Charles H. Shaw, whose first development here was Lake Point Tower, has equally strong feelings when talking about Homan Square, a mixed-income residential project planned for the former Sears Roebuck & Co. in the depressed Lawndale neighborhood. For Richard A. Hanson, whose 356-unit Heritage at Millennium Park will soon begin rising at Wabash Avenue and Randolph Street, another pet project is redevelopment of the Chicago Housing Authority's Stateway Gardens.

Developing Homan Square is as important as Shaw's $185-million makeover of Conrad Hilton Hotel, which he says helped spark the current South Loop renaissance. "Homan Square will do the same thing on the West Side of Chicago," Shaw says. "Mixed-income housing is critical."

So is transit-oriented housing, and Homan Square is close to the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line. Meanwhile, Stateway Gardens is at the 35th Street Red Line stop, across the Dan Ryan Expressway from Comiskey Park.

Hanson's Mesa Group is teaming with the Walsh Group, which is building Heritage at Millennium Park, as well as Stateway Associates and the Davis Group on 1,315 units spread over single-family homes, townhouses, three-flats and six-flats. They also are providing a day care center.

Developers must work with community groups and local constituencies to make their plans reality, and redeveloping Stateway Gardens is no exception. Hanson notes that besides the CHA and Stateway Gardens residents, the city, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago White Sox, DeLaSalle High School and residents of the neighboring Robert Taylor Homes also have a say in eventual plans.

"There's an incredible need for something to be done for the benefit of the city," Hanson says. "Who has the will at Stateway Gardens? The people who live there.