“A pair of long-unused sites at the Halsted Street entrance to the old Union Stock Yard is being pitched for a two-building, $80 million music campus that would include a state-of-the-art facility for producing film scores, education programs in a historic building and related ventures.

“The city’s Department of Planning & Development, or DPD, is announcing today that Third Coast Music submitted the best proposal for reuse of the old Stock Yards Bank building, which has been empty for half a century, and the vacant lot across the street where the Stock Yard Inn stood from 1913 until it was demolished in 1971.

“The DPD put out a request for proposals last November. In its announcement, the DPD said it received two complete proposals. It did not include details of the other proposal. The sale of the site, at a proposed $1.9 million, will need approval from the Chicago City Council. That process is not yet scheduled.

“Chicago needs this (facility) because the rest of the production infrastructure is in place and production is booming,” said Rich Daniels, a Chicago Federation of Musicians board member who’s been involved with local production, including as music director for the television show “Empire” for its full six-season run.

“Construction of the scoring stage building, designed by Los Angeles firm Nonzero Architecture, on the roughly 1.1-acre vacant site accounts for 70% of the projected cost, or $56 million, according to Hughes. The remaining $24 million is for rehab of the Stock Yards Bank building. The colossal structure at 4150 S. Halsted St. is an oversized architectural homage to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the U.S. Constitution was written and signed.

“The bank’s vast interior was eventually fitted out with event space, classrooms and a museum. Third Coast, a not-for-profit, would fund much of the operations in that building with revenues from renting out the scoring stage building, Chatman said.” (Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 11/18/24)

“In 2000, the city acquired the already-vacant bank for $200,000 through eminent domain to prevent demolition. Since then, several efforts to get the building, which the city designated as a landmark in 2008, back into use have failed to launch. Notable among them were City Hall’s 2006 pitch to get it reused as a banquet hall and steakhouse, and a 2017 concept from architect Helmut Jahn’s firm to make it into an ‘energy bank’ generating renewable energy for nearby businesses.

“Almost a century ago, the Stock Yards Bank, founded in 1868 and also known in the past as the Live Stock National Bank, spent $500,000 — the equivalent of nearly $9 million in today’s dollars — to build its new fireproof bank building near the entrance to the vast Union stockyards. With the Tudor-style hotel, it presented a sophisticated gateway to the 375-acre stockyards packed with over 100,000 animals at a time.

“The bank’s design by architect Abraham Epstein is an homage to, but far larger than, the mid-1700s Georgian building in Philadelphia where the nation’s founders debated and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution.

“The bank closed in 1965 and the stockyards closed in 1971. According to Boatright, the bank building has not been reoccupied in the more than half a century since. (Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 11/29/23)

Preservation Chicago has been advocating for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Stock Yards Bank building for many years. The Chicago Landmark Designation prevented its demolition.

We are thrilled by this adaptive reuse plan and look forward to seeing this important Chicago Landmark back in service.

• Stockyards sites proposed for $80 million music campus to support Chicago’s film and TV industry, Dennis Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 11/18/24
• City envisions transforming vacant South Side bank building into $80 million recording complex, Brian Rogal, Chicago Tribune, 11/18/24 
• What’s behind a proposed movie music production complex on Chicago’s South Side? Plans for an $80 million development on the former Chicago stockyards site include a scoring stage which would eclipse even the West Coast’s storied Skywalker Sound, Hannah Edgar, WBEZ Chicago, 12/10/24
• Historic Stock Yards Bank Could Become Music Recording Studio, Learning Center; The city selected nonprofit Third Coast Music’s proposal to develop the bank into a $80 million, state-of-the-art media production complex, Francia Garcia Hernandez, Block Club Chicago, 11/19/24
• Music Recording Complex Announced As Winner Of Back Of The Yards RFP, Ian Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 11/20/24
• Recording complex proposed for Stockyards Bank Site; The new building would stand at 821 W. Exchange Ave, Lukas Kugler, URBANIZE Chicago, 11/19/24
• $80M film-scoring studio, music school wanted for stockyards; City of Chicago could sell historic building for $1.9M to Third Coast Music, TRD Staff, The Read Deal, 11/19/24
• City again asking for offers on historic Stock Yards Bank building, Dennis Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 11/29/23
• Iconic Stock Yards Bank Building Is For Sale; The building, once the cornerstone for the city’s meatpacking industry, has been vacant for 50 years. The city is asking $1.9 million, Madison Savedra, Block Club Chicago, 12/4/23
• City of Chicago Stock Yards National Bank Listing
• The Stock Yards Bank Building, A Back Of The Yards Cornerstone, Is Ready For An Overhaul 50 Years After It Closed; The Stockyard Bank Building was born when Chicago ruled the meatpacking industry. Nearly a century later, some hope it can reshape the community, Colin Boyle, Block Club Chicago, 8/17/21
• Stock Yards National Bank Stabilization Project, 4146 South Halsted Street
• What’s That Building? The Stock Yards Bank, Dennis Rodkin, WBEZ Chicago, 1/10/20
• Stock Yards National Bank Chicago Landmark Designation Report October 8, 2008