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Any presidential script is subject to real-world rewrites, and Joe Biden faces rising pressure to weigh in more forcefully to stop the Middle East violence — as, by a scheduling quirk, he visited Dearborn, Mich. that is almost half Arab American.

DEARBORN, Mich. — President Joe Biden’s efforts to spotlight his big infrastructure plans are suddenly being overshadowed by the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, the conflict sparking protests during his visit to a Ford electric vehicle center in Michigan on Tuesday as the White House faced growing pressure to intervene.

Biden, who planned to use the two week-stretch before Memorial Day to build Republican support for his $2.3 trillion package, visited a Ford plant in Dearborn on Tuesday to make his case that his plans could help steer the country toward a bright electric-car future.

But any presidential script is subject to real-world rewrites, and Biden faces rising pressure to weigh in more forcefully to stop the Middle East violence — as, by a scheduling quirk, he visited a city that is almost half Arab American.

The Ford Rouge plant is in a section of Dearborn that’s estimated to be more than 90% Arab American Muslim, many of the locals strong supporters of Palestinians. Significant protests took place across the city while Biden was there.

In a speech at the plant, Biden made only passing mention of the conflict, warmly addressing Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, as she sat in the audience, saying he would pray that her grandmother and other family were well in the West Bank.

“I promise you I’m going to do everything to see that they are,” said Biden, who met Tlaib and fellow Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell earlier at the Detroit airport where all three huddled in conversation on the tarmac for several minutes.

The Biden administration has been conducting what it calls quiet diplomacy while declining to press for an immediate cease-fire by close ally Israel and Hamas. But privately, Biden administration officials have encouraged the Israelis to wind down their bombardment of Gaza.

Officials have been told by the Israelis that the operations could conclude in a matter of days.

The White House has made the calculation the Israelis will not respond to international resolutions or public demands by the U.S. and that the greatest leverage is behind-the-scenes pressure, officials said. At the same time, the White House is mindful that the longer the conflict goes, the greater chance of a very-high-casualty event or other provocative action by either side that could make reaching a cease-fire more difficult.

All the while, Hamas rockets and Israeli airstrikes continued for a ninth day. At least 213 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel have died.

To this point in Biden’s young term, foreign policy has taken a backseat. The president has stressed the need to first focus on domestic matters — taming the COVID-19 pandemic and reshaping the economy — to prove that democracies can still compete with global autocracies, namely China.

But the intractable conflict in Gaza has derailed that narrative.

Aboard Air Force One for the flight to Michigan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was peppered with questions about the administration’s response to the violence before she was asked about electric cars. She defended Biden’s cautious approach to this point.

“He’s been doing this long enough to know that the best way to end an international conflict is typically not to debate it in public,” she said.

During his tour of the Dearborn facilities Biden kept the focus on jobs, the car enthusiast marveling at new technology — he even took a truck for a quick test drive — while stressing the importance of his infrastructure plan.

“The future of the auto industry is electric. There’s no turning back,” Biden said. “The real question is whether we’ll lead or we’ll fall behind in the race to the future.”

There were protests outside in Dearborn, which is 47% Arab American, most of them Muslim, the highest percentage among cities in the U.S. Outside the local police department, about three miles from where Biden spoke, hundreds of people of Arab descent chanted, “Free, Free Palestine!” and waved Palestine flags. Amer Zahr, leader of a group called New Generation for Palestine, said Biden is “not welcome in Dearborn today.”

“He is funding the murder of our families,” Zahr said. “It’s ethnic cleansing. It’s that simple. This is not very complicated.”

Biden wanted to orient his foreign policy around American workers, but the Israel conflict has underscored the challenges in combining his domestic and international agendas. The violence has not just been a disrupter of his messaging but also of his policy foundations.

The Biden White House has prided itself on message control and carefully scripting its approach to legislation. The first two months of his term were focused on passing the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill and dramatically increasing the nation’s vaccination program.

The pivot was then to Biden’s two-part infrastructure and family plan, which totals roughly $4 trillion. The president has set a soft deadline of Memorial Day to gauge whether there is Republican support. Not one GOP lawmaker backed the COVID bill, though it had strong public support. There have been a few, if fleeting, signs of possible Republican support for the infrastructure plan.

Last week, a group of Republican senators met with Biden and were set to again sit down with White House officials and Cabinet members on Tuesday. There are some hopes for bipartisan agreement on hard infrastructure — like highways and broadband — before Democrats push forward their family plan on a party-line vote. At minimum, aides have said, they want to make a show of reaching across the aisle to reassure moderate Democrats leery of pushing through massive spending bills using a legislative strategy that bypasses Republicans entirely.

Biden’s plan would help transform the automotive sector by making vehicles more mainstream that don’t burn gasoline. He also sees a shift toward electric vehicles as a major part of his plan to fight climate change, and his visit came the day before Ford was expected to release details of an all-electric version of its F-150 pickup truck called the Lightning.

The president also has to overcome a major hurdle before his electric vehicle, zero emission future becomes reality: the lack of stations where people can plug in and juice up their engines. To that end, Biden has proposed $174 billion for electric vehicles. That money includes rebates and incentives for consumer purchases, along with money to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030.

The White House says the U.S. has just a fraction, about one-third, of the electric vehicle market share that China has, and far fewer public charging points — and needs to catch up before it can take the lead.

At Ford, its F-Series pickups — including heavy-duty versions — have been the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. for 39 straight years. Last year, the company sold more than 787,000 of the trucks, even though it had to close factories for eight weeks at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The F-150 Lightning electric truck, due in showrooms in the middle of next year, will come at a time when only a few Americans have been willing to switch away from gasoline-powered vehicles. Through April of this year, automakers have sold only 107,624 fully electric vehicles in the U.S.

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Additional reporting by Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington, Tom Krisher in Detroit and video journalist Mike Householder in Dearborn. Boak reported from Washington. Lemire from New York.

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At least 217 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes, including 63 children, with more than 1,500 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective protest Tuesday as Israeli missiles toppled a building in Gaza and militants in the Hamas-ruled territory fired dozens of rockets that killed two people.

The demonstrations and ongoing violence came as moves toward a cease-fire appeared to be gaining more traction.

U.S. officials said the Biden administration was privately encouraging Israel to wind down its bombardment of Gaza. Egyptian negotiators also were working to halt the fighting, and while they have not made progress with Israel, they were optimistic international pressure would force it to the table, according to an Egyptian diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing diplomatic efforts.

The general strike was a sign that the war could widen again after a spasm of communal violence in Israel and protests across the occupied West Bank last week.

Although the strike was peaceful in many places, with shops in Jerusalem’s usually bustling Old City markets shuttered, violence erupted in cities in the West Bank.

Hundreds of Palestinians burned tires in Ramallah and hurled stones at an Israeli military checkpoint. Troops fired tear gas, and protesters picked up some of the canisters and threw them back. Three protesters were killed and more than 140 wounded in clashes with Israeli troops in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and other cities, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli army said two soldiers were wounded by gunshots to the leg.

The general strike was an uncommon show of unity by Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20% of its population, and those in the territories Israel seized in 1967 that the Palestinians have long sought for a future state.

The strike was intended to protest the war and Israeli policies that many activists and some rights groups say constitute an overarching system of apartheid that denies Palestinians rights afforded to Jews. Israel rejects that characterization, saying its citizens have equal rights. It blames the war on Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, and accuses it of inciting violence.

Leaders of the Palestinian community in Israel called the strike, which was embraced by the internationally backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where ministries and schools were closed. Most businesses appeared to be observing the strike.

Strike organizer Muhammad Barakeh said Palestinians are standing against Israeli “aggression” in Gaza and Jerusalem, as well as “brutal repression” by police.

The war has also seen an unusual outbreak of violence in Israel, with groups of Jewish and Palestinian citizens fighting in the streets and torching vehicles and buildings. In both Israel and the West Bank, Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli forces. Scores have been injured, including a Jewish man who died Monday after being attacked last week by a group of Arabs in the central city of Lod.

The fighting began May 10 when Hamas fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests against Israel’s heavy-handed policing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site sacred to Jews and Muslims, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.

At least 217 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes, including 63 children, with more than 1,500 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians. Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of their fighters have been killed, while Israel says the number is at least 130.

Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy, have been killed in rocket attacks.

Tuesday’s rocket attack from Gaza hit a packaging plant in a region bordering the territory, killing two Thai workers. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it took another seven to the hospital. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said the wounded were also Thai.

The Israeli military said rockets also were fired at the Erez pedestrian crossing and at the Kerem Shalom crossing, where humanitarian aid was being brought into Gaza, forcing both to close. It said a soldier was slightly wounded at Erez.

Israeli airstrikes into Gaza demolished a six-story building housing bookstores and educational centers used by the Islamic University and other colleges. Desks, office chairs, books and wires could be seen in the debris. Israel warned its occupants beforehand, sending them fleeing before dawn. There were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes it says are targeting Hamas’ militant infrastructure, while Palestinian militants have fired more than 3,400 rockets from civilian areas in Gaza at civilian targets in Israel.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the military was focusing on destroying the tunnels where Hamas fighters hide, move between locations and resupply launchers with rockets to fire at Israel.

The tunnels run under civilian neighborhoods, and Israeli airstrikes have been trying to target roads above them to minimize damage to buildings, Conricus said. One weekend airstrike that Israel said targeted a tunnel caused several buildings to collapse and killed 42 people in the deadliest single attack of the conflict.

The attacks on the tunnels continue, “and the assessment is that that effort will be expanded to areas that we so far have not conducted this effort in, and that is to be expected over the coming days,” he said.

Medical supplies, fuel and water are running low in Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians and under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Nearly 47,000 Palestinians have fled their homes.

Israeli attacks have damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics and destroyed one health facility, the World Health Organization said. Nearly half of all essential drugs in the territory have run out.

The WHO said the bombing of key roads, including those leading to the main Shifa Hospital, has hindered ambulances and supply vehicles in Gaza, which was already struggling to cope with a coronavirus outbreak.

Among the buildings leveled by Israeli airstrikes was one housing The Associated Press Gaza office and those of other media outlets.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating in the building. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday in Iceland that Israel had given the U.S. information about the bombing. Blinken declined to characterize the material, and Israel has not publicly provided evidence of its claim.

AP President Gary Pruitt reiterated calls for an independent investigation of the attack.

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Nessman reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Grant Peck in Bangkok and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed.

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Patricia Deates’s son Eric was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon, two days after he was shot while riding his bike near his home.

Patricia Deates went to the hospital Tuesday morning prepared to say a “final goodbye” to her 13-year-old son, one of the youngest victims of a violent weekend in Chicago.

“Eric is a wonderful, bright child,” Deates said from her son’s bed at Stroger Hospital.

Within hours, Eric Crawford was dead after being removed from life support, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was about to enter eighth grade, and loved to ride his bike and play video games, Deates said. He had two siblings.

Eric was riding his bike when he was shot about four blocks from his home in McKinley Park Sunday morning.

Someone in the back seat of a white SUV opened fire shortly before 8 a.m. in the 3700 block of South Wood Street, a police spokesperson said. He was hit in his head and neck and taken to Stroger, where his condition was described as “grave.”

Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said the shooting may have been a gang retaliation.

“The subject was riding his bike when it looks like a rival gang was following him and targeting him, and shot him and fled the area,” Deenihan said Monday at a news conference on the weekend, the most violent of the year so far.

He did not give details, and the family disputed that Eric was in a gang.

Deates told WGN-TV that Eric was not in a gang, though gang members had been trying to recruit him. “Yes, they have. And I blame them. Every single one of them,” she told the station.

Eric is one of several children caught in gun violence in Chicago in the last week. A 2-year-old girl was shot Friday evening as she sat in the backseat of a car near the Cook County criminal courthouse. Earlier that day, a 14-year-old girl was shot as she stood outside in Englewood. A day earlier, gunfire wounded an 8-year-old boy in Lawndale. Police said he was not the intended target.

An online fundraiser for Eric’s care had received over $1,500 by Tuesday afternoon.

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Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be cloudy with a 50% chance of rain and a high near 75 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 63. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms and a high near 78.

Top story

Mother prepares ‘final goodbye’ for 13-year-old son, one of the youngest victims of a violent weekend in Chicago

Patricia Deates went to the hospital today preparing to say a “final goodbye” to her 13-year-old son, one of the youngest victims of a violent weekend in Chicago.

Eric Crawford, about to enter eighth grade, has been on life support at Stroger Hospital since he was wounded while riding a bike four blocks from his home in McKinley Park Sunday morning.

“Eric is a wonderful, bright child,” Deates said in a brief phone interview from her son’s hospital bed. He loved to ride his bike and play video games, she said. He has two siblings.

Eric was shot shortly before 8 a.m. by someone in the back seat of a white SUV in the 3700 block of South Wood Street, a police spokesperson said. He was hit in his head and neck and taken to Stroger, where his condition was described as “grave.”

He is one of several children caught in gun violence in Chicago in the last week.

Read David Struett’s full story here.

More news you need

1. Chicago is falling in line with the CDC’s new, relaxed mask guidelines, though there’s no surefire way to verify if someone is vaccinated. The move comes as state data shows fewer people are signing up for shots each day.
2. General Iron’s owner is suing the city in federal court for more than $100 million, claiming Mayor Lightfoot’s administration broke a contract as it holds up a permit due to pollution concerns. Southside Recycling wants a judge to order the city to issue a final permit that will allow the opening of a new facility on the Southeast Side.
3. Mayor Lightfoot has appointed Andrea Kersten as interim leader to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Kersten previously held a top post there under Sydney Roberts, who resigned two weeks ago.
4. A group seeking to have Cook County replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day held a virtual rally yesterday to support the effort. A hearing on the proposed change is scheduled for next week with a vote likely to come in June.
5. Lollapalooza will return to Grant Park at “full capacity” this summer, the mayor’s office confirmed today. The lineup drops 10 a.m. tomorrow and tickets will go on sale two hours later.

A bright one

The story behind Kapitan’s Ramly Burger

A customer once made a passing remark to Serai owner Victor Low about how Malaysian food would never be considered “high end” because it’s just street food. The comment didn’t sit well with Low, a native of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

So, in hopes of showcasing a unique and more sophisticated style of Malaysian cuisine, Low transformed an abandoned nightclub in Lincoln Park into Kapitan, Chicago’s only Peranakan restaurant, which opened in mid-December.

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

Peranakan, or Nyonya, cuisine is influenced by Malay, Chinese and Indonesian cultures. It has a rich history dating back to the 1400s. Kapitan features many takes on traditional Peranakan dishes, such as Nyonya curry laksa lemak, a spicy noodle soup, and Ayam Kapitan, which is chicken curry.

“There is no other restaurants in Chicago that does this and we believe there’s barely any restaurants in the U.S. that actually focus on this one cuisine similar to what we do,” Low said. “And that was the whole purpose — [we’re] trying to show a different side of Malaysian cuisine that is also heritage food, that has a very complete different taste profile all together.”

Read Madeline Kenney’s latest installment of the Dishin’ on the Dish series here.

From the press box

While Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas expressed disappointment yesterday over how the season turned out, he still sees promise in the deal to acquire Nikola Vucevic from Orlando.

Meanwhile, at the end-of-season press conference for the Bulls’ other All-Star, Zach LaVine, the talented guard didn’t sound as if he was willing to sacrifice much in contract talks with the team.

The Bears signed linebacker Austin Calitro to bolster their depth as they go through their voluntary offseason program.

Your daily question ☕

What’s your favorite ‘Chicago-style’ food you can’t find anywhere else?

Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: If you’ve been fully vaccinated, do you still plan to wear a mask at times? Here’s what some of you said…

“Yes! I will wear my mask when I’m around others who might not be vaccinated, like the grocery store. I have young children at home, and since we have been vigilant throughout the pandemic in following the precautions, I won’t be stopping now in the off chance I could pass it along to them, however slight of a chance it might be. If I’m around friends and family who have all been vaccinated, I feel very comfortable ditching our masks then!” — Karen Burcham

“At times? I plan to wear it all the time for a few more months. Even the ‘low chance’ of an infected person breathing on me and me getting a so-called ‘mild case’ is too much risk for me. Besides, there is still plenty we don’t know about this invisible killer, and it still keeps mutating.” — Manisha Makwana

“Nope, not unless a business, doctor, etc. requires it. However, I might keep the mask forever on airplanes. I didn’t miss those nasty colds and sinus infections. I’ll also wear it if I’M SICK to avoid passing on my sad germs. Lots of good lessons here.” — Alyce Morgan

“I’ll continue wearing it as needed. Grocery stores, the CTA, and any place where I could encounter immune-compromised folks. It’s an easy thing to do to help protect others.” — Dustin Diggory

“Yes because not everyone is able to get the vaccine. Plus there are still people who are immune-compromised that could still be affected. I’m doing it to help others, it’s not that difficult to think of someone other than you.” — Maggie Anderson

“Yes my little guy isn’t vaccinated and I don’t know what can happen. Vaccinated or not I can still bring COVID home.” — Gema Capilla Gutierrez

“As I am fully vaccinated, I plan to not wear a mask wherever it is now permitted to do so. Any businesses or friends that still require them, however, I will respect their ask.” — Shane Feely

“Yes, just because I’m vaccinated doesn’t mean I can’t still get the virus. The virus has to be treated like STDs, you can’t look at someone and know they have been vaccinated. Too many people have been against masking and now vaccinations, because they are mostly selfish, but chose to follow conspiracy theories will take advantage of this time.” — Vera Edmerson

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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He was spectacular. Then he kind of stagnated. And then — poof — he was gone.

Outsized home runs, outsized reputation, outsized expectations.

Maybe Kyle Schwarber never had a chance to live up to the Ruthian portrait many of us painted of him.

After exploding on the Cubs scene in 2015 and making a Hollywood comeback in the 2016 World Series, Schwarber regressed. Or did he? Perhaps “settled in” is a better way to put it. He belted 94 home runs from 2017 through 2019, but he also got demoted to Class AAA Iowa, struck out a ton and lived in the lower .200s.

He was a good player — and a great teammate — but not the hitting machine we wanted him to be. Former manager Joe Maddon put it perfectly in admitting a while back that he, too, had played a role in fueling a narrative that, in the end, did Schwarber no favors.

“Maybe we should not have expected that much,” Maddon said.

Seeing Schwarber back at Wrigley Field this week in another team’s uniform, I can’t help but think he embodies the arc of these Cubs more than anyone else. He was spectacular. Then he kind of stagnated. And then — poof — he was gone.

Even after being sent down in 2017, Schwarber himself described his future in grand terms.

“I want to be one of the best in the game,” he said in the dugout in Des Moines, Iowa, the sting of his demotion still fresh. “I want to be one of the best out there. And I want to help the Cubs get back to the championship.”

The championship part didn’t happen. The “best” part hasn’t, either. Now 28, Schwarber is giving the Nationals essentially the same production he gave the Cubs. It’s not that it’s not good enough. It’s just that it isn’t great.

The way he describes his baseball dream has changed a bit.

“I’m [living] it right now, baby,” he said with a laugh before launching his sixth homer of the season in Monday’s series opener. “Playing major league baseball, you know? This is it.

“I want to be the best version of myself. I think that’s the biggest goal. I don’t want to go out there and chase other people’s numbers. I want to be the best version of myself and — whenever the end of the dream comes — [to] look in the mirror and know that you did everything possible to fulfill that dream and be happy and smile.”

That actually sounds pretty perfect. Schwarber’s time on the North Side wasn’t perfect, but when you really think about it? It was damn wonderful.

“There’s a lot of things here that made me the person I am today and the ballplayer I am today,” he said. “There’s things that you definitely keep with you. And so it’s hard to forget because this is where you came up, this is where you grew up in the big leagues, and you had the people around you that formed you into a major league player. There are special bonds that you make, and we’re all going to be specially bonded for the rest of our lives with what we did in ’16.”

JUST SAYIN’

Speaking of dreams, the Sky play their second game of the season Wednesday in Atlanta.

Against the Atlanta Dream, people. Come on, we should all know that name by now.

This is where I admit to being a terrible WNBA watcher, in that I’ve rarely watched it at all. Shame on me. But the Sky’s opening win Saturday against the Mystics was riveting. Why? Candace Parker, mainly. Her ball skills, at her height, are almost criminal. Her defense should be on an instructional video and taught to basketball players everywhere. Of course, there are many people who understood all this a long time ago. Good on them.

Get on board, you know? It’s never too late.

• Did you catch White Sox designated hitter Yermin Mercedes’ swinging away Monday on a 3-0 count in the ninth — his team already leading the Twins by 11 runs — and homering off position player Willians Astudillo?

Some old-schoolers didn’t like it.

Look, if you’re going to let ’er rip when the more polite thing to do would be to take a pitch, by all means leave the flippin’ yard. Of all the ways to violate baseball’s silly unwritten rules, that’s pretty much the best one.

• Albert Pujols on the Dodgers vs. Karl Malone on the Lakers:

Discuss.

• Stephen Curry and the Warriors against LeBron James and the Lakers is all the argument needed in favor of the NBA’s play-in tournament. It’s a keeper.

• New DePaul basketball coach Tony Stubblefield is on fire on the transfer front.

Brandon Johnson, a tough forward who more than held his own at Minnesota last season after three seasons in the MAC, is an instant frontcourt upgrade. Tyon Grant-Foster didn’t make much of an impact at Kansas, but he’s long and a leaper and did we mention the Kansas thing?

And remember the name Jalen Terry. The point guard and former Michigan Mr. Basketball — who turned down an offer from Michigan State — came off Oregon’s bench as a freshman last season and flashed serious scoring and playmaking ability.

This could get kind of fun.

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The 56 units, most at subsidized rents, would go up next to another city-approved project for a commercial kitchen and event space.

City officials are moving forward with approvals of an affordable housing development in Englewood that would arise alongside other improvements near the community’s traditional crossroads of 63^rd and Halsted streets.

The housing proposal would cover parcels along Halsted southwest of 61^st Street. The vacant land has been city-owned for decades. A Housing Department report said it has environmental challenges because a car repair and painting shop operated there long ago.

Officials have struck a deal with Keith B. Key Enterprises, a developer based in Columbus, Ohio. In a $20.9 million proposal, Key has agreed to build a five-story building containing 56 apartments, all but 16 subsidized to appeal to lower-income renters.

The city is essentially giving the parcels to Key. They’ve been appraised at $80,000 and officials said any sales agreement would absolve the city of costs for environmental work.

Chicago’s Community Development Commission endorsed the terms of the property sale May 11. On Thursday, the Chicago Plan Commission is due to review a zoning change to accommodate the project. Both approvals are needed before the matter gets to the City Council.

The building would be a neighbor of another stage of the city’s long-term plans for “Englewood Square,” a reimagining of the old shopping hub. The city’s planning department has approved developers’ plans for a $10.3 million “eco-food” center, converting an old firehouse into a commercial kitchen. A business incubator and event space are promised in a later phase.

The projects seek to capitalize on the 2016 opening of a Whole Foods-anchored shopping plaza and 63^rd and Halsted streets. The area also got a boost with the 2007 opening of a new campus for Kennedy-King College.

Key Enterprises is a minority-owned firm that lists projects in Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New York City and Columbus, Ohio. The city has agreed that the project qualifies for low-income housing tax credits, and it also can get a long-term loan of up to $2 million from the Housing Department.

The building would be followed by another, similarly sized apartment structure next door in a later phase, city documents show.

Keith Key, the CEO, could not be reached Tuesday. The project is within the 16^th Ward of Ald. Stephanie Coleman, who also could not be reached. However, city documents list her and key neighborhood groups, such as the Greater Englewood Community Development Corp., as backing the project.

Asiaha Butler, CEO of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood, praised the development in a letter to the city. “Englewood needs additional high-quality affordable housing, but it also needs to establish market-rate housing to stimulate private-sector investment,” Butler said. “This project will provide both elements and build upon the retail investment made at Englewood Square to strengthen the Halsted Street corridor and help create a positive environment for additional real estate investment.”

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We knew heading into the 2021 regular season that the Chicago Cubs were set to have three critical expiring contracts at the end of the year in Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo. I think most expected some kind of trade with Bryant to be hashed out during the winter, but alas, he is […]

Chicago Cubs: Future of Big Three hangs on results in May – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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