U OF I TRUSTEES GIVE FINAL APPROVAL TO UIC SOUTH CAMPUS PLAN

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today unanimously approved agreements with the City of Chicago, authorizing the University of Illinois at Chicago South Campus Project. The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote on the agreements Nov. 10.

The $525 million South Campus development will include academic buildings, student housing, private residential units, retail shops, parks and parking facilities, along with existing athletics facilities, in an area bounded by Roosevelt Road to the north, the railroad tracks to the south (north of 16th Street), Union Street to the east, and Morgan Street to the west. The plan adaptively re-uses 21 buildings and facades on Maxwell and Halsted streets.

The west side of Halsted Street between Roosevelt Road and 14th Street will host retail shops and two student residential facilities totaling more than 750 beds. On the east side of Halsted, retail establishments will be located in eight existing buildings. A new College of Business Administration, performing arts center and conference center will be built at the northeast portion of the development.

New retail buildings on Maxwell Street will feature facades relocated from Halsted, Maxwell and Roosevelt.

In addition to the 750 students who will live on the South Campus, approximately 2,000 residents are expected to move into the market-rate housing - 21 percent of which will be earmarked as affordable housing - to be located between 14th and 16th streets. University officials hope that a substantial number of new residents will be UIC faculty and staff.

"South Campus will create a vibrant new community and enhance the educational, cultural and social life of the entire campus," said Stanton Delaney, vice chancellor for administration and executive director of the project. "The plan builds a stronger future for the university and our community, while respecting the historical, architectural and social significance of the area."

"The addition of academic facilities and student residences will accelerate our efforts to become one of the premier urban public universities in the nation," said Delaney. "Our students and faculty will be able to live near campus and each other, in the kind of intellectual and cultural community that strengthens a university.

"It will also enhance UIC's role as an economic engine and anchor for the larger community. We expect the new retail district will draw people from the entire Chicago area to its restaurants, bookstores and shops," Delaney said.

Sylvia Manning, interim chancellor of UIC, said, "We are grateful to Mayor Richard M. Daley, the City Council and our community for the strong support they have given to the South Campus initiative."

The project is expected to generate more than $1 billion in economic activity, including 1,000 jobs during the 10-year course of construction and more than 200 new permanent jobs. The development will be financed in part by a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district approved by the City Council last May. Pending council approval of the final agreements in November, groundbreaking is planned for March 2000.

With 25,000 students, the University of Illinois at Chicago is the largest and most diverse university in the Chicago area. UIC is home to the largest medical school in the United States and is one of the 88 leading research universities in the country. Located just west of Chicago's Loop, UIC is a vital part of the educational, technological and cultural fabric of the entire metropolitan region.

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