Planning agency approves development, but residents say quantum park lacks specifics

[November 26, 2024]  By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is one step closer to reality, but community members say they are not getting specific information about the development.

The quantum project was announced by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in July and approved by the Chicago Plan Commission last Thursday for the site on the city’s Southeast Side.

Vanessa Schwartz, executive director of Metropolitan Family Services Southeast Chicago Center, said community members want specific information in writing.

“If it’s not written down, it’s a possibility that that’s not going to happen. So what we want is kind of something that’s written down that we can hold people accountable for,” Schwartz said.

The quantum development is planned on the former U.S. Steel South Works site at 8080 South DuSable Lake Shore Drive, along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

While quantum computing companies are getting hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks from state, county and city governments, Schwartz said young people on the Southeast Side are struggling.

“The investment is great, and we’re excited for that, but we also want to see how we can help these kids, our families in this area benefit from that as well,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz suggested that the quantum project could include coding instruction for students at nearby Bowen High School.

In addition, Schwartz expressed concern that people working on the quantum campus might remain apart from the community.

“Is it going to be an enclosed space where they’re just going to go there? They’re going to have big box restaurants or something in that space, and they’re not going to come out into the community to feed the local economy, to support the local businesses? That’s going to suffer, and that’s going to push people out,” Schwartz said.

A rendering of the PsiQuantum campus in Chicago

The quantum development on the old South Works site will take $700 million, including tax incentives, from state taxpayers and $280 million from federal taxpayers, plus Cook County and Chicago tax incentives.

“There’s millions of tax breaks, it’s going to be billions of dollars. The fear is that it’s going to stay in that campus and it’s not going to trickle down at all to the community residents,” Schwartz said.

The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park’s anchor tenant, PsiQuantum, said that Illinois, Cook County and Chicago governments offered a combined incentive package worth more than $500 million over 30 years for the company to set up at the Southeast Side campus.

“Are families being priced out of their homes if the price of taxes increase? A lot of people, their wealth is tied to their land and to their homes. Generations of families have lived there, and they pass this home on to future generations, and what’s going to happen if they’re priced out? Where are they going to go?” Schwartz asked.

Schwartz also cited concerns about lakefront access for residents and environmental issues.

Pritzker said at the Chicago Quantum Summit last month that he and the General Assembly began making “massive state-level investments” in quantum in 2019. The governor, who has described himself as a “quantum geek,” said the quantum industry has the potential to bring billions of dollars in private investment to Illinois communities.

The state budget for fiscal year 2025, which Pritzker signed earlier this year, allocated $500 million to fund quantum research and build the Southeast Side campus.

The quantum project still requires approval from the Chicago City Council. The council’s next scheduled meeting is Monday, Dec. 2.