Principles for Redevelopment

of the River Works Site

and Its Relationship to the Surrounding Communities
1. The redevelopment should help implement Chicagos economic development and advanced manufacturing agenda in a manner that is consistent with the current and anticipated marketability of the area.
2. The site should be marketed as a business innovation district and should maximize the benefit and
synergies of the three adjacent catalyst sites.
3. New uses should build upon the success and investment that have happened in the surrounding
PMDs and be consistent with the PMD zoning.
4. Particular attention should be given to firms locating in the district that maximize the creation of
head-of-household jobs that include a wide range of education, skill level and socio-economic backgrounds; companies locating to the sites should be encouraged to explore resources and opportunities for
hiring linkages and job training supports with the surrounding communities.
5. Environmental site assessments and clean-up, if necessary, should support the redevelopment plan for
the site.
6. Efficient movement of traffic and effective management of parking on site should be addressed. Strategies to address these impacts include appropriate street layouts and new and creative ways to reduce
traffic and parking demands, such as better access to public transit, alternative transport such as cycling,
car-sharing, etc., and promoting rail and river use to reduce traffic. Traffic plans should align this redevelopment project with solutions to these problems in the surrounding area and with other plans.
7. The River Works development should connect to and serve as a connection between the neighborhoods to the east, west, north and south where possible without compromising the other redevelopment
goals.
8. The business innovation district should accommodate the range of existing heavy manufacturing to
newer high tech uses in the area and take into consideration their expansion, retention and relocation
needs as well as minimize potential problems between the existing businesses and likely new users.
9. Opportunities for public access to the river and rivers edge should be encouraged, where appropriate,
with steps to taken minimize conflicts with end users but not at the expense of existing commercial users
or public safety.
10. The project should employ sustainable development practices in integration with the larger community such as infrastructure, transportation and river access, in site planning, and in construction and adaptive reuse of buildings including reuse of materials, function and operations.
11. New initiatives and resources as well as existing community and city plans should be leveraged to
support implementation of this redevelopment plan, and this redevelopment plan should support implementation of other existing community and city plans.
12. Development in the area should adhere to these principles. North Branch Works and other existing
neighborhood groups and community institutions should be involved throughout the planning and redevelopment process to ensure implementation of these principles and continued community input and
support.

DRAFT 11/14/14