Posted by John Byrne at 5:30 p.m.
A long-delayed project to build lakefront homes and businesses on a 400-acre former steel mill on the South Side got a favorable recommendation from the city Plan Commission today.
The former U.S. Steel South Mill Works site – located between 79th and 87th streets, east of U.S. Highway 41 – has been empty since the plant closed in 1992.
A development group including Chicago-based McCaffery Interests first proposed the major project on the parcel in 2004, but work stalled as the economy tanked.
Today, the commission endorsed a plan for 3,000 homes and a million square feet of retail space on 68 acres of the site, but that part of the development still needs City Council approval. The commission also signed off on an overall plan for the entire development.
The meeting was not without contention, however. Erma Tranter, executive director of Friends of the Parks, criticized the developers for not turning over the lakefront portion of the property to the Chicago Park District now. She also said the plans do not include easy public access to the lake itself.
"The plan includes only a narrow strip, 300 feet in width, designed 12 feet above Lake Michigan – this is high, the slag (leftover on the ground from the steel mill) is very high there – with a fence to prevent users from actually falling in," Tranter said. She called on the park district to instead terrace the land so residents can get in the water.
Tranter also looked askance at plans for a 1,000-slip boat harbor, which she said would require a lot of lakefront parking for boat owners and limit the amount of public park land along the water.
But Alds. John Pope, 10th, and Sandi Jackson, 7th, whose wards straddle the property, both spoke enthusiastically about the potential for the development to revitalize their neighborhoods.