Sounding like a latter-day Cosimo de’ Medici, Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd) says he would like to give art galleries throughout the city a tax break.
“If anyone says to me how can you go to bat for one group of commercial people, my answer is art,” the alderman said. “If you are not interested in subsidizing art, then of course I can’t argue with you.”
Natarus’ sentiments are lofty. Except Chicago is not Florence, and Cosimo and the rest of the Medicis bankrolled their passion for art with their own lire, not that of the taxpayers.
Since Cook County collects property taxes, Natarus persuaded County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston) to hold public hearings in September. But giving a tax break to all art dealers seemed too broad, so Suffredin limited it to the six blocks bounded by LaSalle Street, Huron Street, Orleans Street and Chicago Avenue, also known as River North. The rationale was that art dealers who moved there had helped revitalize the neighborhood.
There’s no question that when art dealers began moving 20-plus years ago to River North–actually that Parisian-sounding moniker came later–the neighborhood was a collection of seedy bars and hotels. People drove through quickly with their windows rolled up. As an art district blossomed, other trendy businesses moved in, effectively “cleaning up” the area.
As inevitably happens, property values and taxes shot up, killing the prime incentives that attracted dealers in the first place: skimpy rents and low overhead. Many of them now are moving out to cheaper pastures, such as the West Loop.
So the plan initially conceived by Cosimo Natarus and later by Suffredin would lead the county to apply residential tax assessment rates to buildings housing River North galleries. That would cut their property taxes in half to encourage them to remain there. Though the county has granted breaks for certain groups of homeowners to soften the blow of gentrification, this would be the first time a specific type of for-profit business received such special treatment.
That raises myriad problems, mostly revolving around fairness. Why should art galleries be the only businesses to get breaks in River North or anywhere else in the city? How about bars, furniture stores and restaurants? What happens to the art galleries with the bad luck to have settled a block south of Huron or a block north of Chicago? Are they second-rate?
Most important, who makes up the difference for the reduction in taxes to art galleries?
The history of neighborhoods in Chicago is one of constant change. That’s life in the big city.
Office buildings that for decades were the Loop’s backbone are being converted to lofts. Rising property taxes have pushed many gay-owned businesses north from Diversey to Andersonville. Western Avenue’s row of car dealers is fading, many of them moving to extraterrestrial sites in Schaumburg or McHenry.
So should it be with art dealers, who do not deserve special treatment. Art makes a contribution to the urban mix of Chicago. May the city’s art dealers proliferate and prosper–wherever they can afford to set up shop.
