Developers Rework Chicago’s Lincoln Yards as “Foundry Park”

Details are being sorted out to give the green light to develop a large swath of vacant land along the North Branch of the Chicago River, which Bank OZK recently seized from Sterling Bay.

JDL Development and Florida-based Kayne Anderson Real Estate are under contract to acquire 28 acres on the northern portion of the former Lincoln Yards megaproject and have sketched out plans for a $1 billion-plus development dubbed “Foundry Park,” Crain’s reported. The site, between Lincoln Park and Bucktown, would include nearly 3,300 residential units, 350,000 square feet of office, 435,000 square feet of retail, 250,000 square feet of hotel space and 12 acres of open space.

Renderings depict Southport Avenue as the spine of the project, lined with mid- and high-rise buildings up to 38 stories, while townhomes and single-family houses hug an extended riverwalk. JDL is working with local architecture firm HPA on the site’s master plan, Chicago YIMBY reported.

But the city’s Department of Planning & Development has already raised concerns. In a recent response letter, officials suggested replacing riverfront for-sale homes with multifamily, to avoid clashes between private owners and public riverwalk users. They also pressed the developers on phasing, interim uses and traffic fixes.

Infrastructure is the perennial sticking point. Sterling Bay, the project’s original developer, won Chicago City Council approval in 2019 with a controversial agreement that the developer would bankroll new bridges and roads upfront, but would later be reimbursed by the city with as much as $490 million in tax incentive fund dollars as projects were completed. Whether Foundry Park requires the same level of investment remains to be seen, though the Chicago Department of Transportation flagged future connections to the 606 trail, a Southport-Throop bridge and a redesign of the messy Elston-Ashland-Armitage intersection as factors to consider.

For now, JDL CEO Jim Letchinger told the outlet that the proposal was “indicative of what we are attempting to do,” while cautioning that details could shift as the city reviews the plan. What’s clear is that the tract — once home to the A. Finkl & Sons steel mill and most recently in the hands of BankOZK after it foreclosed on Sterling Bay — is finally back in play.

— Eric Weilbacher