On June 4, 2026, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle broke ground on the 1901 Project — a privately funded, $7 billion mixed-use development that will transform more than 55 acres of surface parking lots surrounding the United Center arena on the city's Near West Side. Backed by the ownership groups of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, the project represents the largest ever private investment on Chicago's West Side, according to United Center ownership. With an estimated 63,000 construction jobs and a planned buildout through 2040, the 1901 Project is one of the most consequential development groundbreakings in the United States in 2026.

What Is Being Built — and in What Order

CBS News Chicago reported that the project centers on transforming the United Center's extensive surface parking lots into a dense, mixed-use urban district. The first phase — at an estimated cost of $500 million — includes a new 6,000-seat theater-style music hall, a hotel, and parking structures to replace the surface lots that will be built over. The Cook County Class property tax incentive, approved by the City Council in March 2026, provides an estimated $54.7 million in tax savings over 12 years and supports the economic feasibility of the first phase.

The full project scope across all phases is substantial: approximately 5,000 mixed-income housing units, 10 acres of public recreational and community green space, multiple dining and retail options, and the music venue and hotel in the first phase. The final phase is expected to be completed in 2040, a 14-year construction timeline that will sustain sustained construction activity on Chicago's Near West Side for more than a decade.

The project takes its name from the United Center's current address along Madison Street — 1901 West Madison. The 55-acre development footprint is roughly the size of many urban neighborhood districts, and its phased construction will require careful sequencing to maintain arena operations throughout the buildout. The Bulls and Blackhawks both continue to play home games at the United Center during construction, making site logistics a defining challenge for the development team.

63,000 Construction Jobs — and a Workforce Development Commitment

The construction employment implications of the 1901 Project are significant. Developers estimate the full project will create 63,000 construction jobs and 12,000 permanent positions over its life — numbers that would make it one of the largest single private development job generators in Chicago's history. ABC7 Chicago reported that Chicago Mayor Johnson and Bulls President Michael Reinsdorf and Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz were among those attending the ceremony, reflecting the project's profile as a civic as well as commercial undertaking.

Former Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose confirmed his involvement in the project, stating that his participation would focus on the second phase, centered on workforce development and housing. The 5,000 mixed-income housing units planned across the full buildout are a direct response to Chicago's housing affordability and supply challenges — integrating residential construction into what would otherwise be purely a commercial entertainment district.

The Near West Side Context: A Neighborhood Transformed by Infrastructure

The United Center itself has anchored the Near West Side since 1994, when the arena opened on the site of former public housing. The surrounding neighborhood has seen significant private development in the decades since, but the surface parking lots that ring the arena — covering dozens of acres that sit largely dormant on non-game days — have long been identified as an underutilized land resource at the center of an otherwise active district. The 1901 Project converts that underutilized land into a continuous urban fabric of housing, entertainment, and public space.

For the construction industry, the significance of a $7 billion, privately funded project of this complexity breaking ground in 2026 extends beyond the Chicago market. At a moment when commercial real estate development nationally faces significant headwinds from high financing costs and cautious institutional capital, the 1901 Project represents the rare large-scale mixed-use development backed by financially strong private owners with a long investment horizon. ConstructConnect's June 2026 forecast noted that private planning activity nationally is up 26.2 percent year over year — but much of that is concentrated in industrial and digital infrastructure. The 1901 Project is an unusual data point: a large, vertically complex, mixed-income, entertainment-anchored urban development pursuing a phased but committed construction timeline.

What This Means for Construction Contractors

The 1901 Project will generate procurement activity across virtually every construction trade over the next 14 years: structural concrete, steel fabrication, curtain wall and glazing, MEP systems, site work and utilities, parking structure construction, theater acoustics and stage infrastructure, hotel fit-out, and residential construction at significant volume. The project's proximity to the United Center and the need to maintain arena operations throughout construction will require careful phasing, noise and vibration management, and traffic management — the kind of complex urban construction logistics that demands experienced general contractors and site managers.

For the broader Chicago and Midwest construction market, the project arrives at a moment of unusual sectoral strength. ConstructConnect's regional analysis found Illinois up 352.5 percent year to date in nonresidential building construction through April — driven in part by large projects concentrated in the East North Central division. The 1901 Project will extend that elevated activity level for a decade and a half, generating a consistent pipeline of vertical construction work in one of the nation's largest and most complex urban construction markets.

Sources

CBS News Chicago — Groundbreaking Held for $7 Billion 1901 Project Near United Center, June 3, 2026
ABC7 Chicago — Officials Break Ground for 1901 Project, June 4, 2026
ConstructConnect — The Two Decisions That Will Shape Construction Business Through 2030, June 4, 2026
ConstructConnect — Regional U.S. Construction Activity Splits Sharply Through April, June 2, 2026