Residents in South Chicago are up in arms over plans to build a luxury hotel near Barack Obama's presidential center, as locals fear being priced out by soaring rents.
The 26-story hotel would be located a short distance from the Obama Presidential Center - and right next to an affordable housing complex.
The development plans have poor tenants in South Shore and Wood Lawn worried about getting squeezed out by gentrification.
“When you got people’s rent going from $850 to $1,300. You’re telling people you don’t want them in the neighborhood,” said Dixon Romeo, an organizer with the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition.
Obama - a former "community organizer" - has long fought to build a monument to his ego in the city where he launched his political career. His plans have plodded forward over the objections of local community groups concerned about displacement.
After years in limbo, the Obama Presidential Center is due to finally open in 2026. But the worst fears of the locals are already coming true.
One man who attended a protest Tuesday, Philon Green, said he was forced to move after rent nearly doubled.
"The rent went from $850 or $835 to $850 to now $1,300; that ain't right. That ain't right for really to upgrade in the apartment itself," the former Woodlawn resident said.
The investment firm behind the hotel, Aquinnah Investment Trust, wants to put it next to Island Terrace, an affordable housing complex. The hotel would have up to 250 rooms, retail and office space, 118 parking spaces, and 12 bicycle spaces, according to documents filed with the city.
The developer submitted an application in March to rezone the area, which is currently a shopping center.
“When you can fast-track a luxury hotel — while everyone around that hotel lives in blight, knowing that that’ll raise the price to push them out — you’re intentionally trying to gentrify a neighborhood,” Romeo said.
The hotel hasn't been approved by the city yet, but the developer has a powerful connection. Allison Davis, the head of Aquinnah Investment Trust, was Obama’s first boss out of Harvard Law School.
Obam, who now owns multiple homes - including one in Hyde Park, Chicago - has long presented himself as a champion of social justice and fairness for the poor.
But those ideals have proven to be quite shallow indeed, as the former president's notorious vanity takes precedence.
