When the Deal Goes South

Restructure it!!!

• When they started their real estate investment company three years ago, Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko and his partners made a promise to five City of Chicago pension funds they were seeking as investors:

  We'll put $7 million of our own money into the deal to show we believe in our high-risk strategy of investing city retirees' pension money in developing inner-city neighborhoods

And today?

• But now it turns out that Vanecko and his partners -- Chicago developer Allison S. Davis and his son Jared Davis -- will put in just $3.5 million, half of what they initially promised.

  Despite some concerns, the city pension funds quietly agreed to rework the deal with Vanecko and the Davises last August, making changes that financially benefitted the mayor's nephew and his partners, recently subpoenaed records show.

So shouldn't the pension funds get a bigger cut of the pie since they're taking more of the risk? Of course, since DV Urban has done nothing but lose money, the funds are already taking it in the shorts.

Can pension funds invest in tar and feather futures? Just wondering.