Lakefront Synagogue Redevelopment Nears Zoning Pitch

A North Side Chicago congregation is moving closer to a major lakefront-adjacent redevelopment that could bring hundreds of apartments, retail and a new place of worship to Sheridan Road.

Emanuel Congregation, which has occupied its campus at 5959 North Sheridan Road since the 1950s, is working with Chicago-based developer Fern Hill Company on a mixed-use plan that would replace and expand the synagogue while adding residential buildings on both sides of the street, according to Block Club Chicago. After months of meetings with congregants and neighborhood groups, the team submitted a zoning change request to 48th Ward Alderman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s office.

The proposal would allow two new buildings, the centerpiece being a 12-story, U-shaped structure fronting Sheridan Road that would incorporate a new synagogue on its lower floors, ground-floor commercial space and apartments above. Across the street, Fern Hill plans a five-story apartment building at 5948 North Sheridan Road, a vacant parcel the firm bought last year for $5 million from Chicago-based Quest Realty Group, the outlet reported. Quest had previously explored a smaller, 59-unit apartment project on the site.

If approved, the larger building would also absorb Emanuel’s existing synagogue and a neighboring home at 5965 North Sheridan, which Fern Hill would acquire as part of the deal, Fern Hill President Nick Anderson told Block Club. Renderings show the project opening south toward Lane Beach, an orientation the current building lacks.

The final unit count and parking totals are still in flux and will be shaped by further community input, Anderson said. But under the zoning envelope the team is seeking, the development could support up to 605 apartments across both buildings. Any rezoning would trigger Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, requiring 20 percent of the units to be affordable.

For the congregation, the redevelopment is as much about right-sizing as it is about location. Emanuel’s existing 35,000-square-foot synagogue opened in 1955, when planners expected DuSable Lake Shore Drive to extend north through the site. Designed with a highway in mind, the building’s east wall is largely windowless and soundproofed, according to the publication, even though the road was never built and Lake Michigan now sits just steps away.

Today, Emanuel counts about 250 households and said the aging building is too large and costly to maintain. Plans call for a more efficient synagogue occupying the second and third floors of the new building, with a sanctuary, chapel, social halls, classrooms and offices. Housing revenue would help fund construction.

Manaa-Hoppenworth said her office will host a community meeting on the proposal next month.

— Eric Weilbacher