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CAC Watch List

The CAC Watch List follows pressing issues and transformative projects in Chicago’s built environment.

The CAC Watch List follows pressing issues and transformative projects in Chicago’s built environment.

CAC's Watchlist resource helps citizens stay informed on our ever-evolving city, and is updated as new issues and projects arise. The CAC is currently investigating the following topics:

  1. Century and Consumers Buildings
  2. Our Changing Downtown
  3. Missing Middle Infill Housing
  4. Celebrating Neighborhood Treasures
  5. Megadevelopments for All 
  6. Greening the City

Explore below and follow @CACWatchList on X (formerly Twitter) to keep up with related news on these topics as they unfold.

Two older buildings on a streetTwo older buildings on a street

1/Century and Consumers Buildings

Two old State Street high-rises were seized by the federal government in 2005 to expand their holdings. Now they face demolition. What happened and why should we save these buildings?

Explore the Issue

The Century and Consumers buildings were originally acquired to make more government office space downtown. Now federal funds have been earmarked to tear them down. At issue are claims that re-occupying the buildings pose unacceptable security risks to daily users of the neighboring Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. There are reuse options that address these risks, however. CAC supports a compromise that spares Century and Consumers the wrecking ball, avoiding the most high-profile downtown demolitions in years and the accompanying economic and environmental harms.

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Rooftop amenity deck at the new Millennium on LaSalleRooftop amenity deck at the new Millennium on LaSalle

2/Our Changing Downtown

Faltering foot traffic. Struggling retail. Stubbornly high office vacancy. The Loop is facing big challenges and choices.

Explore the Issue (PDF)

As Chicago’s high-rise central business district skews ever-more residential, how can designers, developers and city leaders foster a more dynamic and livable Loop with reinvigorated streets, buildings and open spaces?

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Graphic image with text, Missing Middle Infill HousingGraphic image with text, Missing Middle Infill Housing

3/Missing Middle Infill Housing

The compact multi-unit buildings largely absent in newer market-rate construction (e.g. rowhouses, six-flats, courtyard buildings) constitute “missing middle” housing.

CAC Design Competition

These properties are an important piece of the affordability puzzle for middle class citydwellers, but despite growing publicity and well-intentioned initiatives, not enough is being done to preserve this neighborhood-scale housing or to build new supply.

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exterior view of brick buildingexterior view of brick building

4/Celebrating Neighborhood Treasures

Banks, libraries, theaters, houses of worship: these are the civic anchors that give shape to daily life and the identity of our neighborhoods.

Explore the issue (PDF)

The utility of buildings like these may change with time, but where reuse is the clearest path to preservation, CAC favors such an approach to protecting and celebrating those structures that make invaluable contributions to community and the urban environment.

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5/Megadevs for All

Megadevelopments, from The 78 to Lincoln Yards, are complex undertakings in repairing the post-industrial urban fabric.

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Their success rests on more than financial returns—design, inclusive space and strong connections to transit and surrounding communities also matter greatly. As transformative public-private investments, we must hold megadevelopments accountable to the need for a more vibrant and equitable city.

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6/Greening the City

Chicago is getting more heat and humidity than ever. Bold interventions in the built environment are imperative for helping the city and region withstand the harshest impacts of climate change.

Explore the Issue (PDF)

From the literal greening of streets and communities to the retrofitting of buildings for improved energy efficiency, urban designers and architects are rolling up their sleeves to tackle climate change at the local level.

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