Opinion: The Incompetence of UChicago in Local Business

I am thinking that the powers-that-be at U of Chicago, who own the vacant 50,000-square-foot supermarket-store in HP Shopping Center ... may be delaying themselves even more, by waiting to have a newly certified 5th Ward Alderman in position to help them announce a new tenant (or two new tenants) for the former Treasure Island space.

My opinion is that if the UofC happened to not be the owner of Hyde Park Shopping Center *:
-- this runoff and very close election would not have delayed a "private" owner, if there were one, in this fill-the-vacancy decision
-- In fact the announcement would have likely been made by December 2018 and not by the "endless" end of winter 2019, if the owner of the shopping center was a private concern. Perhaps a private owner would even immediately have filled that space with some kind of temporary grocery business in October 2018, as I had strongly suggested at that time.

Since I, "Patch Mayor of Hyde Park", have declared that Leslie Hairston is the winner because there are not enough uncounted votes to eliminate the approximate 155-vote lead Leslie currently has ... it is time for us in Hyde Park to vigorously be asking: What is going on at the UofC in its choice of tenant(s) for its vacant supermarket store.

Every day that goes by without an announced tenant for this empty space, is an enormous embarrassment to the University and to its leadership.

"That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it" -- Norm MacDonald / Saturday Night Live

* I have harangued in print that UofC needs to sell they Hyde Park Shopping Center (I believe they own only the "south" part of it?) to ... oh, the highest bidder. The 5th Ward Alderman -- with our citizen-residents -- can help make sure the a private buyer is "qualified" to own this. U of C doesn't need to sell the shopping center today. In about five years from now would be fine. -Sid