Illinois Taxpayers are Out More Than $30 Million on Dropped Project in Chicago’s South Loop

Seven Years of Promises, $30 Million in Expenses, and a Vacant Lot

Seven years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner invited dignitaries to a 62-acre plot of land in the South Loop and offered a bold promise: The long-vacant property would be transformed, with a high-tech research facility to be built there that would give a massive economic boost to the city of Chicago.

The University of Illinois would operate the proposed $285 million facility, dubbed the Discovery Partners Institute. It would sit on an acre south of Roosevelt Road along the east bank of the Chicago River donated by the property owner, Nadhmi Shakir Auchi, an Iraqi British billionaire who has long been denied entry to the United States as a result of past criminal convictions.

But the university pulled the plug in October on the planned research hub at the sprawling site that has sat vacant for decades and is now being marketed as The 78. The U. of I. instead said it would turn its vision to the south and become part of a quantum computing research park that Gov. JB Pritzker wants to build on a vacant, 300-acre site at East 79th Street and South DuSable Lake Shore Drive once occupied by US Steel.

That decision means Illinois taxpayers are now out more than $30 million, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.

And the losses for taxpayers still could grow, sources say, to $40 million.

“I think it’s about right,” says Deba Dutta, interim executive director of the Discovery Partners Institute.

A Breakdown of the Expenses

The University of Illinois spent $1.3 million on the project, records show, and the Illinois Capital Development Board — the state’s construction management agency — spent $30.8 million.

Here’s a breakdown of those expenses:

• $19,937,119 went to Jacobs Consultants, which designed a 261,000-square-foot building that was to have served as the Discovery Partners headquarters.
• $5,545,220 went to Clark Construction Group, which had a contract that ultimately was supposed to be worth $196 million.
• $5,316,798 went to Turner-Descoto-Powers & Sons-Cullen Joint Venture, which had a $14 million contract for construction management services. That included payments to its subcontractors.
• And $75,225 went to Johnson Lasky Kindelin Architect, Inc.

The Decision to Switch Focus

The DPI project was still going forward last summer as two pro sports teams — baseball’s White Sox and soccer’s Fire — were looking to build their own, separate stadiums on Auchi’s land. The current status of those stadium plans is unclear.

Dutta says it’s possible that the work the companies did on that proposal might still be able to be used to build on the Far South Side site of the planned Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.

“What we will do at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronic Park has not been determined yet,” Dutta says. “It’s our hope that some of the designs will be transferred over.”

Dutta says the university’s decision to switch its focus to the quantum park came as construction costs continued to rise in the Loop, where there is an abundance of empty office space in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

The decision to drop the Discovery Partners Institute project means Illinois taxpayers are out more than $30 million. The losses could still grow to $40 million. The university is now focusing on the quantum computing research park, and it’s unclear how the decision will affect Related Midwest’s efforts to develop Auchi’s property.

FAQs

Q: Why did the University of Illinois drop the Discovery Partners Institute project?

A: The university dropped the project due to rising construction costs and a shift in focus to the quantum computing research park.

Q: How much did Illinois taxpayers spend on the project?

A: Illinois taxpayers spent $30.8 million on the project.

Q: How much could the losses for taxpayers still grow to?

A: The losses could still grow to $40 million.

Q: What is the current status of the Related Midwest’s efforts to develop Auchi’s property?

A: The current status is unclear, as the university still holds the deed to the property.