Chapter 7 - THE RECONSTRUCTION
The fallout from the Riverside groundbreaking press conference shook Chicago to its core.
Within forty-eight hours, Richard Sterling and three senior executives from Apex Risk Management were held without bail on federal charges of fraud, extortion, and corporate embezzlement. The stock of Harrington Developments plummeted thirty percent in twenty-four hours as panic swept through institutional investors.
In the board of directors meeting on Friday morning, the remaining shareholders sat around the mahogany table in Pinnacle Tower, their faces grim.
"Blake, this is financial suicide," senior board member Arthur Vance (no relation to Elena) argued, slamming a report onto the table. "The city has suspended our building permits for Riverside. Investors are pulling out. You've ruined our brand equity."
Blake sat at the head of the table, calm and entirely unbothered.
"Our brand equity was built on a lie, Arthur," Blake said firmly. "Here is my proposal. I am personally committing fifty percent of my equity stake in Harrington Developments—worth approximately three hundred million dollars—to establish the Harrington Community Land Trust."
The board members looked at him in disbelief.
"The Riverside project is being completely redesigned," Blake explained, opening a blue architecture folder on the screen. "We are no longer building luxury high-rises. We are constructing a mixed-income development. Fifty percent of all units will be permanently dedicated to affordable housing for the families displaced by our past projects."
"And the remaining fifty percent?" another board member asked.
"Commercial spaces, early childhood centers, and public parks," Blake answered. "The former tenants will have first right of refusal for all residential units and small business leases. We will hire local workers for the construction phase, paying prevailing union wages."
"And if we vote against this plan?" Arthur demanded.
May you like
Blake stood up, buttoning his suit jacket. "Then I resign as CEO, liquidate my majority voting stock on the open market, and launch a competing non-profit development firm that will spend every day exposing the rest of your portfolios. The choice is yours."
The board members exchanged quiet, terrified looks. Within ten minutes, the motion passed unanimously.
