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The first phase of development will be the centerpiece of a 15-year, $7 billion plan dubbed the 1901 Project that could eventually bring 9,463 new homes, with 20% reserved for affordable housing, to the United Center, which is now mostly surrounded by unsightly parking lots. The 1901 Project, named after the United Center’s address at 1901 W. Madison St., will also include 1,309 hotel rooms and open space totaling 25 acres.
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Summary and audio linked here.
Audio and summary
Classic Team Owner play happening here. Tease development in a blighted minority area near current stadium. Begin studies, then comes the ask of the City and State. Threaten to leave, sell the sob story, play the union jobs angle (are there any others in Chicago), bend the knee and get Stacey Hates Chicago to bring the Red Plague into the story for a voting angle on whoever is up for re-election then and BOOM. New stadium funded by the already drained taxpayer.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Who in their right minds would invest this kind of capital in this neighborhood, in this city, in this state, right now. The City, County and State are run by buffoons. The government debt at all levels is off the charts. Interest rates are killing demand for home/condo buyers. Office vacancies are at a century old high. Construction costs are at an all time high. But you know, there ain’t many smarter people in town than Reinsdorf.
It doesn’t matter how many billions they put into that neighborhood.
Because the neighborhoods close by that will never be cleaned up are just a short car ride away.
As the great Troy Murray always says on the Blackhawks’ radio broadcast, you need to keep your head on a swivel when you’re a player on the ice. Well guess what? Anyone who moves into the United Center neighborhood will also have to keep their head on a swivel, only every time they leave their overpriced housing. Who wants to live somewhere where you’re prey for the local predators?
There are skyscrapers just east of here (you remember the Loop?), that are bring foreclosed upon, and yet this project with green space is in great demand? Sorry, but this feels like a “if you build it, they will come” pipedream. I wouldn’t invest a penny, nor do I think it will ever live up to what these developers describe. I see park benches with drunks and junkies overlooking a homeless encampment.
This project will be shelved as soon as the next recession hits, which isn’t too far off.
If you’re looking for genuinely good news about Chicago, this is it, IMO. Reinsdorf is as smart as any investor around, and this is a big project. I would caveat that only by noting that the deal will likely be heavily leveraged — paid for with somebody else’s money — and that money is still to be raised.
Perhaps repeated A-10 and B-1 practice runs would be a win-win. Thorough Urban clean-up and practice for our servicemen. Brrrttt.