Expansion will be east of the current federal campus, which includes the 1.2-million-sf Dirksen Federal Building at 219 S. Dearborn St., 1.1-million-sf Kluczynski Federal Building at 230 S. Dearborn St. and 711,000-sf Metcalfe Building at 77 W. Jackson St. The General Services Administration's public building service, which serves as the federal government's property manager, already has bought six other properties as part of a $53-million acquisition program.

"We have concluded we need to expand the federal center," says GSA assistant regional administrator David Hood. He adds that it is "unprecedented" for the federal government to commit to a $53-million property acquisition program ahead of a final development plan.

The city has owned the 4,400-sf site and three-story building since 2000, but redevelopment plans stalled because of an inability to acquire historic buildings to the north and south, says Terri Haymaker of the Department of Planning and Development. The building at 202 S. State St. needs work on the façade, while the interior has been gutted, Hood says.