Chicago City Council approves $3.8b mixed-use project

The Chicago City Council has given approval, 36 to 13, for the development of Bronzeville Lakefront, a $3.8 billion mixed-use project located in the city’s South Side neighborhood, reported media outlets. The proposal is from GRIT, a consortium led by Farpoint Development.

Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, which closed in 2008, formerly occupied the 48-acre development site. The City of Chicago acquired the site in 2009.

Upon completion, Bronzeville Lakefront will offer 7 million square feet of commercial and institutional space, as well as mixed-income housing, and will create up to 20,000 temporary and permanent jobs. The development team will break ground on the $600 million first phase of the project in late 2021 or early 2022.

Phase I will include a 500,000-square-foot Chicago Arc Innovation Building; ret