The Ferris wheel now anchoring the Roberto Clemente Bridge for Downtown’s Octoberfest may be just a taste of things to come.
After years of planning, Piatt Companies is ready to advance a $600 million riverfront development on the North Side whose centerpiece will be an even bigger Ferris wheel with LED lighting.
Piatt is expected to brief the city planning commission next week on a master plan for the Esplanade, a signal that the developer is ready to move ahead with the ambitious venture.
“We’re really excited about the momentum that’s been building around the project,” Piatt spokeswoman Molly Onufer said Tuesday. “We can’t wait to break ground next year and get this up for the community and the region.”
The Chicago Navy Pier-like Ferris wheel is just one element of the project. The ride would anchor a 15-acre playground along the Ohio River that would include experiential restaurants and retail, apartments, a parking garage, and a marina.
Part of the development would feature a three-story complex with offerings like a winery, a brewpub, international culinary options, and a four-seasons garden. There are plans for a rooftop swimming pool.
Piatt also is proposing a 50,000-square-foot building filled with experiential and immersive retail.
In addition, the development would house about 300 apartments, with 20% of them designated as affordable to households at 80% of the area median income. A parking garage would hold about 550 spaces.
Plans call for enhancements to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and improvements to the riverbank.
The giant Ferris wheel is in part a tribute to George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., the inventor of the ride, who lived on the city's North Side and died at Mercy Hospital in 1896.
His first Ferris wheel, built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, was 264 feet tall and had 36 cars, each with the capacity to hold 40 to 60 passengers.
Ferris wheels like those in Chicago, Seattle, and other cities can reach heights of nearly 200 feet with enclosed gondolas that can hold as many as eight people each.
Piatt is hoping to break ground on the Esplanade project early next year, Ms. Onufer said. The first phase should be completed in 2027 or 2028.
Future phases could include a 40,000-square-foot aquarium; 200,000 square feet of medical, technical, and life science space; a hotel; and more apartments or condos.
The developer first pitched plans for the Esplanade in 2017. It has doggedly pursued the venture since then, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout, which has included high interest rates and construction costs.
Along the way, Piatt has secured $25 million in state redevelopment assistance capital grants to help fund infrastructure, roads, utilities, riverside and trail improvements, intermodal aspects, and park and open space.
The project is to be built on property that includes the former J. Allan Steel site on the riverfront in Chateau just west of the West End Bridge and the old Eles concrete plant.
Over the past couple of years, Piatt has been working with North Side community groups to try to improve access to the site from Manchester and other neighborhoods.
First Published: October 9, 2024, 12:14 a.m.
Updated: October 9, 2024, 7:37 p.m.
