What to do with the Olympic Village site...

The speculation is building on what might happen to the site that was going to be deveoped into Olympic Village for the 2016 games now that Chicago has lost the bid. Having worked in commercial real estate journalism for the last three years, I've heard a number of proposals for the site and many of them are resurfacing now. While it's sad to see the possibility for more affordable housing go by the wayside, I'm intrigued by some of the other options, summed up in this Clout Street arcticle

Here's what I think of some of these options:

-Casino: This is an old debate: tax dollars vs. neighborhood atmosphere. I think the assertation that a casino would help McCormick Place compete with Vegas is a little far-fetched. And I guess I always think of windowless, overly decorated fakeness when I think of casinos, which would be a shame given the great city and lakefront views the site has to offer.  I think a casino would be better placed near O'Hare, where you still have convention centers but wouldn't miss much in scenery.

-Entertainment venue/sports bar: Ehhhh... it's not a terrible idea, especially if we could create an indoor/outdoor type arena, but I think the site is too big for this to be the best idea. Plus, we already have Northerly Island and Soldier Field relatively close.

-Public high school: Would be good for bringing more public transit to the area, hopefully. getting to McCormick via bus is not particularly fun, but might be more amenable if it was a more popular daily destination. I wonder if students would like it, though, being so close to a convention center.

-Hotels: I like this idea-staying near the center if you know you're going to be there a couple days in a row would be convenient, and architects would be able to play with the different designs and techniques to play off the location.

I think maybe the best thing would be to combine a few of these ideas (hotels and entertainment venue?) to create an economically viable region on the near south side. I'm a little saddened that the idea of affordabe housing has come off the table. I've also seen particular success with student and senior housing recently, although it's hard to see restricted housing, whether it be by age, occupation or affordability, being the best use of the site. I'd be excited to see a developer present a solid mixed-use plan for the development of the area, maybe playing off Central Station and the South Loop.

What do you think?