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Chicago’s Lower West Side best known as a backdrop for the 2014 Hollywood blockbuster “Transformers: Age of Extinction.” The state will accept bids this fall for Damen Silos at 2900 S. Damen Ave., along the South Branch of the Chicago River, a 23.4-acre property familiar to drivers on the Stevenson Expressway for its towering old grain silos.
Officials said selling Damen Silos will relieve the state of a financial burden, and a buyer could transform it into a data center, telecom facility, cannabis business or an industrial complex, giving surrounding neighborhoods an economic lift.
“The sale of this surplus property will generate significant economic opportunities in Chicago’s Lower West Side and McKinley Park communities while also saving the State the cost of annual operating expenses,” said Anthony Pascente, acting director of the state’s Central Management Services, in a prepared statement. […]
The state is selling the property in “as-is” condition, and initial bids, which must be a minimum of $3.25 million, are due by Oct. 19. Officials will choose the winning bid by November, according to a marketing flyer from commercial real estate firm JLL.
* This isn’t the first time the state has tried to unload the abandoned property. From Crains’ Chicago Business in 2014…
The state Department of Central Management Services hired Rick Levin & Associates Inc. to sell the property at 2900 S. Damen Ave. in an online auction Nov. 2 through Nov. 7. The site just north of Interstate 55 includes several abandoned silos and was used as a movie set last September, when Transformers crews filmed explosions there.
The property is in an industrial area and sits just west of the former Chicago Sun-Times printing plant, which is being converted into a data center. An industrial use “would certainly seem logical” for the site, though retail is a possibility too, said Rick Levin, president of the Chicago-based auction house. […]
Levin tried to auction the property in 2007 and received interest from barge and transportation companies, Mr. Levin said. But no buyer was willing to pay the state’s minimum bid of $17.3 million.
Seven years and one real estate crash later, the new minimum bid is $3.8 million. The state set the bids by averaging three appraisals of the parcel, Mr. Levin said.
* New City tells how the silo went from “feeding the world” to abandoned relic…
Located off the Damen Avenue exit of I-55, this massive city within a city was built in 1906 just off its namesake rail line. It had an overall capacity of 400,000 bushels of grain, with five shipping and receiving legs that were able to accommodate four separate rails. It also had thirty-five concrete storage bins, a 1,500-horsepower electrical plant, a marine tower and eight vessel loading spouts. All in all, the plant could process 75,000 bushels of grain per hour. […]
This was the case in 1977, as a massive explosion and fire, along with over thirty years of abandonment, turned the Santa Fe grain elevators into a burnt-out relic which could serve as a set for every neo-futuristic end-of-the-world movie from “Mad Max” to “The Matrix.” To the west of the ruins is a stagnant channel where the Chicago River meets the I&M Sanitary and Ship Canal. The grey, murky water, filled with white foam, industrial driftwood, plastic grocery bags and used condoms serves as a moat guarding the east and north end of the ruins. To the south is a rusted, barbed-wire fence adorned by a small sign that reads: “State Property, No Trespassing.”
Beyond the fence is a field of weeds, rusted steel beams and hundreds of blocks of cement the size of small cars. Towering over them are rounded silos climbing over a hundred feet in the air. Next to it is a square, cement building fifteen stories high. Its rotting walls are filled with broken windows and chunks of hanging, rusting rebar, all ringed by a steel ribbon on top which has been completely painted by graffiti artists who somehow got on top of the sheer cement walls.
* The silos are a popular spot for urban explorers…
The Damen Silos property is going up for sale… https://t.co/xlLG6MWRjy
Photos from 10 years ago, before Michael Bay blew them up. https://t.co/XgWAF04lyV pic.twitter.com/RsQsQWnRyR
— [jonrev] (@jonrevProjects) August 16, 2022
The 15-story grain silos at 2860 S. Damen Ave. have been useless since a 1977 explosion. They were built in 1906 by the Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and they had capacity for 400,000 bushels of grain.
There are lots of curiosity seekers like Kinsch. Dave “Gone” Brault, then a 23-year-old college student, even lived in the silos earlier this decade. He dubbed it, “post-apocalypse park.”
Kinsch said one of the more popular areas is the basement, “which is comprised of a series of tunnels that you can easily get lost in.”
“There are thousands of square feet of tunnels which stretch under half the 24-acre lot,” Kinsch said. “The maze of tunnels can make for some very creepy yet stunning photographs, also while exploring down there you find some pretty interesting rooms.”
* According to WBEZ the movie brought in money to the state…
The filming of the third Transformers movie brought about $24 million in spending to Illinois. The reviews of Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon aren’t so glowing, but the filming of the movie was a success for Illinois. Transformers was filmed in Chicago last summer and brought in hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the state.
Betsy Steinberg is with the Illinois Film Office. She says a 30 percent tax credit for film productions played a big part in attracting filmmakers.
“Without a serious tax credit, it’s very difficult to get any kind of film industry to town. Currently, over 40 states have some sort of film tax credits or incentives in place,” she said.
Steinberg says the film industry as a whole brought in a record $161 million to the state in 2010. She says more projects are in the works this year, including a Superman movie being filmed around Plano, Illinois.
posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 1:37 pm
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Sounds like the state has been getting more cash than they will by selling the property. It is definitely an eyesore, but if the movie studios think it’s great for shoots that bring in millions, can the state sell it with guarentees that the buyer will get development approval prior to closing?
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 2:01 pm
The Damen Silos remind me of the excellent book Nature’s Metropolis. Chapter 3 is all about grain, corn, and the futures business in the 19th and early 20th century. The Silos are a relic of another era of Chicago economic history.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 2:20 pm
It’s crazy to think that the silos look exactly how I imagined them when I was 4. Just a warehouse top with giant holes in the floor. As I got older, I realized that hey, there’s probably a floor in the warehouse part because that’s not safe, etc.
But no, giant holes in the floor. Hope you don’t fall in.
Comment by ChrisB Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 2:35 pm
Is it big enough for a football stadium?
Comment by K-Mo Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 3:05 pm
Back in the day, I hid from truant officers, DCFS and CPD for several weeks until I turned 18 and was able to join the marines and get the hell out of Chicago and Illinois for 10 years. It was a great plan until I foolishly returned in 2000. I have regretted coming back ever since.
Comment by Svengali Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 3:40 pm
Oops. Typo. Meant to say I hid in the silo tunnels for several weeks.
Comment by Svengali Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 3:41 pm
Isabel, good stuff, thanks for all the background too.
To the post,
After the JRTC was sold I’ve become optimistic about transactions (if you will) like these that face real and serious challenges. It’s an interesting to see if this Pritzker Crew can pull another rabbit out of the silos
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 4:57 pm
The silos are one of those places that always show up in movies & tv shows filmed in Chicago. Whenever I see that, I know instantly what it is. That being said, if the Pritzker admin pulls this off, kudos to them. There’s lots of surplus property the state needs to unload, and hopefully this is the beginning.
Comment by MyTwoCents Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 5:20 pm
===a buyer could transform it into a data center, telecom facility, cannabis business or an industrial complex===
Or even a Pizza Ranch.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 9:38 pm
Since the Thompson Center is no longer available, how about turning it into a water park since the water is so close.
Comment by Radio Frequency Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 10:46 pm