Ishbia’s Eye on South Loop Rail Yard Comes Into Focus

New details on investor Justin Ishbia’s effort to secure a large South Loop rail yard surfaced in a recent presentation, outlining how a pending relocation of Amtrak maintenance operations could clear the way for a major redevelopment site near downtown that might include a future Chicago White Sox ballpark.

The presentation, given last week at the University of Illinois Chicago and reported by Crain’s, said Amtrak is nearing a deal to buy Union Pacific’s Canal Yard in Bridgeport and could begin shifting operations there as soon as this fall.

The move would help unlock a roughly 47-acre tract at Amtrak’s 14th Street yard, a hard-to-assemble site along the river at the edge of the Loop with long-term mixed-use potential.

Amtrak said in a statement that it “continues to pursue all available opportunities to deliver an improved Midwest maintenance facility” and that no new details are available.

UIC slides that appeared to show a riverfront baseball stadium quickly circulated online, though sources told Crain’s the renderings were outdated and not representative of Ishbia’s current vision.

Still, the idea of a stadium on the riverfront site remains a possibility in later phases, according to the outlet, citing sources familiar with Ishbia’s plans, with one concept placing the right-field wall along the Chicago River.

Chicago-based Shore Capital has said it is under contract to buy the 14th Street yard and is in early planning for a mixed-use development there, while declining further comment through a spokesperson.

Ishbia’s pursuit is also bound up in the White Sox’s ownership timeline: The team has said Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf can sell his controlling stake between 2029 and 2033, with Ishbia’s option to buy becoming his decision after the 2034 season, according to the publication.

Reinsdorf and Related Midwest have separately advocated for a publicly subsidized stadium proposal at The 78, but the plan has struggled to gain momentum, and local opposition has hardened as the Major League Soccer team Chicago Fire FC advances its own 22,000-seat venue there through billionaire owner Joe Mansueto, who is set to personally bankroll a $650 million soccer stadium.

Ald. Jason Ervin told the outlet that discussions he attended centered on an initial phase near Roosevelt Road, anchored by a Northwestern Medicine facility, adding that “stadium stuff…would be eight to 10 years out.”

On the infrastructure side, Amtrak officials flagged the South Branch Bridge as a key constraint, with plans for $25 million in near-term work and a roughly $150 million replacement under consideration across 13 options, including a tunnel.

Financing is also taking shape: An Ishbia entity called Canal Edge applied for a $383 million federal Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing loan tied to a project cost of $413 million, with a projected loan closing this year, according to a federal database.

— Eric Weilbacher