Tuesday night, the 3rd ward's alderman Pat Dowell hosted a public meeting where McCormick Place representatives presented an update on the ongoing development project to expand the convention facility's footprint by constructing a new Pelli Clarke Pelli designed arena and events center, a new high rise hotel and convention center, as well as a new data center. The meeting was primarily meant to address neighborhood residents' concerns about the traffic and parking implications of the new construction and facilities, but there were a few updates about the buildings themselves.
The 51 story hotel building, set to be a Marriott Marquis with 1,200 rooms and considerable conference and event space, as well as the 10,000 seat stadium, which will host DePaul University's basketball games and be available for concerts and other events, will both start construction in January 2015. The stadium should be completed by February 2017, with the hotel's completion following in May.
The arena will include a sports bar that will be open daily. The Marriott will also feature a number of restaurants open to the public.
The American Book Company building next door to the hotel will be renovated and connected with the hotel's lobby, and just behind it will be a brand new 12 story data center facility built for CenterPoint Properties Trust. No construction timeline was given for the data center.
Neighbors seemed pleased to hear that when the construction for the new event and hotel facilities is completed, there will be 51 fewer curbside parking spaces in the area, and hundreds of currently-free spaces would be re-designated as permit-only parking for Prairie District area residents.
·Previous McCormick Place coverage [Curbed Chicago]
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