Deeply Rooted Dance Center gets $10.5 million from the City for a new home in Washington Park

The Council voted 50–0 on Sept. 23 to fund a six-studio dance center on two vacant City lots at 5339–5345 S. State St. in the 3rd Ward.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 16, 2026

Deeply Rooted's executive director, Makeda Creighton, speaks to the Committee on Finance about the dance center, Sept. 22, 2026City of Chicago video

Deeply Rooted Dance Center, a planned home for a South Side dance company, won up to $10.5 million from the Chicago City Council on Sept. 23. The Council voted 50 to 0 to approve a redevelopment agreement with Deeply Rooted Productions, Inc. that puts housing and economic development bond money toward the center at 5339–5345 S. State St. in Washington Park. The ordinance, O2026-0027239, also amends the 2023 ordinance that sold the City-owned lots to the company. The Committee on Finance recommended it the day before on a voice vote with no one opposed.

What is Deeply Rooted?

Michael Carey, a financial planning analyst in the Department of Planning and Development, presented the deal to the Finance Committee on Sept. 22.

"Deeply Rooted Productions is a cultural institution that has been operating in the city for 30 years."

Michael Carey, Department of Planning and Development, Committee on Finance, Sept. 22, 2026

Carey said the company was co-founded in 1996 and has performed at the Auditorium Theater, the Harris Theater, the Logan Center and the Dance Center at Columbia College. It has no building of its own. It shares space and time with Ballet Chicago at 17 N. State St. downtown, which Carey said constrains its youth programs.

The company's executive director, Makeda Creighton, told the committee that as a Chicago native she had to travel to the North Side to study dance, and that borrowing studios means children's classes run from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. She said the company has been downtown for 31 years and wants to be in the community it serves, and that smaller arts groups could rent space in the building as subtenants.

What will be built, and where?

The site is two City-owned vacant lots on the west side of State Street, in the Washington Park community area and the 3rd Ward.

"These lots have been owned by the city since 1990 and have been used as a storage lot."

Michael Carey, Department of Planning and Development, Committee on Finance, Sept. 22, 2026

Carey said the XS Tennis complex, opened in 2018, is to the west; the Court Theatre production company, a University of Chicago fossil lab and the former Schulze Bakery building are to the south; and homes are to the east and north. The site is near several CTA bus routes and the Red Line.

The plan is a 33,270-square-foot building with six dance studios, a performance venue, a rooftop garden and an event space. The project's architect is Johnson & Lee and the general contractor is Toro Construction. Construction is expected to start in the last quarter of 2026 and finish in the first quarter of 2028.

DPD's Michael Carey presents the Deeply Rooted Dance Center Committee on Finance, Sep 22, 2026 · 1:43:26–1:45:20

Where does the $10.5 million come from?

The total project cost is $20.9 million. The City's $10.5 million is a grant through its Large Community Development Grant program, paid with housing and economic development bond funds. Carey said the rest is expected to come from equity and private donations, new markets tax credits and additional public subsidies.

Housing and economic development bonds are City borrowing, not TIF money, so unlike a TIF deal the funds are not tied to property tax growth in a particular district. The agreement names Deeply Rooted Productions as the developer and lets the Commissioner of Planning and Development sign it.

How did the vote go?

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), who chairs the Finance Committee and whose ward includes the site, provided a letter of support in June 2026, Carey said. She took the item out of order on the committee's agenda, and after Creighton spoke, the committee passed it on a voice vote with no opposition. No alderperson asked a question. At the Council on Sept. 23, it passed 50 to 0 by the same roll call as the rest of the Finance Committee's report.

How each ward voted

50 yea · Sep 23, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay

O2026-0027239: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What it means on your block

For the blocks around 54th and State, the change is a lot that has sat empty as City storage since 1990 becoming a building with six studios, a stage and a rooftop garden, next to the tennis center that opened in 2018. Carey said the center is meant to let Deeply Rooted grow its youth programs in a community where many of its students already live. Construction would run from late 2026 into early 2028. The company has said it wants the building to be shared with other small arts organizations and to include a community garden. The City's money is a grant, so there is no loan to repay, but the agreement ties the funds to building and operating the center as described.