The City Council today approved a plan to support Columbia College Chicago in developing a media production center on vacant City-owned land in the South Loop neighborhood.

"The redevelopment of this long-vacant parcel of land is important to the ongoing revitalization of the South Loop," said Mayor Richard M. Daley. "With its unique design and environmental features, the Center will be a tremendous asset to the community and the city as a whole."

Columbia's media production center will provide students with a state-of-the-art professional production facility. It will serve undergraduate and graduate students in the Film/Video, Interactive Multi Media and Television Departments, enabling graduates to build a portfolio of finished films or games and simulations.

The facility will also enable Columbia – one of the nation's top ten film schools – to remain competitive in an increasingly technological environment. The center will feature two sound stages, a motion capture studio, animation lab, classrooms and space for production design.

In order to assist in the development project, the City intends to sell Columbia a 35,000-square-foot lot at 1600-32 S. State Street for $200,000, a land write-down that represents 12.5 percent of the total project costs of $21 million. The land is currently valued at $3.2 million.

The center, designed by Chicago architect Jeanne Gang, will be LEED-Certified and will feature a green roof and other sustainable building technologies. Gang has also incorporated an archway preserved from the historic Film Exchange Building at 1327 S. Wabash Ave. into the design of the center's main lobby.