When the head of a University of Illinois-led research center planned for The 78 megadevelopment recently was informed that a Chicago White Sox ballpark also could be coming to the sprawling riverfront site, he turned to baseball to explain his reaction.
“I said, ‘Home run,’” Bill Jackson, executive director of the Discovery Partners Institute, told CoStar News.
Jackson said construction of a six-story, 230,000-square-foot research facility could begin by midyear on the south end of Related Midwest’s planned 62-acre, mixed-use development along the Chicago River between the South Loop and Chinatown.
The U of I-led concept is the only commitment for the $7 billion project years in the making by Related, but news has emerged that the city’s South Side baseball team is in talks with the developer to move to a new ballpark about 2 miles directly north of its longtime home in Bridgeport.
The developer has not commented on talks with the White Sox. The only public acknowledgment has been a joint statement from longtime White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that confirmed discussions “of the team’s ideas for remaining competitive in Chicago in perpetuity,” without specifically mentioning the Related Midwest site.
Although little has been said publicly, Jackson said he was informed about a potential new White Sox ballpark within the long-planned, mixed-use development. Jackson said Related executives showed him a rendering of a ballpark with home-plate views facing northeast toward the city’s skyline.
While the White Sox’s interest in the site could lead to major changes to the design should a ballpark development move forward, Jackson said DPI’s plans would not be negatively affected. Jackson described himself as lukewarm toward a previous proposal to put the city’s first casino at The 78 — which ultimately was awarded to a different riverfront site north of the Loop business district — but he thinks a ballpark and the infrastructure it would require would be positive for the state-backed research center.
“We’re all in favor of the White Sox on The 78,” Jackson said. “We need parking, restaurants, hotel rooms, transportation — we need that infrastructure. All those things would be made possible by the vibrancy that a ballpark would bring.”
That, in turn, would help attract faculty and researchers to DPI, he said.
“It’s a win for the neighborhood, the city, the state, the team and us,” Jackson said. “I love it.”
Financing Questions
Many hurdles remain toward finalizing a deal for the White Sox to move north from Guaranteed Rate Field, where its lease with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority expires in 2029.
Questions include how the project would be financed, including whether the state — which provided major financial backing to build the current stadium that opened in 1991, preventing an expected White Sox move to St. Petersburg, Florida — would agree to help subsidize a new ballpark alongside a research venue it already plans to help fund.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday said, “Nobody’s made an ask yet,” when questioned about a potential ballpark deal while he was at an unrelated event near the state capital in Springfield. Pritzker then noted his past reluctance to back private businesses with public dollars, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“Having said that, I mean, there are things that government does to support business all across the state, investing in infrastructure, making sure that we’re supporting the success of business in Illinois,” Pritzker said, according to the newspaper. “So, as with all of the other [things], whether it’s sports teams or other private businesses, we’ll be looking at whatever they may be suggesting or asking.”
The ballpark plan would be around the middle of The 78, Jackson said. The DPI building is planned for the south edge of The 78 near Chinatown’s Ping Tom Park.
State officials and Related in September 2022 unveiled an updated design for the research facility. The dome-topped design since then has been reduced from eight stories to six, Jackson said. Plans include a mix of office, classroom, lab and event space.
The DPI project is expected to cost about $330 million, backed by funds from the state, the U of I and other sources, Jackson said.
In later phases, the research center could expand into other spaces it owns or leases within The 78, Jackson said.
DPI hopes to break ground by the middle of this year and move in by the end of 2026, Jackson said. The institute currently leases short-term space in an office tower at 200 S. Wacker Drive in the Loop.