Shawn Clark

Clark has overseen strong growth for the development firm he took over under the wing of parent company Clayco, a construction, design and development conglomerate founded by his father, Bob Clark.

The younger Clark has taken the firm from a small subsidiary into a national platform with eight regional offices and more than $7 billion worth of development work across industrial, mixed-use and student housing projects.

What’s next on the docket could render all of that a prelude to a project with the potential to reshape the city’s long-lagging South Side. 

CRG is working with Related Midwest on redevelopment of a former lakefront steel mill site being backed by Silicon Valley tech firm PsiQuantum, the state of Illinois, a consortium of local universities and local interests as a center of quantum computing that could be a new keystone in Chicago’s economic development. 

Governor J.B. Pritzker has made a priority of the project, dubbed Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, and the state has committed $500 million, with institutional capital in the mix and a ground lease with Blue Owl’s real estate arm in hand.

Clark’s leadership and CRG’s ability to perform under pressure will no doubt get tested as the project takes shape, with both the usual scrutiny for real estate deals involving public funds, and the potential for even deeper dives if Pritzker runs for president in 2028, as many political observers expect.