Northeastern Illinois University is Trying to Seize Private Property
File this story under academic expansion – the Chicago way.
Bryant Jackson-Green reports at the Blaze.
In Chicago, a Public University Moves to Seize Private Property
Should a public university be allowed to seize private property from people who don’t want to sell?
That’s what Northeastern Illinois University is trying to do.
The school is located in a north side Chicago neighborhood with an eclectic offering of restaurants and mom-and-pop stores. Many of the small businesses in the area have been in the owners’ families for generations – but that’s not what university officials want on their campus. The university is suing to bulldoze those private businesses and turn over the property to a private developer instead.
The university’s actions have sparked outrage. Despite this, school officials are moving ahead, justifying their actions by stating student dorms and a different mix of businesses in a retail center are a better fit for the university’s expansion plan.
How can the university do this?
Through the use of a legal procedure called eminent domain, which is the ability of the government to take private property for public use, so long as it pays just compensation. A public university, as a unit of government, also has this power.
The university argues its plan would be good for economic development in the community, but the block they want to take is bustling with economic activity – every store front is filled with a business the community is supporting.
In reality, the plan is a significant gamble. The university only retains 64 percent of its student body after their freshman year, and only 20 percent of the student body graduates within six years.
In Chicago, a Public University Moves to Seize Private Property (The Blaze)
Comments
“The university only retains 64 percent of its student body after their freshman year, and only 20 percent of the student body graduates within six years.”
Those are very bad numbers, and do indeed call into question the wisdom and prudence of the university administration. But since it’s a public university, it’s only tax money being thrown down a rathole.
#rathole: How about this tag for wasteful projects by unaccountable government officials?
Businesses that are displaced often go out of business: Forced into a new location, they lose many of their old customers and must attract new customers in their new location–a chancy thing. And elderly operators are often not up to the extra work, stress, and risk, and will just retire.
Most State universities have eminent domain authority, the same as any municipality. The University of Michigan recently used this authority to take some property it wanted for a big donor’s pet building project.