Gov. JB Pritzker’s vision for South Chicago to become the Silicon Valley of quantum computing is taking shape.
Developers and elected officials broke ground Tuesday on the state’s quantum campus, where Palo Alto, California-based PsiQuantum will build the country’s first utility-scale quantum computer. The first phase is about 30 acres and designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative.
It comes more than a year after Pritzker, alongside developers, city and county leaders, announced the 128-acre Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park at the former U.S. Steel South Works facility. Co-developers CRG and Related Midwest purchased the land from U.S. Steel this month — the last step needed after the project netted city approvals last year. The developers received financing for the land purchase from funds managed by private credit lender Blue Owl Capital.
Gov. JB Pritzker (center right) and Mayor Brandon Johnson (center left) lift ceremonial shovels at the groundbreaking of the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
“This project has been marked by individuals who decided this was going to happen and wouldn’t let it not happen,” Related Midwest CEO Curt Bailey said. “Number one [on] the list: Governor Pritzker.”
The park is estimated to have an economic impact of $50 billion over the next 20 years, Mayor Brandon Johnson said. It’s also projected to create thousands of jobsfrom quantum computing to construction and retail.
PsiQuantum will create 150 jobs, as the campus’ anchor tenant. The 500-person company expects to hire more as it grows its presence at the campus.
The park is the crown jewel of what Related Midwest and CRG have dubbed Quantum Shore Chicago, the 440 acres where U.S. Steel used to operate. The steel mill closed in 1992, and various redevelopment plans for the site withered over the years.
Developers envision Quantum Shore as a hub for innovation, drawing businesses from fields such as quantum computing, technology and health care. Advocate Health Care will build a new 52-bed hospital on Quantum Shore’s north end.
The park will consist of more than 100 acres on the south end of the site. It will include a cryoplant, equipment labs, research and office spaces for local universities and private companies. PsiQuantum will occupy a 80,700-square-foot office and research building, and several buildings will be built in the future for the company.
Quantum computing creates infinite combinations of the binary bits used by computers to calculate larger and more complex problems. It could lead to the manufacturing of new medical drugs and make sensitive data almost impermeable to hacking, among other possibilities touted by experts.
Other companies like IBM and Diraq recently announced they’ll join the park. The U.S. Department of Defense’s research and development agency, or DARPA, will also take residency, where it will establish a program to test quantum computing prototypes.
“This can be an engine of transformational economic growth,” Pritzker said of the campus. “With new jobs at all skill levels, innovation at a rapid pace and a global scale, and a major influx of demand in construction and manufacturing and retail and agriculture and services and beyond — that is a level of impact that can anchor growth for Illinois and a revitalization of this very neighborhood that will span generations.”
Community response
Some small businesses and neighbors are excited about the benefits the quantum campus will bring, after the land sat underutilized for decades.
But others have reservations.
The Coalition for South Works CBA has been pushing for a legally binding agreement, or a community benefits agreement, that would ensure residents benefit from the project. The coalition includes residents and more than 40 organizations like the Alliance of the Southeast, as well as businesses and churches.
The coalition presented an updated community benefits agreement in early September, which sought assurances that residents wouldn’t be poisoned by contaminants lingering at the site, displaced by rising property values and would benefit from the site through new jobs.
Community members, who held their own press conference Tuesday, said they wanted to meet with developers and the governor’s office to discuss what reinvesting in South Chicago should look like.
“For this to work, all parties must work together,” resident Freddie Batchelor said. “Let the community — meaning the coalition — come to the table in the form of a community benefits agreement. Let’s create a win-win situation.”
A spokesperson for Related Midwest did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the community benefits agreement.. Related has said the development team will “prioritize small and emerging local businesses,” during the construction and operation of Quantum Shore Chicago. It also plans build affordable housing on vacant lots in the neighborhood.
Jorge Perez, owner of bakery Chico’s Oven in South Chicago, said he’s been waiting years for something new at the old U.S. Steel South Works site. He said his father worked at the steel mill.
Perez set up shop in South Chicago with the hope “that one day, something would happen here.”
He thinks the impact of the park will reverberate throughout South Chicago, bringing more companies.
“I know others are coming; it’s just a matter of time. We’ve been stuck on this moment for a long, long time waiting for this,” Perez said. “South Chicago is open for business.”
