Initial details have been revealed for the new plans concerning the northern portion of the former Lincoln Yards site near Goose Island. Dubbed Foundry Park, the new development will focus on residential use with shorter structures. It will now be led by local developer JDL, who is on track to purchase the land.
The Past
Originally revealed by developer Sterling Bay in 2018, Lincoln Yards consisted of two massive lots split by the Chicago River. This area was formerly home to the A. Finkl & Sons steel foundry—hence the new name. However, after constructing the currently vacant life sciences building at 1229 W Concord Place, the project has remained dormant.
PREVIOUS rendering of Lincoln Yards by Gensler
Multi-year phasing plan of Lincoln Yards South by Gensler and HPA
Financing has been the largest hurdle for Sterling Bay, even after winning city approval and funding under Mayor Lightfoot. After defaulting on loans and making several unsuccessful attempts to secure funding last year, the team began selling off parcels. That’s when JDL, along with one of 2024’s potential financiers, Kayne Anderson Real Estate, teamed up and submitted a bid.
New Plans
With the sale expected to close for an undisclosed amount in September, JDL is quickly advancing plans for Foundry Park—a scaled-back vision for the site. The new development is set to be anchored by around eight acres of open space, with a continuation of Southport Avenue becoming the main thoroughfare into the project.
Foundry Park (red) – Lincoln Yards (Orange) via Google Maps
Below ground, various parking facilities will support the buildings above. This design choice aims to foster pedestrian activity at street level. The project calls for around 2,000 to 3,000 residential units—approximately 1,000 fewer than originally planned for this northern portion of Lincoln Yards. These units will consist of a mix of condos, single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments.
The bulk of the units will be housed in various mid- to high-rise buildings. While most will range from 12 to 20 stories, some structures will reach up to 30 stories, with the tallest expected to cap out at 38 floors—a significant reduction in height from previous plans. This lower density will allow for simpler base infrastructure and therefore lower costs to both the city and the developer.
920 N Wells Street (left) and 868 N Wells Street (right) of JDL’s North Union, both under 30-stories. Photo by Jack Crawford
To complement the residential units, the project will include boutique office buildings, medical offices, and retail spaces to create a lively neighborhood. With projected costs exceeding $1 billion, the team is open to partnering with other developers to bring the new vision to life. However, they are moving quickly, aiming to get shovels in the ground sooner rather than later.
North Union megadevelopment. Rendering by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
JDL and Kayne have already begun meeting with city officials to discuss the revised plans and what it would take to amend the original planned development zoning ahead of the sale. The team hopes to present formal plans and renderings to the city soon for approval. The project will most likely be built in phases, though no timeline has been established yet.
JDL is also currently working on its North Union project near Old Town. There are no updates for the southern portion of the original megadevelopment, nor if the originally planned bridge or 606 extension will be built
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Love this news!
There should be plenty of TIFF money now to extend the 606 to Armitage and ergo Lincoln Park.
“Below ground, various parking facilities will support the buildings above. This design choice aims to foster pedestrian activity at street level.”
I love this – I hope it sets a shining example of how much better a neighborhood not built around cars can be for all of Chicago. Although I’m skeptical that we know how to do that well in any city in the US including NYC, I will remain hopeful.
It would be amazing if there were no cars at all in the whole planned neighborhood. All cars enter underground. Just tiny european style streets.
Not going to happen but a man can dream….
And unicorns!
Really bummed by the drastic decrease in density. Single family homes, really??? Wish they went more aggressive but obviously funding is hard. I’ll settle for more underground parking.
Unrelated, but I am begging all news outlets to caption their photos with the information about when the picture was taken and what we’re looking at. I’ve noticed so many outlets now just don’t properly label their photos.
Given the acreage they’re acquiring (32 per Crain’s) and the density they’re proposing, that’s still 40,000 to 60,000 people per square mile or more, which is denser than most of the city, so this is still a positive. I’m glad there are plans to move forward with this, even at a lower scale. Maybe this is how the rest of this property gets built out moving forward.
How’s north union doing? Haven’t seen much movement, reporting, or new buildings going up does anyone know?
City of regular shoulders. Make no big plans.
First, 3,000 housing units, retail and commercial isn’t exactly small. Second, with all due respect to Daniel Burnham, big plans have always been this town’s undoing. From the public housing projects to the expressways, big plans have been almost always been bad. Meanwhile, smaller plans like brownstones, rowhouses, corner bars, worker cottages, and tall buildings on small footprints have been the things that people love about Chicago.
Indeed! Sometimes big plans are necessary and very successful, but they’re far more risky. It’s easy to romanticize big plans that’ll change everything and be the foundation for everything that’s good moving forward. But incrementalism of many smaller things over time is far more likely to succeed
Single family homes in Lincoln Park lol and in the end that’s all that willl be built. another mediocre