That deal is part of a broader agreement between the city and the group led by Chicago-based Farpoint Development, under which taxpayers will pay to rebuild the street grid on the long-fallow site with about five miles worth of new public rights of way and related utilities, sources said. While the team of city-selected developers, dubbed GRIT Chicago, will likely build out the new infrastructure, sources said the city is still mulling options including federal and city infrastructure funds, or a potential bond sale, to finance that work.
The financial arrangement which requires approval of the Community Development Commission and the full City Council stands to clear one of the last major public hurdles for the developers to begin work on a megaproject that would redraw a high-profile swath of the Near South Side lakefront with nearly 8 million square feet of buildings.