Owners of the United Center have bought two more surface parking lots near the arena, as ownership aims to start the $7 billion transformation of the surrounding area this summer.
A limited liability company affiliated with the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, which co-own the United Center, paid nearly $10 million in late January for two surface parking lots, east of the arena, Cook County property records show. Both lots used to be owned by independent parking operator Peoples Stadium Parking — which previously turned down an $8 million offer for its land, the Sun-Times reported last year.
The LLC purchased a lot near the corner of West Madison and South Paulina streets for an estimated $7.4 million, property records show. It also purchased a lot just north of the Madison property at 1717 W. Warren Blvd. — near West Warren Boulevard and North Paulina Street — for an estimated $2.6 million. Records show the lots were owned by Peoples Stadium Parking. Crain’s Chicago Business first reported the deals.
Both lots are also bordered by CTA tracks. The United Center’s ownership has been vocal about the need for a new Pink Line station near the arena as it kickstarts the 1901 Project that would include a music hall, hotel, housing, public green space andparking garages.
A spokeswoman for the United Center declined to comment.
The Chicago City Council approved rezoning the land around the United Center on Wednesday, paving the way for construction to begin on the 1901 Project. United Center’s ownership has previously said shovels could be in the dirt as soon as this summer.
The first phase will be anchored by a 6,000-seat music hall. It will also include a public plaza, boutique hotel and parking structure with a rooftop park. About 47% of the land in phase one will be open space, with a little over half of that from the parking garage’s rooftop park.
Once complete, the 1901 Project will include up to 9,463 residential units and 1,309 hotel keys, among other commercial uses. The project is expected to take 15 years to complete.
Ownership has said the 1901 Project will be privately financed. The Reinsdorf and Wirtz families are “still in the early stages of infrastructure discussions with the City and are in preliminary discussions on the question of tax increment financing for the project,” a United Center spokesperson said in an October statement to the Sun-Times. They also said potential TIF funding toward a new CTA Pink Line station would “ultimately lie with the CTA.”
The recent deals by United Center’s ownership are the latest in a long string of parking lot purchases that started before the 1901 Project was proposed in July 2024.
In February 2024, the Sun-Times reported that a company tied to White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf spent $44.7 million over the course of 19 months buying vacant lots from two politically connected families that have long offered discounted parking deals for events held at the United Center.
Peoples Stadium Parking, which has been owned by the Shudnow family for decades, was the one family that refused to sell, turning down an $8 million offer. At the time, Attorney Ronald Shudnow said part of the reason his family turned down the offer was the capital gains taxes they might have to pay.
Shudnow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
