CHICAGO | Michael Reese Site Redevelopment
 

Lincoln Yards & The 78 get their own thread...

https://chicago.suntimes.com/busines...site-this-year
Developers aim for city OK on Michael Reese site this year
$3.5 billion project detailed for local residents at a virtual meeting.

By David Roeder@RoederDavid May 4, 2020, 8:56pm CDT

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YWQN...endering.0.jpg

I attended the virtual meeting last night and here are some notes...

May 4, 2020 Virtual Meeting

-working on things since 2012

-65% minority business led

-10% commercial space discounted

-20% affordable housing on site

-MBE (30%) & WBE (10%)

-(GRIT) Global Research Innovation & Tourism District

-8.8 acres of open and green space in phase 1 & 2

-Phase 3 (Marshaling Yards/towers) won’t be apart of the current PD

-3rd quarter of 2021 groundbreaking? Phase 1 should take about 5 years

-$31,000,000 TIF for remediation at 29th St. where a factory once stood.

-mix of housing product… condo, rental, affordable, market rate (mainly phase 3)

-8.8 acres of open space (2 acres at 31st) (2.5 at 29th)

MICHAEL REESE
91 acres with marshaling yard included
13.7 million square feet

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/dept...ital-site.html

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...ion_050420.pdf


https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...553839/enhance

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...553823/enhance

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...553821/enhance

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...553838/enhance

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...900F38D22E2508

May 05, 2020 06:27 AM UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Developers detail plans for Michael Reese site
The proposed first phase of a larger $6 billion megaproject would include 1 million square feet of new buildings and a park along 31st Street.

DANNY ECKER

https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/...39.50%20PM.png

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ael-reese-site

June 16, 2020 11:59 AM UPDATED 48 MINUTES AGO

Investors shopping land next to Michael Reese site
The big vacant swath is next to where developers are planning a $6 billion lakefront megaproject.

DANNY ECKER

https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/...21.55%20AM.png

Let's get an 800 footer up there

A community town hall webinar will be co-hosted by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), Ald. Sophia King (4th), and the Michael Reese Advisory Council next month to review updated plans from the GRIT development team for the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville.

The webinar will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Registration for the Zoom webinar is open now, and the presentation will be posted in advance of the meeting at www.chicago.gov/reese.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question about the proposal should email their question to DPD@cityofchicago.org or ward04@cityofchicago.org by noon on Monday, Oct. 12.

The 48.6-acre City-owned site is the former location of the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center. The hospital complex closed in 2008 and the City acquired the property in 2009.

The largely vacant site is highly accessible to both traffic and transit, within close proximity to The Loop, the Museum Campus and McCormick Place, the nation's largest convention center. The GRIT redevelopment team was selected in 2017 as a part of a City-led Request for Proposals process.

The team filed its initial Master Planned Development application with City Council in June 2020 and expects to present their proposal to the Chicago Plan Commission later this year.

A friend was at a recent community meeting where they were discussing the branding and naming of the site, and it looks like Bronzeville East is the likely option. There's still not final decision yet, and many residents have mixed views on the naming, but there's already a website domain reserved so it's likely final.

It's inactive as of right now, but it may go live before the Wednesday meeting: https://bronzevilleeast.com/

East Bronzeville sounds better to me IMO.

It's not finished but here's the preliminary website design. Yes, I know it's an IP adress at the moment and it looks sketchy clicking on it: http://159.203.66.75/

Here's also tomorrows presentation slides: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...eck_101420.pdf

Bronzeville Lakefront

Possible plan commission in November 2020

7,800,000 square feet is slightly less that initially proposed for phases 1 &2

Height limit increased in first two phases by 50' to 350' & 450' respectively.

DPD sent an email saying Bronzeville Lakefront will be on the Feb Plan Commission agenda, and that the GRIT team plans to break ground on phase 1 in 2021

Yay

Great news. This, One Central, and the 78 have serious potential to transform the skyline and extend the CDB south. It'll probably take 20+ years to materialize, but you can see the potential.

On the February 2021 Plan Commission Agenda

Chicago Plan Commission Draft Presentation:

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...t_cpc_pres.pdf

That signature building is giving me major Zurich HQ vibes (Schaumburg).

Indeed, I had the same thought, and I love the Zurich HQ building.

Also, unrelated, but I'm always happy when you post, because I love seeing you forum name.

Michael Reese site redevelopment wins key approval

The Chicago Plan Commission OK'd a 20-year plan to transform the former hospital site south of McCormick Place.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...=hero-readmore

So there were some changes in the application from time of submission to approval by the plan commission.

The number of planned residential units increased by approximately 41%

From 4800 to 6786

With 20% affordable housing on site, we're looking at about 1357 units.

Remember that we're talking phases 1 & 2 which will encompass about 7,924,000 million sq ft.

I'm not sure how many units will be proposed for the Marshaling Yards, but conceptually the numbers being states were an additional 5M sq ft, which can easily change. I'm guessing Phase 3 will be mostly residential, with potential for hotel rooms.

Aside from the street grid, is the expectation Prairie Shores stays as is? I would have liked to see some of that surface parking removed with a more urban design that better integrates Reese to the west.

Prairie Shores is under the same ownership as Michael Reese. I doubt they feel the need to build on the parking lots and anger their current tenants when they have so much land next door.

On the other hand they should at the very least remove the gates along King Drive so that you can get from the bus to the new Michael Reese buildings. Right now Prairie Shores is like a fortress when seen from King Drive, the gates are sometimes locked and sometimes unlocked or broken, it's not predictable.

A clubhouse for recreation and retail is being built on one of the surface lots, and should be finished sometime this year

https://rejournals.com/wp-content/up...-2048x1229.jpg
https://rejournals.com/farpoint-and-...rairie-shores/

Prairie Shores probably won't see any significant change until Phase 2 is completely built out 20+ years. They'll knock down Prairie Shores before they build over the Metra tracks.

^ I doubt it. The cheapest building is the one that already exists. Prairie Shores might be infilled or the towers re-clad, but it's unlikely they would get any higher density after a tear-down so I'd be very surprised if they did.

As for building over the Metra tracks (really the marshaling yard, the tracks would remain uncovered) I am also skeptical that this can be done, at least without a lot of public money involved. 155 N Riverside was able to deck over the Union Station tracks at no cost to the public, but that was kind of a special case. I believe (A) the air rights were discounted and (B) the site was developed at high density and commands top-tier rents. Michael Reese will have a lower allowed density and a far lower income stream to offset the cost of the deck.

If there is the demand the developer is assuming for a 3rd Phase, it will not be located over the Metra tracks it will replace Prairie Shores. *I should add that it may be infill but they will not build over those tracks.

Incorrect... Phase 3 would be the Marshaling Yards just east of the tracks. There's an image on page 1.

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...553821/enhance

Oh, I see so they're proposing a bridge at 26th street. Well that's more realistic I suppose.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...infrastructure

City to fund $60M in Michael Reese site infrastructure

The taxpayer-funded plan is part of a broader arrangement that will help move forward a proposal to transform the 48-acre property into a mixed-use campus.

DANNY ECKER

https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/....48%20PM_0.png

Good to hear on the street extensions. Any place where the city can repair the street grid, it should be done without hesitation. Is Prairie Shores part of the Michael Reese redevelopment? It would be great if the 27th, 29th and 30th extensions reach out to MLK Dr! Ditto for Cottage Grove through Lake Meadows to connect with the rest of the street south of 33rd.

Michael Reese Site Primed For $97 Million Sale As ‘Bronzeville Lakefront’ Edges Closer To Reality
Alex Nitkin, The Daily Line | 8:47 AM CDT on May 11, 2021

Is this a current rendering?
https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-ha...nding-approved

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I5Gl...00.20_PM.7.png

^ that's a rendering from 2017, way outdated

There aren't final renderings for the site, only individual buildings, but the current phases west of the Metra tracks expect towers up to 400 ft. The future phases east of Metra are expected to have towers up to 800 ft.

Gotcha. Thanks!

Mega-development’ for the Chicago's South Side gets official nod
 

The Chicago City Council has approved the sale of the former Michael Reese Hospital site and zoning for a $4 billion mixed-use redevelopment, inching the proposed Bronzeville lakefront project closer to breaking ground...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...nod/ar-AAMrJyn

Bronzeville Lakefront, Lincoln Yards, The 78, and North Union are all on track to break ground on their first buildings this year. Will be interesting to see which megadevelopment begins first

Potential of Chicago nationally is flying way under the radar IMO.

Eh, that's always been the view of people from Chicago. Truth is that a lot of cities are undergoing a big transformation right now. Look at Austin, Nashville, even Philly and their 30th Street Station redevelopment. Chicago's profile is going to lag behind what's happening because that's sort of how it works.

The first thing that needs to happen for Chicago is to stop losing net population. Once the city population starts to grow again, that's when the national perception - those that haven't been paying attention to what's really happening, at least - will take notice. If the 2030 Census shows population gain for Chicago, for example, expect a bunch of articles with the headline 'Is Chicago the next cool city?' By then, they'll have been behind the curve for more than a decade.

I'm not originally from Chicago but have lived here a while. I just feel like development and culture wise Chicago is starting to finally turn a corner (which I did not feel originally). I could be wrong though and admittedly am much more attuned to development here than other cities. Population growth isn't spontaneous and takes a nuanced attractive quality work/play/energy environment and so I see many of these developments (plus Riverwalk/Fulton/Ohare etc) all combining into the right formula to spur that.

Austin/Nashville and even Philly are on much smaller scale than Chicago as urban centers but to each his own. I will look more closely at the Philly development you mentioned thank you for pointing that out.

This is true for as long as I've been alive. Chicago always flies under the radar. Even for tech, which pales in comparison to the Bay Area , NYC, and LA...it has produced more "unicorn" companies this year than anywhere outside of nyc and the Bay Area (even more than LA and Boston) but not a ton of press.

Anyway, a lot of cities are going thru a lot of development right now but these megadevelopments are usually the ones that make more national news. I'm sure once The 78, Lincoln Yards, and this start construction maybe it'll get more press nationally.

I think living in Chicago pretty much always means that outsiders or the national media will apply a 30+ year old stereotype to you or at times overlook you.

Even here in Long Island City in NYC where we currently live, there's like 3-4 sizable high rises going up on our block and then right across the river there's like 4 more that are pretty large - all on the river. This barely even makes the news nationally for the record but it's all together basically the size of the planned development of the new high rises on Goose Island in Chicago.

Well yes - that also has to do with media as well and the Census getting their story right. No matter what happened, there was always shit. Most of the years between 2010 and 2019, Chicago didn't actually lose population. It gained population, but a little bit. The media still either spun it to say Chicago was losing population or that it was too stagnant. There is really no winning here. And as we all know, or should know by now, the Census estimates were off by literally 14X for the state. There is no telling what the reality is until sometime later when the data is released but there's even a possibility that Chicago officially didn't even lose population at all between 2010 and 2020. It should be a warning to literally everyone to take the Census estimates every year with a grain of salt and the media shouldn't be paying as much attention to it IMO.

All of these things help of course because it's marketing - so I'm not denying that, but there's a lot of weirdness with how media chooses to do this.

Bronzeville Lakefront has a new rendering plus other interesting details on their website: https://bronzevillelakefront.com/

https://bronzevillelakefront.com/wp-...7/Img_View.png

Why aren't they planning on spanning the IC tracks again? Is it the cost? It just seems like drilling caissons between the tracks and bridging them shouldn't be exponentially more expensive than a normal building construction. What am I missing?

I think that master plan rendering is older; it's from May, and I thought the developer had released better renderings much more recently :shrug:

They said in articles this week that for phase 2 they'll have the option to buy the air rights over the tracks, either to build over them or transfer the FAR to build taller buildings east of the tracks.

I apologize if this has been answered before, but is the plan to eventually build on the McCormick marshalling yards? Aren't they needed for exhibition set up and logistics? Or will the developments simply build over them?

UChicago Medicine & Sinai Chicago are joining Chicago ARC. This will likely help kickoff phase 1:
https://www.chicagoarc.health/s/stor...ity-innovation

The beautiful old Lake Meadows office building across from Michael Reese is being renovated right now for Howard Brown medical offices. Lee Bey had a nice article about it last week. It was an award-winning piece of Modernism back in 1960, designed by SOM. The renovation should be sympathetic to the original design.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/7/...al-shine-again

Love this.

There is equipment next to the 27th St Metra station, looks to be for site remediation. This thing might start sooner than expected

You can follow along on the remediation process here, they post weekly progress maps and webcams:
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/site...tion-site.html

There is all kinds of nasty radioactive crap underground from the old Chicago Carnotite Company, you can see all the bags of radioactive material piling up.