A piece of land on the South Side of Chicago that’s adjacent to a lakefront megadevelopment and was once subject to a lawsuit over aldermanic privilege could be the new site of a 50-story residential tower.
JC Griffin, whose experience lies in the public sector and commercial lending as a former Transwestern capital markets broker, is in talks with the owners of 2545-55 South King Drive in Bronzeville to purchase the 6.5-acre property next to the former Michael Reese Hospital site, according to sources familiar with the property.
Through his development firm, Griffin Venture Group, Griffin is proposing a 50-story, 370-unit residential tower for the site with some portion of the units set aside as affordable housing. The land could trade for between $30 million and $35 million, according to a statement from Griffin, although that is subject to change.
Financing for the deal is uncertain but Griffin said in a written statement that Capri Investment Group’s Quintin Primo is a supporter of the project.
Primo wouldn’t comment on whether he was involved in the financing of the potential land acquisition but said that he is supportive of Griffin’s efforts as a fellow Black developer in Chicago.
“Capri is generally supportive of [Griffin Venture Group’s] efforts in the Bronzeville community. More investors of color need to be engaged in that community and across the city of Chicago,” Primo said.
Bronzeville was a hub for Black population growth during the Great Migration in the early to mid-1900s.
If Griffin’s plans come together, his residential tower will be located next to the former city-owned Michael Reese Hospital site which is undergoing a transformation into a $4 billion megadevelopment known as Bronzeville Lakefront. The city of Chicago is selling off the property in pieces to developer Scott Goodman over 14 years for $97 million. The redevelopment plans include 8 million square feet of buildings, including a medical research facility. The city plans to chip in $60 million for infrastructure improvements, according to a development agreement with GRIT, a group of real estate firms led by Goodman’s Farpoint.
But taking advantage of the site’s proximity to the Michael Reese site has so far proven easier said than done.
Equinix, a data center company, attempted to buy the adjacent site that Griffin is now looking at but backed out of a $30 million deal with the property’s owners because former Alderwoman Sohpia King disapproved of the proposal. The property owners and would-be sellers — a joint venture of real estate investors Michael Madura and Brett Walrod and commercial real estate brokers Steve Disse and Jeff Devine — sued the city for interfering with the sale but a judge ultimately ruled against them.
The ruling validated a longstanding but controversial practice of “aldermanic privilege” in Chicago, which dictates that developments proposed in a specific ward must get that alderman’s approval before garnering support from the rest of city council.
In this case, King, who is no longer in office, allegedly told representatives of Equinix that the city would prefer that they build the data center on the city-owned site and that the city hoped to buy the adjacent property at a lower price than Equinix was offering.
Two sources familiar with Griffin’s proposal said they were confident that the current alderman representing the area, the Fourth Ward’s Lamont Robinson, was supportive of the idea of a residential development on the site. Robinson himself did not respond to requests for comment.
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