Nov 15, 2005 11:21 pm US/Central
Massive Loop Development New Home For CBS 2
by Mike Flannery
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A gala groundbreaking in the Loop today celebrated some of the best news State Street's seen in years. The area once known as Block 37 between Marshall Field's and Daley Plaza is going to be a huge new development.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports on what's going up at 108 North State – the future home of CBS 2.
After 15 years, the long vacant area once known as Block 37 is going to be a hub of activity and bolster the revival in the Loop.
With a groundbreaking that looked like a Hollywood production at times, the 108 North State Street project is officially underway. It's an area bounded by State, Washington, Dearborn and Randolph.
The development will provide 2,700 new permanent jobs and hundreds of millions in new business activity.
Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony ended with colorful confetti flying as VIPs wielding golden shovels dug into a symbolic mound of earth containing its own shiny flecks. Mayor Richard Daley talked about finally realizing a dream for this stretch of State Street.
"The 108 N. State Street fits perfectly into our vision of downtown as a residential commercial and retail center," Daley said.
A new home for CBS 2 is in the project's first phase, including an electronic news ticker wrapping around the corner of Washington and Dearborn, an outdoor video screen 80 feet by 20 feet, and a street level news studio looking out on the Picasso in Daley Plaza.
(tom kane "Moving our facilities to the heart of downtown Chicago has been a dream of ours for a very long time and we are thrilled it has finally come to fruition," said CBS TV Stations President Tom Kane.
"This is really the heart of the city, and we will have a vantage point like no-one else will have," said CBS 2 President and General Manager Joe Ahern.
Some experts say the big change agent will be a new CTA station scheduled to open underneath the development in 2008. Trains will go to both O'Hare and Midway airports, and passengers may eventually be able to check their luggage at the station, possibly making this block the central hub of the Loop.
As the developer of 108 N. State works to line up tenants and financing for the next phases of the project, one big selling point is a state-of-the-art transit station being built on the site. It's a key piece in the CTA's eventual plan to run express trains from the Loop to O'Hare and Midway airports.
"This particular place where we're standing right now is the new guaranteed center of Chicagoland and beyond for decades to come," said CTA President Frank Kruesi.
The new CTA station will be constructed simultaneously with CBS 2's new showplace studios, enough to soften the skepticism of some who wondered whether the city and Mills Corp. could really pull off such a massive and complicated project, especially after earlier disappointments.
"Block 37 has been something of a blight on State Street, even while other parts of State Street have been working extremely well," said Chicago Sun-Times columnist Dave Roeder. "This will be a really key piece if they can pull it all together."
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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