Insider Brief
- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson faced community opposition over the planned $9 billion Quantum Shore development but declined activists’ calls to halt the project.
- Community groups, including Southside Together, are urging the city to revoke permits, withdraw funding and tax incentives, and oppose further development of the quantum campus.
- Opponents have raised concerns about environmental risks, utility costs and displacement, while state and local officials have backed the project as a major technology and economic development initiative.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson faced sharp opposition from Southeast Side residents Saturday over a planned $9 billion quantum computing development, as activists pressed him to withdraw city support and halt the project.
Johnson attended a “Community over Quantum” town hall organized by Southside Together at Arnold Mireles Academy in South Chicago, according to Block Club Chicago. Some attendees chanted, “Reverse the permits. Shut it down. Mayor Johnson, do it now.”
Johnson did not agree to the group’s demands to revoke permits or withdraw funding for the development. He instead pointed to his call for a moratorium on new data centers and a recent executive order imposing new requirements on data center development in Chicago.
“Here are my values: That innovation cannot take place at the expense of environmental justice, that … development cannot happen at the expense of utilities and working people, and that private investment cannot happen at the expense of our overall public health,” Johnson said, according to Block Club Chicago. “That is why just this past week, I signed an executive order strengthening our procurement as well as our regulatory processes to ensure that development is happening in favor of the interests of the community.”
The mayor later left the event as Southside Together member Lia Terrell criticized his position. The mayor’s departure drew boos and jeers from some in the audience, Block Club reported.
The dispute highlights growing community resistance to Quantum Shore Chicago, a large development planned for the former U.S. Steel South Works property along Lake Michigan. Related Midwest is leading development of a 128-acre quantum computing campus within the larger project.
