UIC South Campus Development,
Chicago, IL

Type: Higher Education

Through a competition sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago, Wight & Company was awarded the opportunity to complete a Master Plan for the area to the south and east of the campus. Working with a team of specialty developers, “University Village” incorporates the existing campus, the Taylor Street area, a lively urban neighborhood, and the historic Maxwell Street Market area. The Master Plan calls for innovative use of the 27 block area resulting in an exciting neighborhood for UIC and Chicago. The University’s investment in Chicago’s vitality is a brilliant investment in the college’s future and may become a model for other urban institutions across the country.

Project highlights include:

> 27 city blocks include for-sale housing, student apartments, urban parks, retail and restaurant facilities, academic buildings and historic sites

> Preservation of historic building facades from Halsted and Maxwell Streets

> Alignment of unique public and private interests create a new neighborhood

> Design for seven public parks

> Utility design: storm water and sanitary sewer systems, water distribution, traffic signal design

> Transportation design: public/private pedestrian ways, nine public streets, private streets for emergency access, ornamental street lighting

> Coordination with the City of Chicago Departments of Sewers and Transportation, Bureau of Electricity, the University of Illinois at Chicago, land and city planners, landscape architects and civil engineers

> 2007 Special Achievement Awards, Special Projects, American Council of Engineering Companies - Illinois

> 2006 Daniel Burnham Award, American Institute of Architects - Illinois

> 2002 Campus Master Planning Citation, American Schools & University Architectural Portfolio