Developer Inks Deal That Would Transform Massive U.S. Steel Site, Plots 20,000 New Homes

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 1, 2017 2:59PM



Flickr / Charli Vinz

One of the South Side's great, vast patches of dormant space could likely soon get its development makeover. A development company has agreed to purchase the sprawling, long-vacant U.S. Steel South Works site, with early plans envisioning a mixed-use development that would include 20,000 housing units, the city announced on Tuesday morning.

"Green" developers Emerald Living signed a deal to buy the historic South Chicago site. (The sale price was not disclosed.) Preliminary plans for the massive, 440-acre, lakeside site include commercial retail and office space, along with the residential space. Emerald Living belongs to the WElink group, an international renewable-energy development outfit.

Emerald Living will partner with Barcelona Housing Systems, according to the city. BHS specializes in green, environment-conscious construction models, such as repurposed materials and solar power.

More details are expected to be added in the future at New South Works.

“This agreement is a major milestone towards converting an unused stretch of land that represents Chicago’s industrial past into a vibrant community that will contribute to Chicago’s economic, cultural and recreational future," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a release. “I look forward to seeing the community’s dynamic vision for this site become a reality."

Emerald Living must finalize the sale within five months after an environmental review and other evaluations are conducted, the city said.

Crain's reported in January that BHS and WElink we nearing a purchase of the massive site. Renderings for a development dubbed 8080 Lakeshore have since been removed from the BHS website.

The former steel-mill campus has sat dormant since 1992, with much of the site transformed into restored prairie land. As the Sun-Times notes, a previous ambitious plan to develop the area into a mixed-use complex fell through last year. So we'll have to wait and see exactly how it shakes out. But it's always felt certain that a major transformation would eventually land there, sooner than later.