Scott Goodman Leads Redevelopment of Michael Reese Hospital Site Near Where He Worked as Plumber
Scott Goodman is a founding partner at Farpoint Development, the firm that is leading the $8 billion Bronzeville Lakefront megadevelopment in Chicago. (Farpoint Development)
By: Ryan Ori
A groundbreaking ceremony last week for the $8 billion Bronzeville Lakefront residential and commercial redevelopment was an emotional homecoming of sorts for the Chicago megaproject's lead developer, Scott Goodman.
Goodman, the founding partner of Farpoint Development, fought back tears when speaking at the event, which also was attended by city officials including Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“I actually get a little emotional for a couple reasons,” Goodman, 65, said as he stood within a five-building residential complex on the Near South Side. “We are in Prairie Shores, which was my dad’s plumbing company’s largest account. I spent my childhood rodding sewers in this building and making sure that the pipes work, and here we are 40 years later in this historic neighborhood of Bronzeville continuing a story of an amazing area, an amazing neighborhood, an amazing continuum.”
Goodman also has a personal connection to the development site across the street from Prairie Shores. His mother was born in Michael Reese Hospital, which shut down in 2008 and was demolished about a year later. That site makes up about half of the 100 acres where a Farpoint-led team of developers plans a mix of life science, residential, retail and data storage space south of the McCormick Place convention center.
Goodman began working for his dad’s plumbing business when he was 16 and continued until his dad died in 1996, nine years after Goodman co-founded what today is one of the best-known development firms in Chicago: Sterling Bay. Sterling Bay co-founder Craig Golden and Goodman worked out of Goodman Plumbing’s office before the developer gained a much higher profile.
Goodman, who grew up just north of the city in Evanston, Illinois, left Sterling Bay in 2016 to launch Farpoint. The company’s other founding partner is former Sterling Bay executive Regina Stilp.