Name: $20 billion One Central project, which would bring skyscrapers and 9,000-plus residences near Soldier Field, gets some changes to win over neighbors. But can it win over Pritzker?
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$20 billion One Central project, which would bring skyscrapers and 9,000-plus residences near Soldier Field, gets some changes to win over neighbors. But can it win over Pritzker?

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 26, 2021 at 6:54 amChicago on Monday night got another peek at one of the biggest developments ever proposed in the city, in a public meeting held during an uncertain real estate market because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Landmark Development’s $20 billion One Central project envisions skyscrapers as tall as 89 stories over train tracks, a transit center and 9,050 residential units near Soldier Field.AdvertisementSome changes to project have been made in response to earlier community feedback. But the developer appears to have work to do to persuade Gov. J.B. Pritzker to back billions of dollars in state funds.Monday’s virtual meeting was the latest step in the process for Landmark Development, led by Wisconsin-based developer Bob Dunn, to try to win city approval to build, over the next two decades, as much as 22.3 million square feet of buildings on a more than 31-acre platform above tracks near the football stadium.AdvertisementThere would be more than 11 acres of open space on the site, which stretches between the Field Museum and McCormick Place. The project also would create connections to the lakefront over Lake Shore Drive.Landmark is not seeking tax increment financing or other city dollars, but it is asking for $6.5 billion toward building and operating the transit center and other structures during the first phase. After 20 years, the state would take ownership of those buildings.As part of the state’s fiscal year 2020 budget, Pritzker signed legislation that cleared the way for the developer to seek federal grants for the project but did not commit to providing any state funding.In the current budget year, which began July 1, the state is grappling with a nearly $4 billion deficit and has been looking to Washington to help fill the hole.“With the pandemic’s economic turmoil upending state budgets around the country, it would be a challenge for any state to provide the significant amount this developer is seeking,” Pritzker spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a statement to the Tribune before the meeting. “The state faces tremendous challenges and our efforts will focus on rebuilding in the aftermath of the pandemic, supporting residents hardest hit by the disease and helping small businesses get back on their feet.”The governor’s office has not seen a study that demonstrates the need for the transit hub, and city approval would be required before the state takes any action, Bittner said.Dunn’s experience with complicated real estate projects includes leading NFL stadium constructions and renovations for teams including the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.Now, near the Chicago Bears’ home field, Dunn’s pushing forward with the most complex plan of his career — and his first in Chicago — almost a year into a near shutdown of downtown Chicago real estate because of the pandemic. The large scale of the plan, unveiled almost two years ago, has , Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd.AdvertisementOpponents have expressed concerns about how the project would affect traffic, views and property values nearby. They’ve also questioned whether there’s a need for the transit center and millions of square feet of development, particularly after the pandemic.Neighbors also have expressed worries about noise that could be created by construction and by adding more train traffic.Changes to the original design include moving high-rises to the eastern side of the site to set them back farther from existing towers, and retaining privately owned Mark Twain Park rather than building on it.Chicago was more than a decade into a development boom when the COVID-19 pandemic to get off the ground. Still, megadevelopments that appear to have moved close to the starting line include Related Midwest’s $7 billion south of the Loop and Sterling Bay’s $6 billion to the north.One Central’s even larger scope, and the huge transit center proposed as a key element of the first phase, add to the challenge.Dunn remains optimistic. Longer-term urbanization trends, including rapid growth of Chicago’s downtown residential market in recent years, point to One Chicago’s success, he said during the meeting.Advertisement“Not only have we looked at One Central on its own,” Dunn said. “We’ve also done a study of the urban trends in Chicago past and looking to the future, including projects like The 78, the Michael Reese development and Lincoln Yards, and what will the impacts be in the central Loop. Overwhelmingly, what we’ve seen is, Chicago’s future is going to be dependent not only on One Central, but on all of these projects in order to meet the growth patterns that are forecast for the city.”The $3.8 billion first phase would include the creation of a new transit hub for Metra, Amtrak and CTA trains, as well as a new bus or tram route between called the CHI-Line. The transit line would run from McCormick Place to Navy Pier, with stops at several museums and tourist attractions along the way, mostly using an existing roadway alongside train tracks below Lake Shore Drive.The initial phase also would include construction of 1.5 million square feet of entertainment, dining and retail, plus 200,000 square feet of mid-rise residential structures and 3,500 parking spaces.The transit center plan would involve rerouting several existing train lines, including creating a CTA Orange Line extension onto the site.The $16 billion second phase would bring a row of skyscrapers with a combined 9.45 million square feet of commercial and mixed-use space, 9.3 million square feet of residential, 1.5 million square feet of hotels and a 350,000-square-foot welcome center.The second phase includes nine towers from 45 to 89 stories tall between 2025 and 2040.AdvertisementThe first phase would create $77 billion in tax revenues and other economic benefits for the state, $59.9 billion for the city and $14 billion for Cook County over four decades, conducted for the developer by AECOM.“We need large, scalable development to really move us forward in terms of generating substantial revenue for the city and state,” said Jim Reynolds, chairman and CEO of Loop Capital, whose firm is an investor in One Central.Landmark .Landmark still faces meetings with neighborhood groups and other steps before eventually going before the Chicago Plan Commission — and later the City Council’s zoning committee, followed by the full City Council — in order to secure approval for the planned development.Dowell, who hosted the meeting along with the city’s planning department, emphasized that it remains early in the zoning approval process, and that her support for One Central “is not a done deal.”“There are no backroom shenanigans going on,” she said.AdvertisementDan Petrella contributed.Twitter Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 26, 2021 at 6:54 amChicago on Monday night got another peek at one of the biggest developments ever proposed in the city, in a public meeting held during an uncertain real estate market because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Landmark Development’s $20 billion One Central project envisions skyscrapers as tall as 89 stories over train tracks, a transit center and 9,050 residential units near Soldier Field.AdvertisementSome changes to project have been made in response to earlier community feedback. But the developer appears to have work to do to persuade Gov. J.B....

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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

$20 billion One Central project, which would bring skyscrapers and 9,000-plus residences near Soldier Field, gets some changes to win over neighbors. But can it win over Pritzker?

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