Click on the audio player above to listen to the full interview with the Rockford Register Star's Jeff Kolkey about his recent coverage.
What could have been one of Rockford’s largest development deals now appears off the table.
What comes next is unclear for the site of the former Barber-Colman factory, now a 22-acre campus of dilapidated buildings near a main gateway into the city.
Jeff Kolkey is a reporter for the Rockford Register-Star. He reported on the recent Rockford City Council meeting.
The council was scheduled to take a vote on the ambitious redevelopment plan at the site, but it was pulled from the agenda. Instead, the council narrowly approved an amendment that would require a labor agreement with the Northwestern Illinois Building Trades Union. The developer had previously indicated any such arrangement would turn the project into a non-starter.
Kolkey says supporters of the amendment spoke at the meeting in favor of what they view as the important role of union labor.
He says J. Jeffers & Company, the developer, has not responded since the labor amendment vote.
Kolkey adds supporters of the re-development plan could also push to reconsider the project agreement, especially with millions already invested into feasibility studies.