Pinewood Toronto Studios may have its prized 46,000 square-foot megastage, 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.

Mirkopoulos was not available for comment.

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

Two film studios planned by Cinespace will have 53-foot ceilings, and be 43,472 square foot and 55,000 square foot in size. Another four film soundstages will have 35-foot ceilings, with each roughly 50,000 square feet in size.

Cinespace Chicago will also house seven TV production studios with 33-foot ceilings, ranging in size from three at 31,000 square feet, a fourth at 34,000 square feet, and the remaining three at 47,000 square feet.

The Chicago studio will also include a carpentry building and separate facilities for production offices and post-production shops.

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.

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This story has been corrected. Cinespace chairman Nick Mirkopoulos is involved in the project, called Chicago Film Studios, and not Jim Mirkopoulos as previously reported.