Taft Partner Graham Grady and Associate Braeden Lord successfully represented the Chicago Urban League (CUL) before the Chicago City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way in connection with the resubdivision of a property in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood that will become the Chicago Urban League Empowerment Center. The property is being donated to the Chicago Urban League by Walmart. Taft's representation of the Chicago Urban League includes matters related to the property donation and zoning, subdivision, and other land use approvals. The CUL will establish a center offering workforce development training, entrepreneurship training, and other resources with service to the broader South Side of Chicago. More information about the Empowerment Center is available here.
Grady advises real estate developers, investors, and property owners on land use entitlements and economic incentives. He helps secure necessary approvals and land developments in the Chicago metropolitan area and throughout the Midwest. Grady formerly served as the City of Chicago Zoning Administrator and Commissioner of Buildings. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and the Economic Club of Chicago. Grady is the founder of Chicago African-Americans in Commercial Real Estate (Chi-AACRE), now known as AAREP Chicago.
Lord is a member of Taft's Real Estate practice group. He advises real estate developers, corporations, non-profits, small businesses, and local governments on a wide range of topics, including zoning, licensing, permitting, local taxation, statutory interpretation and real property acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, and financing. Lord received his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School and his bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Boston College.