ABSTRACT
The Fort Dearborn Project was one of many of Arthur Rubloff"s ideas for the improvement of the city. Starting from nothing, he had made himself one of the biggest real estate operators in Chicago and in the United States; his gross business was $120 million. Extraordinary talents as an idea man, speculator, and promoter had brought him to the top of his profession and had given him a name for leadership. The residential and commercial parts of the Project would require an enormous block of valuable real estate which could only be acquired with public authority and public money. It might be possible for the Chicago Land Clearance Commission to acquire the land under the redevelopment powers of the Federal Housing Act and to resell it below cost to private developers on condition that they adhere to an approved plan.
