United Center Off-the-Court Updates
Instead of a $95M entertainment complex (which required some pie-in-the-sky tax breaks), United Center Parking Lot H will soon be the site of a 190k SF office building (with HOK as architect and McHugh as GC) housing 300 Bulls, Hawks, UC and Levy Restaurants employees, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Privately funded and breaking ground this spring, the building will include a 10k SF Bulls/Hawks retail store and the empty UC offices will likely become fan-facing space. (Both buildings will be connected by an atrium housing the famous MJ statue.)
Talk about a critical mass of development projects: First the Bulls’ Advocate Center practice facility, now the office building and soon it sounds like the Hawks will be breaking ground on a 105k SF, two-rink practice facility of their own now that Mayor Emanuel is on board, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The facility would be open to local youth hockey teams, but the challenges there remain acquiring the necessary land and settling amusement tax issues with the City.
