Study Underway To Analyze Bob Dunn’s $20B One Central Proposal

After a delay, Illinois officials are putting Bob Dunn’s $20 billion One Central megadevelopment proposal through financial tests to determine if the $6.5 billion subsidy he wants makes sense.

The Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity will conduct a study, analyzing the risks and financial impact of the ambitious Near South Side project, Crain’s reported. The study could kill off Dunn’s proposal, or it could greenlight the publicly funded incentives and kickstart the long-awaited mixed-use endeavor, led by Dunn’s firm Landmark Development.

The Illinois General Assembly originally mandated the study nearly a year and a half ago, with the Legislature allocating $500,000 for the work. One Central, a transit-oriented project that’s slated for 9,000 residential units and 11 million square feet of office and retail space, has moved along at a sluggish pace. But state lawmaker Rep. Kam Buckner, whose district includes the development site, wants to speed up the process to determine the viability of Dunn’s plan.

“This study is very important. It’s way overdue,” Buckner told the outlet. “This project has been flawed from the beginning.”

Dunn and his firm expressed confidence that the study “will show overwhelmingly — based on the vast analysis that’s already been done by leading industry experts — that no other private investment proposed today can come close to (the project’s) positive economic impacts,” the outlet reported.

Dunn hasn’t yet filed a zoning application with the city, even though he said he would soon. The project has gotten some pushback from Near South Side residents, saying it’s too large for the area. The good news for Dunn: recently elected Mayor Brandon Johnson has agreed the project is worth exploring, though without making a full-on endorsement.

There’s a possibility that the fate of One Central could influence whether the Chicago Bears stay at Soldier Field or depart to the suburbs to build a new stadium and entertainment campus, as the One Central site sits across from Chicago’s lakefront stadium. Dunn worked with the Lori Lightfoot’s administration to present the NFL team with designs of a $2.2 billion Soldier Field renovation that would put a dome on the stadium in a bid to keep the NFL team in the city.

The state DECO will have five months to complete the study.

— Quinn Donoghue