In recent years, the television and film industry has selected Chicago for major productions like Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, The Chi, Power Book IV: The Force, Empire, Fargo, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and many more.
According to the Chicago Film Office, 1,100 feature films and television productions have been filmed in Chicago, and that has added $2 billion to the city’s local economy since 1980.
The Chicago Film Office states: Chicago attracts hundreds of commercials and photo shoots each year that are produced for both national and international clients. This growth industry provides quality jobs for thousands of Chicagoans and creates opportunities for hundreds of hometown businesses.
Regal Mile Ventures, LLC, recognizes Chicago’s increasing ability to attract major players in the film and television industry, and that is why they are creating Regal Mile Studios, a state-of-the-art, independent film and television soundstages facility. The facility will be approximately 220,000 square feet with five sound stages, pre- and postproduction facilities, administrative offices, a mill, wardrobe room, cafeteria and flex space. In their desire to be the “Hollywood” of the Midwest, they plan to attract production companies, television networks, cable networks, streaming services, movie studios and other types of entertainment companies.
Regal Miles Studios will be located at 79th Street, Stony Island Avenue and South Chicago Avenue in the Stony Island Avenue and Burnside Industrial corridors. This project will be a new economic driver and will inject life into this Southside district that has remained vacant and blighted for more than two decades.
This $60 million state-of-the-art, 7-acre media campus will add 250 construction jobs as well as 34 permanent full-time studio jobs in the South Shore neighborhood. The complex will generate 300 production project jobs annually. CCLF will provide a $5 million predevelopment loan to the project. “We take great pleasure in helping launch this exciting project,” explains Calvin Holmes, President, Chicago Community Loan Fund. “This area needs revitalizing, and this expansive studio will help to do that.”
In an effort to have a pipeline of a qualified media workforce, Regal Miles Studios wants to develop a training program in conjunction with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for secondary and post-secondary students. A program like this will lead to a robust career pipeline for the media industry.
This project is a component of a grander plan for South Shore. It will be part of the Arts and Culture District that will include the Museum of Science and Industry, the Obama Presidential Center and the Stony Island Arts Bank .
This project promises to be an anchor to the south end of South Shore and will help bring other businesses into the community.