Real estate is expensive in Hawaii.
Chicago— it’s got giant burned up wastelands to put buildings.
the reason Obama is depending on a Biden win, so he regains influence and the ability to raise funds:
17 Jul: Chicago Sun Times: Obama Foundation contributions dropped in 2019; top staff pay increased, fundraising costs jumped
The foundation is also increasingly dependent on gifts from corporations and other foundations rather than from individuals, newly released records show.
By Lynn Sweet
Obama Foundation contributions dropped in 2019 for the second year in a row, while pay for top staffers increased and fundraising costs almost doubled, according to financial documents released Friday...
Headquartered in Hyde Park, the foundation raises money to pay for programs in the U.S. and around the globe and to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park...
Obama faces a formidable fundraising challenge. The Obama Center alone is estimated to cost at least $500 million to build. According to the Obama Center city ordinance, before construction can begin, the foundation has to certify to the city it has the funds or pledged gifts that in “the aggregate equal or exceed the Projected Total Construction Costs of the Presidential Center.”...
That report also shows the Obama Foundation is looking for contributions from beyond the U.S. — in Europe, South American, East Asia and other Pacific regions.
The foundation staff is growing, to 203 in 2019 from 170 in 2018, according to the 990, which also reveals a leap in volunteers, to 985 in 2019 from 215 in 2018...
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/7/17/21329085/obama-center-foundation-contributions-dropped-2019-staff-pay-fundraising-jackson-park
11 Sept: Chicago Reporter: Given $1.2 billion budget shortfall, can Chicago still ‘afford’ Obama Presidential Center?
More than $50 million of planned infrastructure spending appears to support a questionable luxury golf course development.
by Curtis Black
https://www.chicagoreporter.com/given-1-2-billion-budget-shortfall-can-chicago-still-afford-obama-presidential-center/
Wikipedia: Barack Obama Presidential Center
right column: Cost $500 million (estimated)
The nonprofit Obama Foundation will oversee the center’s creation and its campus’s construction...
Construction of the center was originally expected to begin in late 2018 and be completed in 2020 or 2021...
The architects said in February 2017 that construction of the center’s museum and library would likely approach $300 million, and that the Center would likely need an endowment of $1.5 billion...
On July 27, 2018, the Obama Foundation announced that groundbreaking for the Center would be delayed until sometime in 2019, and the center would not open in 2021, as was initially planned...
The Foundation’s 2017 annual report, and its 2017 IRS filing, show that the Obama Foundation raised $232.6 million, on expenses of $23 million. The year after Obama left office was the first year the Foundation lifted a cap on donations. While it lists its donors on its website, it no longer specifically links donors to exact amounts. While the Chicago city government has not promised that the Foundation’s endowment details will be disclosed publicly, its agreement with the Foundation requires that the Foundation may not proceed with construction of the Center until the building endowment is secured...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_Presidential_Center