The Union Station Master Plan is one of Chicago's most coveted redevelopment opportunities. Now Amtrak has narrowed its list of possible master developers for the project to four heavy hitters.

The four finalists are Golub, JLL, Sterling Bay and Riverside Investment & Development. Each firm has put together strong teams capable of transforming Union Station into a state-of-the-art transit hub, while unlocking the potential for mixed-use development via land and air rights, according to Crain's.

Golub's team includes Macquarie Corporate Holdings and an affiliate of Walsh Construction as investors, with Gensler as the architect. Riverside's team includes architect Goettsch Partners. The JLL team includes architects Cesar Pelli and Jeanne Gang, along with The John Buck Co and LaSalle Investment Management.

Sterling Bay, whose team includes architects Skidmore Owing & Merrill, already released some of its plans. They include a 958-foot-tall office building to be constructed next to Union Station, should the firm get the nod from Amtrak.

Amtrak announced the RFQ process in May, with a goal of naming a master developer as soon as possible. At stake: rehabbing 1.3M SF of office space and developing another 3M SF in air rights. Responses to the request for proposal are due by early 2017. Amtrak will announce the master developer by the end of Q1 2017. [Crain's]