“It’s the only vacant piece of land on Lake Shore Drive and it’s ugly. Our plan is to cover this entire area.”
– Jerry Fogelson, founder of Fogelson Properties, in his announcement of a $4 billion development near McCormick Place. Fogelson plans to build thousands of residences, a large office tower and a major hotel over the Metra rail yard on the west side of Lake Shore Drive near Soldier Field, the Trib reports.
Fogelson and Forest City Enterprises, a large developer based in Cleveland, want to build 3,000 hotel rooms, 4,000 residential units and as much as 300,000 square feet of retail space.
The development would be in the area bounded by 14th Street on the north, Lake Shore Drive on the east, McCormick Place on the south and Indiana Avenue on the west.
Tentative plans for the more than 23-acre development, to be named Gateway, include a monorail and an 18th Street ramp and street connecting Lake Shore Drive with Michigan Avenue. A pedway is also planned for Lake Shore Drive.
A nod goes out to Jeff, who caught the story’s omission in our daily headlines. So much for my RSS reader…