The Tribune flagged an interesting, if fictional, reveal of potential DePaul Arena-adjacent development in the South Loop. As every good Chicagoan knows by now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Council are fast-tracking a controversial event center-anchored mega development at Cermak & Indiana. The $173M puff pastry-shaped arena, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, will be joined by two hotels with a total of 1,700 rooms all within walking distance of McCormick Place for even the most overstuffed and bewildered conventioneers. As for the parcel immediately east of the arena site, bounded by Cermak, 21st, Prairie, and Calumet, landowner Centerpoint Properties Trust has included in their marketing materials a rendering of a dense development mix with structures of varied heights and quality. Centerpoint doesn't plan on developing the land itself, so everything pictured above is merely a suggestion.
Community support for such intensive development may hinge on a couple of items: preservation of the historic American Book Company building, to which Centerpoint's loose concept obliges; and the absence of a data center, very much present in the projection. There's no telling how this mix will be accomplished or whether it's viable, but hotels and data centers sure are trending.
·Listing shows hotel, shops, data center across from DePaul arena site [Trib]
·Pelli Clarke Pelli Serves Ravioli as Likely DePaul Arena Design [Curbed Chicago]
·City Promotes Bundled $1.1B Investment in McCormick Area, Navy Pier [Curbed Chicago]
·DePaul Arena Coverage [Curbed Chicago]
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