8_9.25.13

1 No deal for taxpayers, either

The city may have turned down a deal to privatize Midway Airport, but it still cost taxpayers $3.5 million in fees to lawyers and consultants. [Sun-Times]

2 Art pays

DePaul alum and Steppenwolf regular Tarell Alvin McCraney is one of 24 recipients of a $625,000 “genius grant” from the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation. The playwright tells theater critic Hedy Weiss what he’s going to do with the no-strings-attached stipend. [Sun-Times]

3 What has Brown done for Moto?

Five years ago Greg Brown became the boss at Motorola — and what a mess it was. Since then he’s downsized, split the company in two, downsized some more and tried to get Motorola Solutions back on track. He talks about what he’s learned (and frets over Illinois political dysfunction) with Grid’s Meg Graham. [Grid]

4 More color, please

Lincolnwood saw its first round of renderings for a hotel-office-retail complex proposed for the site of the late Purple Hotel. But the plans — which include flat gray roofs and a lot of concrete — may be a little too low-key for a location with such a colorful history, David Roeder and Fran Spielman write. [Sun-Times]

5 Home prices soar

Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities rose at their fastest pace in seven years — up 12.4 percent in July versus the same month a year ago — according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller index. In Chicago, prices were up 3.2 percent from June (or a seasonally adjusted 1 percent) and 7.8 percent from July 2012, the data show. But experts don’t expect that kind of growth to continue in light of rising mortgage rates. [WSJ]

6 Ragin’ for Cajun?

Veteran cocktail-slingers from Violet Hour are making a risky bet in opening a Cajun restaurant (with a dance floor?) in Logan Square. [Grid]

7 At least something’s cheaper here

The Chicago health-insurance exchange mandated by Obamacare will offer cheaper premiums than in most other cities, a Crain’s analysis shows. [Crain’s]

8 Get a Brita?

Chicago has some of the best tap water in the world, they say. But when the city updates or repairs a water main, it may put lead in your tap. [Trib]