A Taft team that included higher education group chair Howard Zweig and public finance attorneys Jimmy Shanahan and Karl Camillucci assisted the University of Illinois at Chicago in its plans to build a $100 million residence hall and academic hall on its Near West Side campus. The project is a public-private partnership, with a long-term ground lease and tax-exempt bond financing. The 10-story, 550-bed tower at the corner of Harrison and Morgan streets will also include a two-story academic wing with classroom and study space, as well as a retail area.

This will be the first new student housing facility built on the campus in more than a decade and is needed to handle the growth in freshman students at the campus. Construction is scheduled to begin in December 2018 and to be completed in July 2019.