The Lakeside Master Plan site is a shuttered, 573-acre former U.S. steel manufacturing plant being planned by an SOM-led consortium for transformation into a new high-density, mixed-use South Side Chicago community of 30,000 residents. The void in Chicago’s waterfront, Lakeside is the last major piece of land available for development on the city’s increasingly vital and valuable lakefront.

Project Facts

Completion Year: Ongoing
Site Area: 573 acres
Project Area: 573 acres

Project Awards

2009 • AIA • National Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design
2009 • AIA - Boston Society of Architects • Citation for Excellence in Urban Design
2009 • Chicago Athenaeum • International Architecture Award
2007 • AIA - Chicago Chapter • Sustainable Design Award: Citation of Merit

Lakeside will be a model for future development within the City of Chicago, and will be part of the LEED® for Neighborhood Development Pilot Program.

The redevelopment of the abandoned South Works steel mill, a 518-acre brownfield site, emerged from a vision that began with planners, developers and community leaders in 1998. Planners were guided by a sustainable ethic which incorporates LEED® for Neighborhood Development standards with the goal of attaining a platinum rating, creating a sustainable development with a mix of new housing, services, economic activities and parks. Lakeside will be served by the city’s comprehensive rail and bus transit and the extension of ped-bike commuter paths to downtown.

Social

• A compact, complete and connected neighborhood
  
• New park completes the lakefront
  
• Every home within a three minute walk to a park
  
• Collaborative design with public process
  
• Celebration of the heritage of the site and the neighborhood
  
• Connect existing neighborhoods to Lake Michigan for the first time

Environment

• A brownfield becomes a thriving community
  
• Reduced dependency on automobiles: transit, walk, bike, car share
  
• Protect water resources, treat stormwater with natural systems, incorporate grey water recycling and use native landscaping
  
• Harvest energy from solar and wind
  
• High-performance buildings

Economic

• A vibrant mix of uses on site
  
• Economic diversity
  
• A fiscally viable plan
  
• Reinvigorate a struggling community