Silke Jasso
Chicago’s Riverside Investment & Development Co. was named the master developer of the massive rehab project at Union Station that is expected to cost $1 billion with a six year timeline.
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The developer, chosen by Amtrak, has proposed a design that would be completed in three major phases, hoping to revamp street entrances and pedestrian traffic flow at Union Station as well as making improvements to landscaping, according to NBC. The proposed development totals 3.1 million square feet and is expected to create 7,500 construction jobs and 7,000 to 8,000 permanent jobs in Chicago.
Phase one of the project focuses on Union Station Headhouse and concourse improvements. The plan will add street level retail, renovate the Headhouse and Great Hall, add 100,000 square feet of office space and a proposed hotel above the Great Hall. Above the Headhouse this plan also includes the addition of two 12-story residential towers, according to NBC.
Phase two is set to focus on new office towers with retail and parking in a space that is currently occupied by a parking garage. Two new 750,000 square foot office towers with ground floor retail will be added with about 800 parking spaces and green spaces including terraces and plazas above the current Union Station Transit Center.
In phase three, developers intend to add 500,000 square feet of retail and residential tower over active rail lines with open space and plazas at street level.
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“This building was envisioned by Daniel Burnham in the 1909 Plan for Chicago as the city’s primary rail station,” Amtrak President and CEO Wick Moorman said in a statement, according to NBC. “It is in that spirit, we have big plans for both this Headhouse building and nearby properties owned by Amtrak. We have initiated real estate developments such as this to create revenue streams to invest in our core business, to improve facilities, to provide amenities to all users of the station – and to attract new ones. We are certain we will do that here in Chicago.”
