Two out of three proposed development projects in McKinley Park include TV/movie production studio spaces.
The Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is seeking to rehabilitate a vacant, 571,476-square-foot, City-owned warehouse at 1769 W. Pershing Road in McKinley Park’s historic Central Manufacturing District complex, with an option to include an adjacent, 3.2-acre site for new construction.
In July 2022 there was a Request for Proposals which generated five submissions by private developers which were evaluated in December 2022 and three of the five responses were short-listed for additional community and City review.
IBT Group LLC proposed 120 units of mixed-income housing; approximately 200,000 square feet of commercial offices, lab space and retail space; and exterior parking for 120 vehicles.
The adjacent area would be redeveloped with a 50,000-square-foot retail building and 132 parking spaces. The estimated project cost is $121 million.
LG Pershing Sound Studios LLC proposed 114,000 square feet of commercial offices; 40,000 square feet of movie studio space; 13,500 square feet of retail space; indoor parking for 100 vehicles; and exterior parking for 300 vehicles and 25 semi-trucks with the adjacent site to be redeveloped with 79,200 square feet of movie studio space. The estimated project cost is $95.1 million.
According to the proposal, LG Pershing Sound Studios LLC would be partnering with Cinelease which operates and markets studios in 14 cities, including Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, Vancouver. The project intends to include six 120,000 square ft Sound Stages, a 20,000 square ft Carpentry Shop with loading airlocks for quality control, Studio back-of-house (BOH) to include Production offices, Props, Wardrobe, Lighting storage, Catering, etc, and Flex Office space, all while repairing and preserving the historic facade on North and East while incorporating Green development concepts.
This proposed development project could bring hundreds of direct jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs by including nearby businesses, food service, transportation, etc.
Quartermaster Outpost Studio LLC proposed 425,000 square feet of mixed-use business space; an additional floor for 40 mixed-income residential units; and exterior parking for approximately 123 vehicles with the adjacent site to be redeveloped with 75,000-square-foot movie studio space and exterior parking. The estimated project cost is $90 million.
“Our plan is to restore the old army quartermaster outpost. This warehouse will become an epicenter for creatives. It’s simple, repurposing a massive warehouse into a community business park focused on content creation allowing creatives to come together under the same roof to do what they do best create. We plan to use every building to house, incubate, encourage, and inspire creative production across all mediums.”
The property would include a movie production studio, TV show production studio, commercial production studio, music production studio, support space, living space for actors/actresses, to reuse the existing loading dock, and to reuse the existing parking.
Quartermaster Outpost Studio LLC estimates that their proposed development project would bring in $2.9 Billion by providing over 1000 new full time jobs.
A virtual community meeting about the three proposals was held on Tuesday, March 7 and can be viewed by clicking on this link:
Watch a recording of the meeting.
Detailed information about the proposals can be viewed here:
Download the meeting slide deck.
Community members are invited to take a survey to share their thoughts on the three proposals.
English: forms.microsoft.com/g/Htbyz2bnTR
A final selection could be announced by DPD by summer 2023, with additional City and public review processes to follow.
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