CHICAGO | United Center 1901 Project | 55 Acres | 5000-6000 Apts.

[Toasty Joe]

the area could eventually use multiple hotels between west loop, the UC, and the IMD. I'd rather have hotels (with solid rooftop bars) than airbnbs fill the demand

[BVictor1]

COMMUNITY MEETING
August 27, 2024 – 6:00 PM

United Center Atrium at 20 S. Wood St.

In collaboration with Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th Ward), the 1901 Development team at United Center will be hosting a Community Meeting regarding the proposed development in the neighborhood surrounding the arena.

[Jstange059]

I’ll be updating the information covered in the meeting






Intents of the project:
“Creating a neighborhood”
Reimagine the space, develop a neighborhood of choice

Create 25 acres of parkland

Meetings before each phase (hopefully that won’t slow the project too much)

Bring community together in a walkable environment

Very transit served, create safe bike lanes
Bring nature to the city with the streetscape

“Create a diverse rich mix of open spaces”

Youth opportunity 3 pillars:
Sports wellness
Performance and arts
Education

[BrickellBased]

Thanks so much for posting all these photos.

They look serious and this would be absolutely huge for the city if it comes to fruition. That area has been a gigantic hole in the urban continuity of the city for a very long time.

This will be on par with Fulton Market in terms of being transformational - with a ripple effect of greatly improving desirability and property values much farther west from the Loop and Downtown.

Originally Posted by Jstange059

I’ll be updating the information covered in the meeting

[HomrQT]

Excellent coverage of the meeting, thank you for all the photos. But I have to admit many of those proposed streetviews are pretty underwhelming.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

Excellent coverage of the meeting, thank you for all the photos. But I have to admit many of those proposed streetviews are pretty underwhelming.

They are absolutely not set in stone, just placeholders. At this very early, schematic phase of a transformational, multi-phase project, so much of it is extremely conceptual. IF this is maintained as an actual, phased development, it will have many design iterations that will respond to a variety of conditions: 1. Community feedback, 2. Capital/funding considerations, 3. Responses to how the immediate surroundings also change over time, etc, etc, to name a few....especially if the both Fulton Market and the IMD explode with new development as market restrictions in the form of high interest rates, subside over the next year.

****It cannot be stressed enough: The current lag in a lot of Chicago-area development projects is mainly, primarily due to high interest rates and continued higher-than-average global inflation issues.

[BrickellBased]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

Excellent coverage of the meeting, thank you for all the photos. But I have to admit many of those proposed streetviews are pretty underwhelming.

I feel like we're looking at different presentations.

I was wondering if they're going to be able to afford some of these concepts. Probably not in the end. Though we're starting with parking lots so the improvements will be huge still.

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by BrickellBased

I feel like we're looking at different presentations.

I was wondering if they're going to be able to afford some of these concepts. Probably not in the end. Though we're starting with parking lots so the improvements will be huge still.

These are just weak to me. Much better than parking lots, but we're footsteps from bustling Fulton Market. It feels like they could step some of this up another notch.





I mean, do they really feel they're not going to get a ROI going taller than this?

[Jstange059]

They mentioned in the meeting that the future phases of the development can be scaled based on the demand that they see. So the later phases could potentially increase in density. In past publications, it was mentioned that phase one (The buildings in blue) aim to start construction by spring 2025, though that was not mentioned at this community meeting, so phase one is likely pretty set in stone. But considering that they said there will be a community meeting before each phase of the project, the later phases are definitely more up to change

[ithakas]

I like most aspects of this project – especially that they are emphasizing walkability, transit, and public space.

If I had one criticism it'd be that I wish they had one tower that felt more architecturally ambitious. I'm not usually one to emphasize height, but here I'm thinking of something like the Hancock Center, which brought a new scale to the surrounding district and established a new era for the northern area of downtown.

I think the west side of downtown is ready for something similar.

[Jstange059]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I'm not usually one to emphasize height, but here I'm thinking of something like the Hancock Center, which brought a new scale to the surrounding district and established a new era for the northern area of downtown.

I think the west side of downtown is ready for something similar.

I’m pretty sure they mentioned the maximum height at the site is 660 ft. however, it would be wonderful if they could create an exception to this, and be able to create a landmark tower

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by Jstange059

But considering that they said there will be a community meeting before each phase of the project, the later phases are definitely more up to change

Here's to hoping. Practically anything is better than parking lots but this whole project as presented so far is not very inspirational for so much land so close to downtown.

[BVictor1]

One of the questions I had at the meeting was about density and height.

It seems as if there's still some flexibility regarding density. I encouraged and emphasized to the UC people afterwards that they should definitely look at additional density.

I also asked about the height of the proposed tallest structure and was told it could possibly rise about 60 stories, so 🤞

[Randomguy34]

Zoning app is up for this project: https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov...1-001DD804C7AB

The development will have at maximum 9,463 units and 1,309 hotel rooms, but that's of course not what will be built given that there will be several office components. The maximum height will be 660 feet.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Zoning app is up for this project: https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov...1-001DD804C7AB

The development will have at maximum 9,463 units and 1,309 hotel rooms, but that's of course not what will be built given that there will be several office components. The maximum height will be 660 feet.

Well shit! I'm pleasantly shook about this.

I'm glad the proposed density has nearly doubled.

660' over there... I never imagined it would be a thought. Now it's time to truly connect IMD through the United Center area to Fulton Market.

[BrickellBased]

If half of this comes to fruition, it will really be a godsend for getting major development outside of the urban core since I have no idea when. Maybe the 50s since they were building highrises along the lake?

Measuring via Google Maps, the planned development area for this is 10-20% larger than the 78. Shocking.

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Zoning app is up for this project: https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov...1-001DD804C7AB

The development will have at maximum 9,463 units and 1,309 hotel rooms, but that's of course not what will be built given that there will be several office components. The maximum height will be 660 feet.

[BVictor1]

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...n-1901-project

United Center owners detail apartments, hotel vision for 1901 Project
By Danny Ecker

The owners of the United Center have revealed more details of their $7 billion plan to redevelop the arena's surroundings, seeking city approval for nearly 9,500 apartments, more than 1,300 hotel rooms and a residential high-rise that would dwarf buildings in the surrounding area.

The specifics were disclosed in a zoning application the venue's ownership will introduce to the City Council tomorrow, a first formal step toward a megaproject that would dramatically reshape the city's Near West Side. The Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, which respectively own the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks and jointly own the arena at 1901 W. Madison St., announced plans in July for the so-called 1901 Project that would bring 14 million square feet of new development to the area over the next decade-plus.

The application specifies that the tallest building in that area could rise as high as 660 feet. That would be far taller than the 495-foot height of the tallest apartment tower today in the nearby Fulton Market District and above the 615-foot proposed height of a 52-story apartment tower proposed in the former meatpacking corridor.

[Jstange059]

Nearly 10000 units? This is big

I know in initial articles, they mentioned they were aiming at starting construction on the first phase in spring 2025. Not sure if this is still the plan, but with them starting the zoning process now and the interest rates seeming set to drop very shortly, hopefully we can see this project start working soon. I’d hate to see it go down the path of Lincoln Yards, but am currently feeling optimistic that it will be able to be carried out, at least to some extent. To be honest, any phases of this project being completed will be incredibly transformative

[Jstange059]

One more exciting thing I noticed: It appears that there will be raised sidewalk-level bike lanes along Adams and Damen (represented by Green lines), and on the adams and damen intersection (Green circle), there'll be essentially one corner of a dutch protected intersection. Quite excited to see that

[BVictor1]

It's my understanding they want to have one more full community meeting, then hopefully this will before plan commission in November or December.