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Your article “Sticking Point” [Neighborhood News, January 16] made it seem as if the Gateway Plaza shopping center emerged from a shrouded process that ignored the wishes of the Rogers Park community. Quite the opposite is true. There is tremendous support for Gateway, and there have been numerous opportunities for community input. Over the last year and a half I personally attended a total of 17 community meetings and small group sessions with other local organizations to discuss the many facets of the project–including the need to acquire the Pivot Point site. As your article did point out, the building was once for sale. In fact, its owner approached me three years ago pleading for help to find a buyer. This does not diminish the fact that Pivot Point is an important community business. We want them to stay in the community, and our development team has offered various relocation options. Unfortunately, many things boil down to cold hard cash. We couldn’t reach an agreement, and now it looks as if the court will need to decide the property’s fair market value.
We hope that Pivot Point chooses to stay in the neighborhood. That decision, however, is ultimately up to them. In the meantime, we will continue moving forward with a project that, by most accounts, is one of the best things to happen to Rogers Park in a very long time.
