McCaffery Gains First City Nod on $4B Plan

The plan is being pushed by Chicago Lakeside Development LLC, a public-private partnership of US Steel Corp. and locally-based developer McCaffery Interests. The master plan includes more than 13,500 new homes and 17.5 million square feet of retail and other commercial uses along the shores of Lake Michigan, about 10 miles south of the downtown, as well as about 90 acres of public park.

The Plan Commission has approved the master plan for the project, as well as the enactment of a Planned Development Ordinance providing land use entitlements for the first phase, called Market Commons. This phase, the most northwest portion of the property between 79th and 87th streets, is supposed to include more than 800,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, entertainment venues and residential units on 76 acres. If this phase gains full city approval, construction would start in 2012, according to a McCaffery statement.

"The approvals…are the result of more than four years of collaboration and negotiations with the city of Chicago," said Daniel McCaffery, president and founder of the self-named firm in the statement. "It hasn't been easy, but the positive economic and social effects of these actions will last for a very, very long time. The development of these 369 acres will signal a new and positive future for southeast Chicago." A company spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com that the next step will be to intensely market the project.

The US Steel plant was operational on the south side in the last 1800s, and in the early 1900s employment at one point reached more than 20,000, winding down until the plant was shut in 1992 due to the declining steel industry. The plant literally expanded itself, adding molten slag byproduct to add "land" to the shoreline. This slag today goes down an average of 25 feet on the site, according to a McCaffery presentation. Silt and muck from waterways in Peoria were brought to the site to create a buildable cap.

The company says the total project will take an estimated 25-45 years to complete, and will need about $450 million in new infrastructure. The plan includes extending existing city streets to the lakefront, adding new parks, adding a new high school and rerouting US 41 a few blocks to the east. A 1,500-slip boat harbor is also included.