Developer seeks state of Illinois funds for $3.8b transit center

Landmark Development is in talks with the office of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other state officials about a public-private agreement to pay for a $3.8 billion transit center, One Central, a lakefront mega-project near Soldier Field, Chicago.

Creation of the transit center would bring together CTA, Metra and Amtrak trains, with 20 million square feet of new office, residential and hotel high-rises, as well as other buildings. The 34-acre One Central project would sit atop a 50-foot-tall deck supporting 10 skyscrapers, public open space, and a landscaped pedestrian bridge connecting the South Loop to the lakefront.

Under the proposed financing plan, the developer and investors would pay the upfront construction costs for the transit center, which is expected to take three years to build.

Afterward, the developer and the state of Illinois would together pay off the cost of the station using new tax revenues and income generated from leases of restaurant, retail and en