While it is making no recommendations on zoning changes, department of planning and development officials foresee a mix of industrial, office, institutional and even residential development in the area, which is north of a recently-opened Home Depot outlet on 87th Street.

The largest items in the proposed TIF budget are $26.5 million for infrastructure and $25.5 million for assembling properties, which would be developed privately.

"Nothing like this has been done in more than 25 years," says 21st Ward Ald. Howard Brookins Jr.

The Ryerson site includes buildings obsolete for current industrial uses, an inadequate infrastructure and environmental contamination, notes Beth McGuire of the department of planning and development. "As a whole, the area suffers from a host of problems that make it difficult for future users," she adds.

While a main objective of tax increment financing is to bring jobs back to the West Chatham neighborhood, including residential as a possible land use gives the department flexibility to adjust to changing market conditions, McGuire says.

However, 28 acres at 84th Street and Wentworth Avenue will likely see manufacturing buildings, while 20 acres north of 83rd Street will likely be developed for commercial use, according to the department's map.