Congress Theater rehab gets up to $27 million in Chicago aid

Chicago’s century-old Congress Theater — one of the city’s original movie palaces that later became a popular live music venue — is getting another chance at a revival with the aid of millions in taxpayer dollars.

The City Council agreed Wednesday to a redevelopment deal that will give the private firms behind the theater rehabilitation up to $27 million of public aid from a tax increment financing district.

Proponents say the city assistance is the last best chance for the landmarked building to survive. Ald. Daniel La Spata, whose 1st Ward includes the Congress property in Logan Square, said that given the building’s deteriorated state, it faces demolition if it can’t be restored.

“Those are two stark choices,” La Spata said Tuesday before the redevelopment deal won Finance Committee approval.

Opened in 1926, the Congress was among the dozens of blocklong movie houses that operated at the time. Now it’s one of the few remaining — but barely. In the decade since it shut down, its deterioration has accelerated, mainly from water damage.

But its history remains evident in its “ironwork, gilded columns and decorative arches,” Tim Jeffries, managing deputy commissioner in the city’s Department of Planning and Development, told council members Tuesday.

This isn’t the first effort to rehab the Congress, nor it is the first time public dollars were committed to bringing the theater back to life.

Previous Congress developers were awarded almost $10 million in TIF funds in 2018 before their rehab project fell apart.

Now the developer Baum Revision is leading the effort, with an $88 million plan that includes more than restoration of the theater and its marquee. Also in the agreement are 13,000 square feet of retail along Milwaukee Avenue, 23,000 square feet of office space to be rented at controlled rates to nonprofits and community groups, and 16 residential units, 14 of which would be considered affordable. Representatives from Baum did not respond to request for comment Wednesday.

AEG Presents is on board to be the theater operators if the projects comes together this time.

The council also approved a three-year extension of the TIF district that includes the Congress Theater land. Officials said the Congress rehab couldn’t be completed before the TIF was due to expire at the end of next year. In tax increment financing, increases in property tax revenue are funneled back to developers to cover some costs of redevelopment.