Today, the Gray Lady takes a long look at South Works, the 470-acre former US Steel plant that McCaffery Interests is planning to redevelop. Although the article doesn't offer too much in the way of new information, it does provide a nice overview of the mega-development. And there are some interesting quotes in there, like these:
"The scale of the project is extraordinary ... The fact that anybody in this economy still wants to take a shot at developing a site that is basically a landfill and is basing the development on retail and housing is also extraordinary." —Chris Raguso, Chicago's former Department of Community Development and Mayor Daley's current chief of staffIt is... extraordinary. But does the city really need all of that new-construction housing and retail?"We're smelling, tasting and feeling pent-up demand for retail. I'm not going to kid anybody that we're going to have a Tiffany's down here, but it's also not going to be pawn shops," he said, referring to the poor economic conditions of much of the area. "We've already talked to a number of grocery stores, and not one has turned us down in terms of continued interest." —Daniel McCaffery, president of McCaffery InterestsConstruction on Phase 1, which will include 1,000 homes and 800,000 square feet of retail, is set to begin in 2012.
· Chicago to Redevelop U.S. Steel Site on Lakefront [NY Times]
· On-Site Marketing Opens for South Works Mega-Development [Curbed Chicago]