The City of Chicago will gather March 9 to discuss creating a new tax increment financing district tentatively called the Randolph-Wells TIF District. Close to the edge of the West Loop, the district would be bound by Lake, Wells, Randolph and Franklin, approximately 8.7 acres, according to a Department of Community Development staff report released Tuesday.

TIF districts are meant to help rehab “blighted” areas, and the staff report makes the case for this section of downtown thusly: “All of the blocks located in the [proposed district] either contain deteriorated buildings or are served by deteriorated infrastructure, including cracked and crumbling sidewalks, deteriorated alleys and deteriorated roadways.”