Developers have unveiled a $10 billion project called “Bronzeville Lakefront,” which calls for a new domed stadium. It is meant to persuade the Chicago Bears to stay in the Windy City.
The 100-acre site (about 40 hectares) would include more than 5,000 new housing units, hotels, a 28-acre park (about 11 hectares) and expanded transportation infrastructure. To make the offer more attractive, the investors proposed buying the Chicago Bears’ property in Arlington Heights. The project would be financed through a public-private partnership, before the key legislative session in Springfield, the Illinois capital.
On Thursday, a group of developers presented a $10 billion plan to build a huge 100-acre residential, entertainment and sports complex in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. Its centerpiece would be a new domed stadium, intended to keep the Chicago Bears from moving to the suburbs or to Indiana. Capri Investment Group and GRIT Chicago presented the updated “Bronzeville Lakefront” project at Olivet Baptist Church, just five days before Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield, where they are expected to consider new legislation on public financing for stadiums.
The proposed development, covering 11 million square feet (about 1 million square meters), would take in the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital, the Prairie Shores apartment complex and the space above the McCormick Place Marshaling Yard. At the heart of the district would be a covered stadium with a capacity of 75,000 spectators, connected to the McCormick Place complex. The venue could host Bears games, Super Bowls, Final Four tournaments and major concerts. To address earlier site-access problems, preliminary designs place the stadium complex, which would take up 30 to 40 acres, in a way that does not disrupt service on active rail lines.
Beyond the stadium itself, the key elements of the proposal include more than 5,000 mixed-income housing units, both on and off the site, including at least 1,000 affordable units and senior housing, as well as student housing. Two existing high-rise buildings at Prairie Shores would be preserved and renovated, while units that have to be demolished would be replaced at a ratio of 1.5 to 1, along with five-year rent protection.
The project also includes about 2,000 hotel rooms, 300,000 square feet of retail and dining space, 400,000 square feet of office space, a 500,000-square-foot youth sports complex and a 400,000-square-foot wellness center. It also provides for a 28-acre public park, an overpass above Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive, a planned Metra commuter rail station at 29th Street, a new CTA Green Line station half a mile away and more than 3,500 parking spaces in multilevel garages.
Capri and its partners have made an offer to buy the Bears’ property in Arlington Heights, in case owning that land is an obstacle preventing the team from seriously considering a Chicago location. The design team plans to submit an updated infrastructure plan to the City of Chicago as part of the ongoing review of the Bronzeville Lakefront project.
The development group said its immediate priority is to bring together representatives of the Chicago Bears, the NFL, city and state officials and Bronzeville residents for joint talks, especially because the Illinois General Assembly will debate stadium financing legislation over the next two months.
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Source: Polski.FM
