The 2026-2027 Construction Season is underway at the United Center, with teammates McHugh Construction and McHugh Concrete getting their game on for the first phase of The 1901 Project. Just called up specifically for this series is Stalworth Underground, whose rigs are on site drilling and filling caissons for a three-story mixed-use commercial building that will contain parking, retail spaces, and a new loading area, all covered by an occupiable rooftop deck.
Site plan for Phase One of The 1901 Project by RIOS. It is the “West Garage” that is getting caissons now.
Looking south down Damen Avenue. Photo by Daniel Schell
Looking at the southeast corner of West Madison Street and South Damen Avenue. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
The construction team has won three-out-of-four big permits for Phase 1. The first came through on March 25th, allowing for caissons and associated below-grade work to begin. They scored another victory with a permit for shallow foundations on April 27th, then followed that up by winning the tower crane permit on May 7th, completing the sweep on the home stand. The full building permit remains on the bench, waiting in the data portal since January 21st. Curiously, the permits specify that this project is a high-rise, a lofty goal for a three-story structure.
Rendering of the roof park atop the new west parking garage by RIOS
Street-level rendering of the west parking garage by RIOS
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Phasing plan for The 1901 Project by RIOS
Everything in red is currently surrounded by construction fencing. Image via Google Maps
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Players huddle up, waiting for concrete to arrive. Photo by Daniel Schell
This was the G parking lot. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Idle rig. Might be day-to-day with an injury. Photo by Daniel Schell
Per Grant’s request – access to the loading area off Damen Avenue.
Southwest of the arena, at the northeast corner of West Adams Street and South Damen Avenue, what used to be the K parking lot is also surrounded by construction fencing, with some prep work underway. This will be the site of a 6,000-seat music hall. There are two permits pending for it in the Chicago Data Portal: A caisson permit, pending since October of last year, and one for shallow foundations & superstructure, which hit the portal on February 3rd. No full permit is pending yet. The caisson permit states clearly that this is not considered a high-rise.
Rendering of new music hall by RIOS, to be built on the K lot at Adams & Damen
Rendering of 1901 Project Phase One music hall by RIOS
Looking west across the K parking lot, where the music venue will be constructed. Photo by Daniel Schell
Looking east across the K lot. Photo by Daniel Schell
Work on The 1901 Project is expected to last until 2040.
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I am simply not a fan of this “rooftop park” trend. The city needs to stop allowing that to be considered green space.
Why? It’s a great use of space and reduces stormwater runoff
Because they don’t do anything to activate the street level, most people won’t know there’s a park there. What’s the difference between an industrial warehouse with a park roof and a parking garage and a park roof? None, both have blank walls at the street level and do next to nothing to encourage a vibrant street experience, which is the most fundamental trait of good urbanism.
Agree to disagree. I’m of the opinion that *everyone* will know there’s a park here, because of the scope of The 1901 Project, because it’s next to the United Center, and because it’s next to the new music hall. It is also my opinion that more people will visit here for the park than will visit here to park their cars.
Based on current experience in the South Loop and the near-West Loop, agree with all of Daniel’s predictions.
Do you not agree however that having no blank walls on the west garage wouldn’t be a stronger street level experience? I didn’t say that nobody who feels the need to arrive by car shouldn’t have some places to park it. I’m just saying that blank walls produce weaker urban experiences, not to mention they’re ripe for graffiti.
If this is what you had said, I would have had no response. But you said
“most people won’t know there’s a park there” and “It’s a dead garage to store cars” and “so the park might as well not exist on top”
I think I understand your complaint for this specific location, especially with the way it will look driving down Damen. I do think rooftop parks are the right answer for certain areas of the city.
I stayed in Nordhavn on a trip to Copenhagen and thought Konditaget Luders was one of the best ideas ever, especially since they had a grocery store and recycling center on the first floor. This type of model would be perfect in Fulton Market where there is a need for parking, green space, and grocery.
These are different than this rooftop park atop a parking garage. If the bottom were activated use with a park on top, that’s much much better. That’s not what this is. It’s a dead garage to store cars.
This project is replacing tens of acres of decades-old parking lots with far-better land uses. A couple of low-rise parking garages are a small price to pay for that, before we even get to the question of whether the rooftop park will work.
Talk about letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, sheesh.
Bro’s never been to Millennium Park and it shows.
Largest rooftop park in the world upon its debut and you wanna ban them? lol
This dude hates fun.
From the renderings, it doesn’t seem like these are equivalent rooftop garage parks at all. Millennium Park doesn’t have any blank dead walls. By all practical purposes you can’t tell it’s a garage unless you’re looking hard. This seems like it’ll mostly be dead walls at the sidewalk level, so the park might as well not exist on top. If the park comes down to the street level in several places, maybe it’ll be good enough, but it doesn’t appear so.
“dead walls at the sidewalk level, so the park might as well not exist on top” — this statement makes simply no real-life sense.
The elevation facing the street is all blank for the most part. Shops and food in the main alley. For the sacrifice of all the parking lots, two blank walls along the busiest of streets is not bad. The backside of Merchandise Mart is far more hostile.
The other two are… alright. Clean as far as parking garages go and the park remains close to the ground only being a level and a half up.
This is privately funded and not intended to have the wow factor of our city’s main parks. It’ll be as authentic as the new podium for Sears Tower and Navy Pier’s facelift. The sloping ramp to the park level (if not VE’d) will easily get people from the concert venue and bridging to the park. Both High Line and Transbay parks get visitors in the millions and they’re only accessible by going up. Based on the renderings, this looks highly successful for an entertainment venue’s public space. They quite literally could’ve kept the roof blank
I hope you all are right that there’s no cost to these blank walls (which is my only point). Obviously I want this to be a huge success, I just hate how car infrastructure fundamentally shapes developments in ways that we wouldn’t do otherwise if we weren’t having to accommodate so many cars because of under-developed public transit compared to our global peer cities.
Sounds like your problem is with the parking garage, not the rooftop park. Green roofs are an excellent way to manage Chicago’s storm water problem, and a park roof is even better because it allows people to utilize the space.
Parking is necessary at some level for people going to events at the UC. This development is such an upgrade from the current surface lots.
The United Center is ugly. The music venue boarders on hedious.The park atop the garage appears to be accessible via a bridge parallel to Damen and perhaps from within the garage. If the city hasn’t mandated that the rooftop park be open daily at set times, it will be closed most of the time. This will be private property. The retail space along Madison and Damen will not stand a chance without a large grocery store. The entire layout and architecture is brutal. This is not designed to foster community, it is a more palatable welcome to fortress United Center. A giant puddle would be an improvement on the current surface lots. A xanadu that is penetrable only on event days is eye candy.
lol
I grew up with one of the Wirtzes. Name the right price; I’m sure they’d be happy to work with ya on building your dreams. So far, this has all been produced with private money on privately owned land.
I get the sentiment of wanting more from this hideous area, and it’s in the works, but the entitlement is a bit absurd. Do we pull out the pitchforks because the Salt Shed is not open 24/7? Why no mass decry on unobstructed access to Ravina’s grounds or midnight strolls through Lincoln Park Zoo?
Do people actually think these rich folk are going to restrict access to their property to the point of obscurity? Why put any ounce of effort into the park portion if yes?? These opinions don’t make financial sense.
Is it just that the crane is classified as “high rise” because of the size of the garage, & the complexity needed for craning equipment to the far side of the site for both the loading dock & the rooftop planting?
I can’t say I understand the vision based on the renderings. So there will be retail shops inside the parking garage? Oh well, anything is better than the parking lot desert that is the current state of the United Center.
They will line the lot along the primary pedestrian corridors. Think like the River North Shake Shack but less oppressive hopefully.
Here comes more displacement of long term residents… I dont live in the area and it’s going to be so crowded.
So let’s just never invest in our neighborhoods?
Displacement of which long term residents?
Virtually all of the 1901 Project land is currently parking lots, and west of its footprint (across Damen) are more decades-old parking lots. North of it (across Washington) is a public park and some public housing none of which will be changed. South of it (across Adams) is a community-college campus and then an ice-rink complex, ditto. East of the 1901 Project footprint is a bunch of market-rate housing less than 15 years old, then the Whitney Young High School campus and some blocks of re$tored historic greystones and a large public park.
Displacement of which long term residents?
I’m really worried that most of the street-level experience will be blank walls. Obviously the renderings will highlight the spaces that have retail or restaurants, but what percentage does that represent? 5% or 75%? This detail matters.
Everyone needs to chill out on these walls.
The final plan calls for roughly 30 new buildings. One of the first is a parking garage to help mitigate the sea of parking that has persisted for half a century. I am the last person to defend a parking garage, but it’s not like this is a dead downtown 15+ story car mausoleum. We got a park and the main pedestrian funnel activated. Even the most perfect of stadiums still need a utility space to hide the grit.
The “blank” walls are to be massive murals with handsome brickwork. The sidewalks are looking to be like 20′ wide promenades with landscaping and seating. We currently only have cooked asphalt to look upon…
The walls are going to be a defining issue
Have you seen the renders? One structure, and it has a better facade than both the Malcom X parking garage and the majority of the Blackhawks’ new practice facilities off Jackson. There will be 600 feet of murals and brickwork with greenery spilling from above. Throw in some trees to the mix, and it’s 90x better than most River North podiums.
It’s a shame that our regulatory environment forces developments like this to have a useless, expensive rooftop “gardens” in order to get approval to build over a PARKING LOT.
We don’t need to extract concessions out of every single development. The fact that there’s so much to squeeze out of each project in the first place is only a sign of how we only let projects go through when they’re so obviously profitable that they can afford to bribe the city with stupid gimmicks.
LOL good luck exiting those parking garages.
People currently exit the parking lots… I’m sure they will do the same as today – close streets to UC traffic only, traffic guards. It may take 10 minutes to get out, but it already does and its the same as every stadium across the country.
I couldn’t tell from the pictures, but I assume that the main loading dock for the UC off of Damen is/has to be maintained operational for this whole construction? or Is that being relocated? Obviously the UC isn’t shutting down for much of this, right?
I just added this image for you, Grant.
“Phase” A will happen and maybe some of B and that will be it. Things will change.