti contends that the CME grant is money well spent, saying it would keep the company from moving its headquarters to another city.

A company wants to loot the taxpayers. They are in the right town.