Through the LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative, the city of Chicago plans to convert a collection of empty downtown office buildings into mixed-used and residential towers.
This initiative will convert nearly 213,676 m2 (2.3 million sf) of vacant office buildings in the center of Chicago, an area known as The Loop, into residences and retail.
The Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is seeking to incentivize local, cultural, and dining attractions in vacant storefronts, underutilized building lobbies, and on former banking floors. Grants are being made available for eligible build-out costs through DPD’s Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF).
The city says it is providing assistance to developers who undertake these projects and almost $1 billion in total investments will be put toward the redevelopment.
At least 30 percent of each proposed residential conversion will be dedicated to building approximately 600 affordable housing units.
