BUCKTOWN — A drastically scaled-down vision for the northern section of Lincoln Yards — the languishing megadevelopment situated between Lincoln Park and Bucktown — is being pitched by a local developer.
Chicago’s JDL Development and Kayne Anderson Real Estate announced an agreement Thursday to acquire the 31-acre northern section of the Lincoln Yards site, which former developer Sterling Bay surrendered to a lender in March amid ongoing financial difficulties.
The new plans for the site situated east of the Chicago River “will offer homes, condos, apartments, as well as mixed and commercial uses,” according to a news release. Developers have renamed it “Foundry Park” as a nod to the area’s industrial past.
The project will feature some apartment towers around 30 stories, but mostly buildings under 20 stories and even some single-family homes, JDL CEO Jim Letchinger told the Sun-Times. It’s expected to include 2,000 to 3,000 residential units in total, Crain’s reported.
JDL and Kayne Anderson are acquiring the property from Bank OZK, which took title to the land from Sterling Bay this spring. The deal is expected to close in the fall, the news release said.
“We see incredible potential to establish this site as a place that thousands of Chicago residents can call home and create a shared space that brings together members of the Bucktown, Wicker Park and Lincoln Park communities for years to come,” Letchinger said in a statement.
The land deal does not include the southern section of the Lincoln Yards site south and west of the river, which is still controlled by Sterling Bay and financial backer J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
A Sterling Bay spokesperson declined to comment on the deal and said she was not aware of news relating to the southern part of the development.
Sterling Bay’s life sciences center, 1229 W. Concord Place, the only building constructed so far as part of the Lincoln Yards megadevelopment, on July 16, 2024, as seen from above. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
The major reconfiguration announced Thursday for more than half of the Lincoln Yards site is a stunning development for a controversial project that has struggled to get off the ground.
Sterling Bay won City Council approval in 2019 to build thousands of housing units and millions of square feet of office space on more than 50 acres of former industrial land between Bucktown and Lincoln Park. The project was supported by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but opposed by some neighborhood groups and other community organizations.
In the six years since, however, Lincoln Yards has barely progressed. Sterling Bay has only built a life sciences building at 1229 W. Concord Place, which remains vacant as the developer has sought new financial backers.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), a vocal critic of the Lincoln Yards proposal when it was being debated in the City Council, said he’s excited about the new development and is working with JDL and the city’s planning department to move it forward.
He does believe the two planned development agreements for the full Lincoln Yards site, plus a redevelopment agreement initially agreed to by Sterling Bay, will have to be rewritten and reapproved by City Council — but he doesn’t expect that to be a difficult process.
“We’re doing a lot of fast work to really get this concept moving forward as quickly as we can,” Waguespack told Block Club on Thursday.
There are still expected to be significant infrastructure costs related to the new version of the project, but far less than what was expected for Lincoln Yards, he said. Those improvements will likely be paid for upfront by the developer and reimbursed through tax increment financing dollars, Waguespack said.
“There was a lot of infrastructure built into the Sterling Bay plan, and that is going to be significantly reduced in terms of how much is needed,” he said. “There will still be a lot, but I don’t think JDL and our office are contemplating the billions that Sterling Bay was pushing the city to use for their version of the project.”
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Planning and Development said the department held a meeting last week with JDL to “discuss high-level land use considerations” for the northern portion of the site.
An intake meeting with the developer is anticipated later this month to discuss potential changes to the area’s planned development.
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