Pinewood Toronto Studios may have its prized 46,000-square-foot megastudio, but Toronto rival Cinespace Studios is converting an old steel plant on Chicago’s west side into a studio complex for Hollywood shoots, with five film stages of more than 50,000 square feet in size.

The construction of Chicago Film Studios as a one-stop facility, recently reported in the Chicago press, follows the Illinois government giving Cinespace chairman Nick Mirkopoulos a $5 million grant to purchase the old Ryerson Steel headquarters and warehouse complex on a 48-acre site for $18 million.

The retrofit is a major expansion for Cinespace, which hosted production in Toronto on the 2003 Oscar-winning musical Chicago.

Besides the 30% Illinois state tax credit to offset production and labor costs, Cinespace is hoping indoor parking for honey wagons during the winter months is enough to lure Tinseltown to the Windy City.