First phase of United Center's $7B redevelopment approved by Plan Commission

The first phase of the United Center’s $7 billion redevelopment, dubbed the 1901 Project, was approved Thursday by the Chicago Plan Commission.

United Center CEO Terry Savarise said the project has three main goals: continuing the center’s promise to invest in the West Side, cultivating next-generation growth and developing a neighborhood of choice.

The vision for the project is an integrated neighborhood, Savarise said, not a gated entertainment district. The 1901 Project’s public fixtures — including acres of green space, public parks, athletic courts, a public plaza and more — will be open year-round. Events will also be held throughout the year.

Owners of the United Center hope to break ground this summer on Phase One, which will be anchored by a 6,000-seat music hall.
It will have 25 total acres of public green space. Phase One will include a public plaza, boutique hotel and parking deck with a rooftop park, plus the music hall.

“Our goals and the community goals and the city goals really are all the same: We all want this to be something special,” Savarise told the Plan Commission.

During the meeting, the development team showcased more renderings of the project, which is being designed by Los Angeles-based design collective RIOS.

Buildings on the project’s eastern end will be tallest to link the development with towers being built in Fulton Market. The buildings will taper off toward the north and west ends to fit in with the United Center and surrounding low-rise homes, said Richard Peterson, senior project director at RIOS.

The project team envisions the entire site in two zones: an inner and outer ring. The outer ring will integrate the project with the surrounding neighborhoods, while the inner ring will focus on transforming the parking lots surrounding the center into a pedestrian-centered experience.

“What the master plan seeks to do is really be the connective tissue that stitches all these neighborhoods together,” Peterson said.

Savarise believes it could create Chicago’s “next great transit hub.” There's plans to add new bus shelters, Divvy stations and bike lanes to improve connectivity for cyclists. That’s in addition to the potential for a new CTA Pink Line station. Chicago Blackhawks Chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz previously said the owners have been “really open with the city” about a possible reconfiguration of the Pink Line.

Conversations with the CTA about a new Pink Line station are ongoing, according to lawyers for the development team.

“We believe [transportation is] important, because that will help to promote and push economic opportunity to our west, which is something that we believe is a long time coming,” Savarise said.

The Pink Line station would also benefit Malcolm X College and the Illinois Medical District, both of which are near the United Center.

Malcolm X College President David Sanders was in attendance Thursday. He said the United Center has been one of the college’s best partners.

“We strongly support this,” Sanders said.

Brendan Bashin-Sullivan, researcher at hospitality union Unite Here Local 1, said the first phase of the project raised concern with the union. About 60% of the housing units won’t be completed until subsequent phases, Bashin-Sullivan said.

“If there is indeed a public benefit to this project, it is a long way off,” Bashin-Sullivan said. “In a city where today, even hospitality workers with good-paying jobs struggle to find affordable places to live, this looks backwards.”

The 9,463 residential units, with 20% affordable, for in the project is more than the 6,000 that was originally proposed.

Savarise said the team doesn’t want to make “just a straight 20% affordable housing commitment” and is considering the needs of the neighborhood, like potential student housing for Malcolm X College.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved 1,557 new affordable units under the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance in 2024, according to Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda.

“We're just really excited for all of the different ways in which we can bring affordability — both in the 27th Ward, across the near West Side and across the city,” Castañeda said.

The development team estimates 32,000 total construction jobs will be created, with about 2,000 jobs in the first phase. There will be about 7,000 permanent jobs once the project is complete.

Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) said he supports the project and will encourage his colleagues on the zoning committee to vote in its favor.

“This is one of the biggest projects that’s going to be happening in the city of Chicago in a long time,” he said.

The Chicago Plan Commission also approved plans for Black Ensemble Theater’s Free to Be Village in Uptown. The mixed-use development would promote the theater’s mission of eradicating racism through the arts and community engagement, with a mix of retail, educational spaces and affordable housing.

The roughly $75 million project would be completed in two phases. BET hopes to break ground in the next 24 months, if given final approval by City Council.

Ald. Angela Clay (46th) said the project will create a cultural anchor in the ward and add much-needed affordable housing to the area, which is seeing more residents.

“This project embodies the 46th ward,” Clay said. “If you know anything about the 46th ward, you know we are a refuge for everyone.”