NEAR WEST SIDE — The area around the United Center could be transformed into a sprawling campus with housing, a music hall and more, owners announced Tuesday.
Dubbed The 1901 Project after the United Center’s Madison Street address, the $7 billion development is expected to take a decade to complete. The owners of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks would convert 55 acres of land surrounding the arena — much of which is now blacktop parking lots — into housing, retail, entertainment and public space.
The plan has been five years in the making, first under the leadership of Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and late Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz.
At a press conference Tuesday, the center’s leaders said they would fund the massive project through private investment instead of seeking city or state funds.
This year, the White Sox — also owned by Reinsdorf — and the Bears have appealed to state legislators for support in building new stadiums in Chicago. Asked about that, United Center CEO Terry Savarise insisted that would not be the strategy at the United Center.
“We are not going to Springfield to ask for money as the White Sox have done,” Savarise said. “Or the [Chicago] Bears, by the way.”
If the development is approved, it will be done in seven phases, with the first phase beginning as soon as the spring.
That initial phase would transform what’s now a surface-level parking lot near the arena into a sweeping music hall that could seat 6,000 people and add an elevated green space, new parking, hotels and retail.
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Later phases would construct 5,000 residentials units, with at least 20 percent of those committed to affordable housing, owners said.
It would be the largest private investment in the West Side, according to the Sun-Times’ Abby Miller.
Tuesday’s announcement marked a passing of the torch from Rocky Wirtz, who died a year ago this month, to his son, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz. Danny Wirtz said the ownership teams have had informal conversations about the project for several years.
“If we’re going to make a generational bet, it takes time,” Danny Wirtz said. “The time and care, building and understanding a coalition with our neighbors and with elected officials, has been really important to doing that all up until now. So we think the time now is right and the city is ready for it. And we’re ready to do it and do it well.”
Campuses built around sports arenas have become en vogue in recent years.
The Bears have repeatedly pitched plans for a campus built around a new stadium — in the suburbs or Chicago — that would feature entertainment, housing and transportation. Mayor Brandon Johnson has thrown his support behind the Bears’ latest plan for a campus in the city, which would cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion. Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislators have balked at any Bears plan that uses public money.
The Cubs have built up Wrigleyville in recent years, as well, and Reinsdorf made the rounds in Springfield earlier this year to ask state lawmakers for funding for a $1 billion ballpark in the South Loop.
Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf chose to distance The 1901 Project from those other arena developments.
“We’re not building an entertainment district. We’re transforming this neighborhood,” he said. “There’s a lot of teams throughout the country that build their entertainment districts. But this is so much more.”
Asked why the Reinsdorfs couldn’t pay for a new White Sox stadium with private funds if they had the money for The 1901 Project, Savarise brushed aside the question.
“That’s a whole different project with a different set of circ*mstances, and that’s probably something that we can talk about another time,” Savarise said. “So we’re trying to focus on the opportunity here on the West Side, the fact that we have a great anchor already in the United Center.”
Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), who donned a Blackhawks cap for the announcement, urged developers to follow the United Center’s lead and go west of Ashland.
“This is very exciting to have all of that green space, to be able to help our environment, to get rid of those black parking lots. It’s a win-win,” Burnett said as a Pink Line train rushed by. “And also to get a new ‘L’ stop.”
The United Center’s renderings show a proposed Pink Line stop at Monroe Street, though talks with the CTA are still in the early stages, Savarise and Deputy Mayor Kenya Merritt said.
A CTA spokesperson said the agency already is supporting the area’s development by opening a Green Line station at Damen Avenue and Lake Street. That is under construction and expected to open sometime this summer.
“We’ve had an initial conversation with the 1901 Project, and look forward to working with them in the future to better understand the commercial and residential development plans in the area that will help inform the transit needs and feasibility of a rail station in the area,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The United Center’s owners may still explore whether tax-increment financing funds could support the transit or infrastructure pieces of their project, Savarise said.
Savarise clarified the United Center will not seek TIF money for the construction of the music hall specifically.The arena’s leaders have not ruled out using TIF financing overall.
Burnett noted the Central West TIF district, which covers the proposed Monroe stop, is expiring soon. Public infrastructure projects such as a new “L” stop would be eligible for TIF funds, but the General Assembly would have to extend the TIF first, Burnett said.
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