Southeast Side residents are not backing down from the fight over the massive PsiQuantum-led redevelopment at the old U.S. Steel South Works site, even after election officials tossed their advisory referendum. The latest twist has cranked up an already heated debate over toxic cleanup, promised jobs, and whether the project will actually improve life in nearby neighborhoods or just reshape the lakefront for everyone else.
Election board tosses multi-question referendum
The three-member Chicago Board of Election Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously removed the advisory question from the March 17 ballot, ruling that the petition packed in several separate queries in violation of state law. Organizers with Southside Together had gathered signatures to put seven related questions to voters in three precincts near the site, but the board said advisory measures must stick to a single topic, according to WTTW.
"We will continue the fight for residents to have control over what happens in our neighborhoods," Southside Together's Sanya Bhartiya told the outlet, making clear the ballot setback is not the end of the campaign.
Organizers vow to keep up pressure
After the board's decision, neighborhood groups said they would "double down" on efforts to force more meaningful community input. That means shifting toward potential legal challenges, direct pressure on elected officials, and broader public campaigns, as reported by FOX 32 Chicago.
Coalition leaders say their central goal is a binding Community Benefits Agreement, or CBA, that would lock in local hiring requirements, affordable housing, and enforceable environmental safeguards for South Chicago and surrounding Southeast Side neighborhoods. In other words, they want the promises in writing, not just on glossy renderings.
Developers defend project and point to jobs
Developers including Related Midwest have pitched the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park as an economic engine that could bring billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs to the long-vacant lakefront, and they say the site is already moving into construction phases, according to Related Midwest. The master plan brands the campus as Quantum Shore Chicago at 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, transforming the former steel plant into a tech and research hub.
PsiQuantum, the project's announced anchor tenant, says it plans to build test systems and ultimately a utility-scale quantum computer at the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, according to PsiQuantum. Developers have also filed a detailed remediation plan with state regulators, a process that local outlets have been tracking in recent months as residents scrutinize how thoroughly the contaminated land will be cleaned up.
Community concerns: remediation, jobs and displacement
Neighbors and local coalitions, including the Alliance of the SouthEast, have repeatedly called for a legally binding CBA that would guarantee jobs for local residents, commit to affordable housing, and require long-term environmental monitoring, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
WBEZ has also reported that activists say the remediation filings do not erase decades of contamination concerns at the former steel site. They argue that protections and benefits need to be spelled out in enforceable agreements, not left to future negotiations or developer discretion.
What’s next
With the March primary less than two months away, organizers face a tight timeline to regroup. They can try to submit a more narrowly worded, single-topic advisory petition, pursue a court challenge to the board's decision, or intensify pressure on developers and elected officials to sign a CBA outside the ballot process.
The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners details petition-filing and objection rules on its website, offering a roadmap for any next move, according to the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Neighborhood groups say they plan to use every available path to keep the heat on Quantum Shore Chicago and its backers. The referendum might be off the ballot for now, but the fight over South Works is very much still on.
