Former Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, one of several senior City Council members ousted by a progressive newcomer in the 2019 elections, has made a soft landing at a real estate firm.

Palos Heights-based Diliberto Real Estate Services hired Moore as national director for its Municipal Economic Services Group.

Moore represented Rogers Park on the City Council for 28 years and before that worked as a city attorney. He was well-known as an opponent of Mayor Richard M. Daley, but was an ally of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who tapped him to head City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate.

Moore’s relationship with Emanuel became a liability in the most recent race, as did campaign contributions from real estate developers. Moore’s successor on City Council, Maria Hadden, criticized him for perceived coziness and vowed to not take developer donations.

Asked whether he was playing into critics’ hands in the new role, Moore laughed. “You know what? I don’t care what they say anymore. They can say whatever they want. Quite frankly, now that I’m out of public office, I don’t think they care what I do. It’s mutual in that regard.”

The Diliberto gig is one of several as part of Moore’s new consulting firm, where he hopes to bring his 35 years of experience inside Chicago government and working with national organizations like the National League of Cities to “help make connections for people interested in working for or working with local government.”

“I’m going to be advising cities and towns on redeveloping, say, their blighted business districts, maybe underutilized or vacant industrial areas, and using different ways of encouraging methods for approaching potential developers and users of sites.”

It’s unlikely he’ll be hanging around Chicago City Hall, he said. Aside from Chicago’s revolving-door prohibitions, the city already has planning experts in place.

“What we’ve found, particularly among smaller communities, suburban communities, unlike Chicago they don’t have their own planning departments. They’re left to the whims of whoever property owners are of blighted properties. What me and Diliberto hope to offer is the expertise at helping them plan for the future and market their properties accordingly in accordance for what their long-term goals are,” Moore said.