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SOUTH CHICAGO — Quantum computing promises to outpace today’s supercomputers, processing complex data at breathtaking speeds that could accelerate advancements in technology, medicine and national security.
But South Siders who live near the former U.S. Steel South Works site are begging local and state officials to slow down on development of the land that would host Illinois’ premier quantum computing campus.
“It’s downright reckless,” 7th ward resident Anänka Shony said on a Zoom call Friday with neighbors requesting government officials pump the brakes on the PsiQuantum campus. “Our children are not being considered, our environment is not being considered.”
In an Oct. 9 letter addressed to alderpeople and state lawmakers, members of the Alliance of the Southeast and 80 local residents requested more advance notice of developments at the site.
The letter comes roughly four months after Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker announced that Silicon Valley tech startup PsiQuantum would take over the vacant U.S. Steel South Works site and transform the area into the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.
The research and development campus would include a “quantum proving ground” led by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The site’s developer, Related Midwest, submitted a zoning reclassification application to City Council Oct. 9. The zoning request could be heard this fall by the Plan Commission, which reviews development proposals, ahead of a zoning committee vote, Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, and a Related Midwest spokesperson confirmed to Block Club.
“The Southeast Side community needs more advance notice for these types of meetings,” the letter signed by the Alliance of the Southeast and others said. “This development is moving way too fast. The community needs more time to process information and to be part of this process, as a co-decision-maker. Our tax funds are being used to fund this development.”
In their proposed community benefits agreement, residents demanded an environmental impact study, a commitment to creating local jobs, measures to prevent displacement and community representation on the project’s governance committee as prerequisites for government funding.
The city’s economic development director did not immediately respond to questions from Block Club about the status of a community benefits agreement.
“Too often, neighbors in this area and other parts of Chicago are not invited and are left in the dark in the planning stages of planned developments impacting our communities, or a sham of public engagement is made after all the decisions have been made behind closed doors,” the letter said. “Most residents, unless they are members of organized groups, still don’t know that big changes are coming. The lack of information about the project has not been reassuring.”
When asked about a community benefits agreement, a Related Midwest spokesperson pointed to a partnership between United Way of Metro Chicago, Claretian Associates and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation to create a “quality of life plan” for South Chicago.
“That process will engage residents and stakeholders in mapping out a vision for neighborhood development and growth,” Related Midwest spokesperson Tricia Van Horn said in email to Block Club.
Government officials and Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park have hosted two public meetings since July, with a third scheduled for Oct. 29, Van Horn added.
The quantum campus is the latest plan to convert the abandoned steel mill site, following several failed attempts over the last two decades.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency first declared the site “safe for occupation” in 1997 and confirmed those findings in 2006 and 2010. Despite those declarations, other potential suitors for South Works have backed out after environmental concerns cropped up. In 2018, Emerald Living scrapped its plans to build residences following reports of soil contamination.
Amalia NietoGomez, executive director of Alliance of the Southeast, wants the results of those reports released to the public before another plan moves ahead.
“One of the key things that folks want to talk about is to get questions answered about what is going on with the environment,” NietoGomez told Block Club. “And especially because there’s so many tax dollars that are going into this.”
Related Midwest points to a “no further remediation” letter from the Illinois EPA as evidence that the land has already passed “the most stringent site-specific cleanup standards developed in accordance with state law.” The Illinois EPA did not respond to Block Club’s questions by press time.
“Related Midwest is committed to ensuring the site meets all current requirements pertaining to remediation,” Van Horn said. “The company will remediate any hazardous conditions in accordance with the law and its own high standards.”
Pritzker has embraced quantum computing as his pet project in hopes that the technology will deliver an economic win for the region. The promise is that the campus would leverage Chicago’s existing research hubs like the University of Chicago and spur jobs in a growing tech sector.
Over the next five years, PsiQuantum expects to create 150 jobs and construction of the site would create hundreds more, according to a spokesperson for Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.
Still, South Siders like Oscar Sanchez worry that without their input now, locals won’t reap the benefits of the new campus. He emphasized the demands for competitive jobs and funding measures to prevent displacement outlined in the community benefits agreement.
“While we welcome the investment, this process is moving too fast. Have contractors been selected? Are they from our community? Do they look like us?” said Sanchez, co-executive director of the nonprofit Southeast Environmental Task Force. “Governor JB Pritzker, we need answers.”
The city, state and Cook County are betting big on quantum, with the city using $5 million from its housing and development bond on the project. In September, Cook County created a tax incentive that would reduce the tax rate at the site by 15 percent for 30 years, Crain’s reported. In its 2025 budget, the state dedicated $500 million to quantum research.
NietoGomez argues that without a community benefits agreement, South Side residents won’t see the fruits of those tax breaks. She added that more of that public money is needed to remediate the site.
Clifton Muhammad, who recently opened a record shop in South Chicago down the street from the South Works site, has grown frustrated over the amount of public money that the city and state have directed to developers.
“You walk into the high school, you walk into the park, these places need money,” Muhammad said, taking his Zoom interview with Block Club inside a building at Bessemer Park. “Quite frankly, it galls me to know that money that the local park and the local high schools need are being used, quite frankly, to lower the risk of investors before we make a commitment.”
Previous meetings with Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park have shed more light on plans for the project, even if those answers have further angered South Side residents.
Anne Holcomb, co-chair of the South Shore block club ETHOS, is worried that the campus will draw too much power from the existing ComEd grid.
“If they’re gonna be pulling power off ComEd, are there going to be brownouts?” Holcomb asked. “Is that going to compromise area residents when we need power the most for our own health?”
In response, Van Horn wrote the campus will not impact reliability of electricity service to the area.
“Additionally, PsiQuantum, the IQMP’s anchor tenant, will use 100% carbon-free electricity to power its facility,” she said.
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