An official groundbreaking has been held for the first phase of The 1901 Project, set to replace the sea of parking lots around the United Center. The massive project has been in the works for a few years and recently received approval for its tax incentives ahead of the ceremony. Demolition and preconstruction work have already been underway for a few weeks.
Groundbreaking of The 1901 Project via United Center
The 55-acre development is being led by the owners of the Bulls and Blackhawks, the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families respectively. The completed project will cost around $7 billion, which will be mostly privately funded. The first phase will cost around $500 million to build according to the city, with a $55 million tax incentive set to lower its taxes for 12 years.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Said tax incentive is quite commonly seen in large projects across the city, offering an on-ramp for property taxes over the 12-year period. This will help them construct the 12.3-acre, three-structure first phase designed by architecture firm RIOS. This will be anchored by a 6,000-seat music hall on the southwest corner of the existing arena.
Updated rendering of The 1901 Project by RIOS
New renderings have recently been revealed for the music hall, which is expected to host 150 events per year. The updated design ditches the stacked ribbon concept for one with concave arches and a programmed green roof. This will feature ground-level commercial space along a new plaza leading up to the United Center and the new hotel across the way to the east.
Updated rendering of The 1901 Project by RIOS
Said hotel will hold a lobby along West Adams Street and liner commercial space along the plaza and arena, wrapping around a parking garage topped by a green-roof park. A small mid-rise along Adams will contain 180 rooms. The third and final building will be directly west of the arena and replace the venue’s existing loading ramp.
PREVIOUS rendering of new west parking building over loading dock by RIOS
The loading space, along with another garage, will be disguised within a building featuring liner commercial space and a large rooftop park with sports courts and leisure space. It remains unclear from the new renderings whether the previously revealed green pedestrian bridges connecting all of the rooftop parks are still part of the plans.
Photo by Daniel Schell
The owners also recently secured a $125 million loan to help complete the first phase. Groundwork is underway for the music hall and western garage, though activity remains relatively quiet on the hotel site. The team is also pushing for a CTA Pink Line station in the area by 2034. The first phase is expected to be completed in 2028.
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I guess it had just freshly snowed and they didn’t have time to shovel in that winter rendering, lol.
Nice to see. Hope it really comes to fruition, and special interests don’t kill the project
It’s the housing I want most of all.
It’s still an entertainment venue with tons of parking lots needing a one-to-one replacement, and support entertainment infrastructure is to be expected. But a couple thousand new residents will do so much more for the local economy than any policy initiatives could ever.
I hope the build quality is high. The last couple Blackhawks projects have felt a bit corporate.
The project site is important to Chicago. Repurposing the parking lot and reimagining the facility placement broadens Chicago downtown. I’m intrigued with the block by block LLC strategy. The Cook County Tax incentives reminds us that contracts and workforce access goes beyond the 27th ward and near West region. The project holds great promise. Thank you to the development team, City of Chicago and Cook County for this fast tracking this initiative.
I can’t tell by the renderings, but is there just a blank wall running alongside Madison where there is that one story rooftop park being built with the garage under it just west of the United Center? If so, that’s super disappointing. Seems a bit hostile to me if you’re walking to the stadium and there’s nothing pedestrian-friendly to view other than a blank wall.
Yep, that will be the garage entrance section, but I believe that is along Damen not Madison. Seems a little lazy. It does say PREVIOUS rendering so maybe the design has changed.