Primera would like to congratulate Farpoint Development and the rest of the GRIT Chicago development team on today’s infrastructure groundbreaking for the $7B, 100-acre Bronzeville Lakefront project. The mega-development will transform the former site of Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago’s near-southside Bronzeville neighborhood. Stretching from 26th Street to 31st Street and Martin Luther King Drive to Lake Park Avenue, the project will include 7.8 million square feet of residential, office and retail space.

Primera’s President & CEO Erin Inman and Vice President John Plezbert attended the groundbreaking ceremony. The high-profile event was also attended by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Alderman Sophia King, and Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi, among others.

Primera has been working with the team and the developer since 2019 to determine preferred infrastructure size, infrastructure locations, project risks, and optional scenarios. Our scope includes preliminary dry utility infrastructure design and consultation with weekly coordination and discovery meetings with local utilities. Additionally, the team is providing lighting and electrical design services for Phase I streetlighting, which consists of 13 blocks of new streetlights and six blocks of existing lighting.

“I think what we’ve seen, not only over these last four years but throughout our entire history, is that in Chicago when we see a big challenge we rally together and we figure out how to overcome that challenge. Such was the recent history of this site,” Lightfoot said referencing the City’s failed 2009 bid to host the 2016 Olympics on the sprawling site.

GRIT Chicago is leading the transformative community-focused project. They are a coalition of developers led by Farpoint Development that includes Mclaurin Development Partners, Loop Capital Management, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, and Bronzeville Community Development Partnership. The two-phase project is expected to take nearly 15 years to complete.

Rendering courtesy of Farpoint Development.