CHICAGO-Dan McCaffery, president and chief executive officer ofMcCaffery Interests, says while his company’s $4 billion Lakesidedevelopment on the South Side along Lake Michigansounds grandiose when construction is almost nil, he has to havefaith. His company recently opened a 2,000-square-foot marketingcenter for the project at the last remaining building on the USSteel site.

“Chicago needs game changers,” McCaffery says. “Beautifulprojects have been built here, but few projects offer the potentialsuch as this one. This will change the entire face of the SouthSide, which now has the perception as not being a nice place to go.I saw a map the other day, a basic Chicago map, that ended at74^th Street. We need to do something to lift up thesepeoples lives and do something special.”

The project will be on the former US Steel plant, and willinclude more than 13,000 new homes and 17.5 million square feet ofretail and other commercial property, according to the McCaffery-USSteel joint venture plan. The city has approved a master plan, anda plan ordinance for the first phase called Market Commons, about800,000 square feet of retail and residential units on 76 acres onthe northwest portion of the property between 79^th and83rd streets.