Proposed Mega-Development Would Expand Chicago's Skyline

The One Central development would transform 34 acres over Metro tracks near Soldier Field.

March 16, 2019, 7am PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

The 18th Street Metra station marks about the center of the proposed site of the One Central development.

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"Chicago’s skyline could extend all the way south to McCormick Place, under a multibillion-dollar development plan unveiled Wednesday that would create a row of gleaming skyscrapers atop a massive new transit center," reports Ryan Ori.

Landmark Development, owned by Wisconsin-based developer Bob Dunn, "envisions millions of square feet of high-rises constructed on a platform covering Metra tracks above the level of Lake Shore Drive. The site runs just west of Lake Shore Drive between the Field Museum and McCormick," according to Ori.

"The centerpiece of the development would be a transit center southwest of Soldier Field, across Lake Shore Drive. It would link Metra, CTA and Amtrak trains, as well as a wheeled tram route, topped by a few floors of restaurant, retail and entertainment space," adds Ori.

The article include a lot more description of the project, as well as effort to place the proposal in context of a "building boom" that has outlasted a decade, according to Ori. Lincoln Yards and The 78 are cited as other examples of mega-project to illustrate the claim about the city's ongoing boom.

Full Story:

Skyscrapers, massive transit center could reshape area around Soldier Field

Published on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 in Chicago Tribune