Dan McCaffery Throws His Hat in the Ring for Obama Library

Add one more Chicago-based proposal in the hat for the future Obama Presidential Library. Mayor Rahm Emanuel initially indicated that City Hall wanted to submit a single unified Chicago bid for the library, but over the last couple of months, numerous institutions, community groups and developers have ventured out on their own to submit proposals that would bring a library to their neighborhood or place of interest. Developer Dan McCaffery has gotten in with the action, and has recently submitted a proposal to bring the prestigious institution to the former U.S. Steel South Works site in the city's South Shore. The plan calls for a Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed structure to be included with the developer's ambitious $4 billion Chicago Lakeside Development that has been in the works for a decade, and could take decades more to complete. In a joint partnership with U.S. Steel, McCaffery is offering free land near the lakefront for the library, and hoping that the Obama Foundation takes the bait.

McCaffery is no stranger to mega-developments, and has recently broke ground on the new British School in the South Loop and is also currently working to redevelop the former Children's Memorial Hospital campus in Lincoln Park. However, the Lakeside Development is by far McCaffery's most ambitious project. The master plan covers 600 acres of land which would include 17 million square feet of commercial space and 15,000 residences. The Obama Presidential Library would be the development's crown jewel, located on the far northeast end of the former South Works site.

The Obama Foundation is currently reviewing bids for the library, five of which are Chicago-based.

·Exclusive details: Bid for Obama Library on Lake Michigan shore [Sun-Times]
·Previous Obama Library coverage [Curbed Chicago]
·Previous Lakeside Development coverage [Curbed Chicago]