Here’s the development plans competing for Chicago’s McKinley Park site

Three players are fighting to develop a city-owned McKinley Park property with proposals ranging from a mixed-use residential and office project to video production complexes, after Chicago officials opened a request for proposals in July.

IBT Group, Quartermaster Outpost Studios in partnership with the Walsh Group, and Pershing Road Studios, which is affiliated with LG Development Group, have presented competing plans to redevelop a vacant warehouse at 1769 West Pershing, reported Urbanize.

IBT’s $120 million proposal for the 3.2-acre parcel consists of a mixed-use building with 120 residential units and 200,000 square feet of office space.

The development firm led by Gary Pachucki would use the adjacent parcel, or site B, to build a 50,000-square-foot retail building in hopes of attracting a grocery tenant. The bulk of the funding would come from $39 to $63 million in debt, with the rest coming from C-PACE funding, a federal program that finances developers based on energy efficiency, as well as state historic tax credits, federal grants and between $12 million and $18 million in equity.

Collaborators for the project would include the firm Inherent L3C for the housing portion, Epstein and Site Design Group for the design and ARCO Murray and Englewood Construction to build the structures. Special features detailed in the proposal consist of an activated roof deck with a half-mile running track and educational space 

Meanwhile, Quartermaster Outpost Studios’ proposal leaned into a video production use for the property.

The development team plans to convert the warehouse into a multimedia studio space for movies, TV shows and music. The development team of Cacciatore Capital, Just Don, Chicago Media Angels and Morgan Stanley, with Walsh Construction as general contractor, would add 40 residential units on the rooftop above the studio space. Site B would be an extension to the creative campus and feature a separate production studio.

The Quartermaster project in total is expected to cost $110 million, sourced from $50 million in debt, $36 million in equity, $12 million in tax increment financing and $10 million in tax credits.

Pershing Road Studios is also looking to maximize the space for entertainment purposes. With LG Development and KMW Communities in charge, the main site would hold two sound stages, 13,000 square feet of amenity space and a 45,000-square-foot flex space which could be leased out or used as part of an expanded production facility.

Site B would have an additional four sound stages. Pershing Road is planning to collaborate with Cinelease Studios on the sound stages and Solomon Cordwell Buenz for design.

The city will be seeking feedback from the community over the next couple of weeks. A final decision on which development team to award the site to is expected to be made in early April.

— Quinn Donoghue