BRONZEVILLE LAKEFRONT PROJECT HOSTS INFRASTRUCTURE GROUNDBREAKING
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
By Tia Carol Jones
The former site of Michael Reese Hospital is set for redevelopment. On Wednesday, March 29th, there was a groundbreaking for the Bronzeville Lakefront Infrastructure Project. GRIT, a developer group that includes Farpoint Development, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, McLaurin Development Partners, Loop Capital, and Bronzeville Community Development Partnership, is the developer for the site, which will include affordable, market-rate, senior and artists housing, as well as retail and entertainment. It will encompass Cottage Grove, Vernon Avenue and 31st Street.
Michael Reese Hospital officially closed in 2009. The site was purchased by the city and had to go through land remediation because it was a hospital site. The infrastructure groundbreaking is just the first step in the Bronzeville Lakefront project.
Scott Goodman, GRIT partner and Farpoint Development Founding Principal, recognized Bronzeville as Black Metropolis and cultural hub for the City of Chicago. “We’re looking to be a huge expansion of the already proud Bronzeville community,” Goodman said, adding that the project is something that has been in progress for six years.
Goodman acknowledged the work of the Michael Reese Advisory Council. The Bronzeville Lakefront Project has a $3.8 billion development plan, supported by $60 million in city funded infrastructure. The hope is this project will regenerate wealth in the Bronzeville community.
Out of the estimated 5,000 units in the development, about 1,000 will be affordable housing units. The development will also bring an estimated 10,000 full-time jobs and 9,000 construction jobs. Ten percent of the retail space will be set aside for local and disadvantaged business owners, with a rent of 20% lower than the market rate.
City of Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi talked about the infrastructure, which will include bike lanes, new walkable places and wide sidewalks. “This work is so important because it is establishing that holistic human scale mobility network throughout the site,” Biagi said, adding that there will be a new Cottage Grove, which will be a walkable street, with trees, sidewalks, bike lanes, gathering spaces and room for café tables. There also will be raised off-street two-way bike lanes. At the intersection of 26th and Cottage Grove, there will be a modern urban roundabout.
City of Chicago Department and Planning Commissioner Maurice Cox described the project as legacy work, work that happens once in a generation. “This is about setting the framework for Urban life. How people will live here, about the social interactions they will have as a result of having wide sidewalks and canopied lined streets, and it’s about setting the tone for the place that Bronzeville Lakefront will become,” he said. Cox added that the Bronzeville Lakefront project will be a connector of downtown to the South side of Chicago.
Zeb McLaurin, CEO of McLaurin Development Partners, announced a program that would include at least 30% minority- and 10% women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) on construction. He said it is an opportunity to highlight Black, Latino and Women-Owned Businesses in the Bronzeville community.
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