PULLMAN — Artist JB Daniel came to mind after I heard that Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to collect extra tax dollars from entrepreneurial folks who rent rooms through the popular website Airbnb.com, among other places.
A couple years back, Daniel made the unlikely decision to start renting out the upstairs apartment in his Pullman row house on Airbnb to subsidize a visiting artist residency program that he started on the first floor.
He doesn’t charge much, 85 bucks a night, and he’s pretty picky about the folks who get to stay.
“I probably turn away as many people as I let stay here. If someone wants to rent the place and says, ‘It’s my first time coming to Chicago, and I can’t wait to go to Michigan Avenue and eat and drink.’ I just tell them that this probably isn’t the place for you, but come down and visit,” Daniel said.
“I do get a lot of artists, preservationists and adventurers because [Pullman] is a pretty cool neighborhood from an outside perspective,” he said.
That’s the nice way of saying that while there’s no place to get a good steak, buy a fancy scarf or stop for a cup of exotic coffee in Pullman, the ongoing push to establish a postindustrial artistic utopia in the historic neighborhood does have a certain appeal to some people.
Daniel’s vacation rental has been more popular than he expected and brought in enough money to keep the artistic residency program afloat.
So far, nine visiting artists from France, Korea, Portland, New Orleans and Atlanta — to name a few far-flung locales — have stayed at Daniel’s place while working on and displaying art in the neighborhood.
“It’s never been about money,” Daniel said. “But it’s working very nicely. Hopefully, we can keep it that way if the city doesn’t screw it up.”
The city’s plan regarding vacation rental revenue mostly focuses on requiring Airbnb to collect and pay the 4.5 percent hotel tax for rooms rented in Chicago, a move that could bring in about $1 million. Airbnb and similar rentals are spread out all around the city, giving visitors options on where to stay when coming to town.
Homeowners who rent out rooms on their own are required to pay the tax, but collecting that money is much more difficult, city budget director Alexandra Holt said. It’s unclear how the city plans to collect tax revenue from those who rent their places out to guests independently.
Daniel doesn’t want to make a big stink about the proposed crackdown, which was revealed Monday and will soon be before the City Council.
But he does have an interesting perspective that some aldermen might want to consider before they vote on the budget.
“[Vacation rentals] don’t cost the city money. It’s just extra revenue they want. And wherever the city can get extra revenue they’re going to get it,” Daniel said. “Well, I’m not crazy about that idea in general. I just hope it doesn’t ruin a good thing because the small guys, we definitely need a break.”
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