The 415-acre stretch of property along Lake Michigan is ripe for development, but it’s too big for one developer.
That’s according to Chicago’s planning commissioner, who thinks a better approach to the former site of U.S. Steel’s South Works is to split it into pieces then sell it to developers, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. U.S. Steel, which still owns the land, closed the plant in 1992 and demolished it.
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Chicago planning commissioner Maurice Cox
Bigger than the entire area of downtown Chicago, the property has sat vacant since 1992, with the exception of 2011 when it was used as a venue for a Dave Matthews Band concert.
Several attempts have been made to develop the property into housing megadevelopments, but all fallen through.
“Imagine what would happen if there was a robust economy centered on the site,” Planning Commissioner Maurice Cox said on the Sun-Times’ “Fran Spielman Show.” “It would shift the center of gravity in the city.”
One of the many proposals to develop the massive property came from Chicago rapper Common, who proposed a $71 million mixed-use complex. The proposal included a film studio, hotels and multiple concert venues. But Cox said his department has seen no formal proposal from the rapper.
Another came from Chicago-based McCaffery Interests and U.S. Steel, which worked for 12 years on a plan to build more than 13,000 homes, 17.5 million square feet of commercial space and a 1,500-slip marina on the site. The partnership split in 2016 when U.S. Steel no longer was able to finance the project.
Most recently, Dublin-based Emerald Living tried its hand with a massive plan to build 20,000 homes on the site, but it also fell through, given the challenges that accompany constructing houses on a former industrial site. [Sun-Times] — Jacqueline Flynn