CHICAGO– The owners of the Chicago Bulls (NBA) and the Blackhawks (NHL) unveiled a $7 billion plan on Tuesday to replace parking lots around the United Center with green space, mixed-income housing, a concert venue and more.
The 1901-ProjectTouted as the largest private investment on Chicago’s West Side, the project is being spearheaded by the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, who own the arena. It would be built in phases on more than 55 acres of private land over a period of about a decade, starting next spring, if the city approves.
“The 1901 Project represents a continuation of our families’ commitment to the future of Chicago’s West Side,” Bulls CEO Michael Reinsdorf said in a statement. “This investment will create a thriving, interconnected neighborhood that delivers significant benefits and resources to the community we have long called home.”
The first phase calls for a 6,000-seat theater, a parking garage with more than 10 acres of public green space on its roof, more pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and bike lanes, and hotel and retail space. Plans for future phases include housing “spanning a variety of unit sizes and including affordable, market-rate and luxury housing” and transportation improvements.
“While this is just the beginning, we have already begun engaging with our neighbors and community partners to identify areas of opportunity to generate community wealth from this private investment,” Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. “We have a unique opportunity to build on a legacy that all of Chicago is proud of.”
The 1901 Project bears some similarities to what the Ricketts family did to the area around Wrigley Field a decade ago. Along with renovations to the famous baseball stadium, the owners of the Chicago Cubs replaced a parking lot with a plaza and built a hotel and team office building.
The Chicago White Sox, also owned by the Reinsdorfs, want to move out of Guaranteed Rate Field on the South Side and build a new stadium as part of a baseball village in the city’s South Loop that would include green space, housing and businesses. The NFL’s Chicago Bears are seeking to build a fenced-in lakefront stadium next to Soldier Field as part of a reimagined museum campus, and they also own an 800-acre tract of land in suburban Arlington Heights that could also be the site of a future home. The two teams are seeking public funding for those projects.
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