Redevelopers in Chicago, Illinois are making bold plays to turn long-vacant brownfield sites, obsolete industrial corridors, and underutilized historic buildings into mega-redevelopments.
Rendering of The 78 courtesy of Related Midwest/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
The recent push to “go big or go home” represents a desire to land big corporate tenants, like Amazon, and attract more company headquarters.
At least five sites across the city were pitched to Amazon during the HQ2 search in 2018, and although the tech giant passed, the redevelopers there are all forging ahead.
Some critics say that supersized projects lack an authentic, organic feeling, but the big projects are sometimes the only way to bring new housing, parks, offices, and infrastructure to Chicago’s otherwise vacant sites.
Right now there are 11 major Chicago mega-redevelopment projects in the works.
Some are already under construction, while others remain long-term visions for the future.
Here’s are the large, multi-phase brownfield redevelopment projects that will reshape the city in the decades to come:
- Lincoln Yards
- The 78
- The River District
- Riverline and Southbank
- Wolf Point South, East, and West
- Lakeshore East: Vista, Cirus, Cascade, Parcel I, Parcel O
- One Central
- Old Post Office
- Union Station
- Burnham Lakefront
- South Bridge
Featured rendering of Lincoln Yards is courtesy of Sterling Bay/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Learn more about all 11 mega-redevelopment projects in Jay Koziarz’s Curbed Chicago article.