DLA Piper advises on ‘The 1901 Project,’ a US$7 billion plan to rebuild Chicago’s West Side

DLA Piper advised on the preliminary zoning approval for “The 1901 Project,” a US$7 billion initiative to redevelop more than 55 acres on Chicago’s Near West Side with housing, retail, entertainment space, and a public plaza. Anchored around the United Center, the six-phase development project is slated to begin this summer.

Over the next 10-15 years, this investment will bring a new 6,000-seat music venue, more than 25 acres of public and accessible open space, 9,500 residential units – including 2,000 affordable units, 1,300 hotel keys, 660,000 square feet of office space, and 670,000 square feet of retail space. Additionally, the project is projected to generate over 30,000 construction jobs and 7,000 permanent jobs, representing the largest private development in Chicago's West Side history.

The project is being spearheaded by the United Center Joint Venture – a private partnership between the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, owners of the Chicago Bulls (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) respectively.

“This is a major win for the city of Chicago, especially for the West Side. We were proud to collaborate with the United Center Joint Venture to secure approval for this transformative project, which will bring new energy and opportunities to a well-deserving community,” said Katie Jahnke Dale, Location Head of the Chicago Real Estate Group and Co-Office Managing Partner of the Chicago Office, who led the deal team.

In addition to Dale, the DLA Piper team included Rich Klawiter and associate Peter NeCastro (all in Chicago).

With more than 200 lawyers in our real estate sector in the US and 500 globally, DLA Piper's market-leading Real Estate practice offers a full range of real estate services, including acquisitions and sales, single asset, programmatic and operating company joint ventures, real estate fund formation, public and private REITs, financing, zoning and development, construction and design, leasing and restructuring and workouts. The firm executes hundreds of transactions every year, ranging from billon-dollar-plus transactions to the acquisition, financing, joint venture formation, leasing and sale of individual properties.