Additional details, renderings, and a Phase One timeline have been revealed for Foundry Park ahead of its Plan Commission review later this week. Located on the northern half of the former Lincoln Yards site in Lincoln Park, Foundry Park has been in the works by local developer JDL since the firm purchased the site last year after the previous megadevelopment stalled.
Site map of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
JDL, which is also behind North Union and One Chicago, has been working with HPA and Nudge Design on the multi-phase development. The overall project will include 3,737 residential units of various typologies, 350,000 square feet of office space, 420,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and 200,000 square feet of additional uses such as hotels, parks, and parking.
Infrastructure
As we’ve previously reported, the project will be centered around an extension and reconstruction of North Southport Avenue as well as West Cortland Street. Several additional roads and alleys will also be included around the northwest end of the site. The two major arteries will feature bike lanes, on-street parking, and traffic-calming design to improve pedestrian flow.
Site traffic map of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
The infrastructure work will include two new signalized intersections and four signed intersections. Additionally, the project will feature a new riverwalk spanning the entirety of its waterfront. This will take on different forms with varying widths and slopes, including an elevated section across the former swing bridge. These features will allow for a small beach, wetland areas, embankments, and more.
Riverwalk map of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Riverwalk sections of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Across all phases, the project will also include multiple acres of park space, including playgrounds and public plazas. The development team hopes to add a future water taxi stop and plans to implement a private shuttle to nearby CTA and Metra stations. Additionally, the site is primed for a potential 606 extension should the city pursue it further.
Phase One
Construction will begin with one of the larger portions of the project on the northeast corner of the site, bounded by North Kingsbury Street. The triangle-shaped lot will be excavated for a two-story, below-ground parking garage with 800 shared spaces. Access will be provided from Kingsbury Street to help maintain a pedestrian-focused project core.
Map of phase one of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Above the garage, four structures will rise. To the north will be an 11-story hotel reaching 170 feet in height, featuring approximately 180 keys, a banquet hall, and multiple dining spaces. To the south will be two residential buildings: one rising 13 stories with 252 units and another rising eight stories with 220 units. Both buildings will include ground-floor retail and rooftop amenities.
Basement – ground – tower plans of phase one of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
The tallest Phase One structure will rise on the southeast corner of the site. This 38-story, 520-foot-tall tower will sit atop a large podium containing large-format commercial space and two floors of office space. The tower will include 428 residential units, with apartments in the lower portion and condominiums in the upper portion.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
In total, Phase One will include approximately 900 residential units. All four buildings will be arranged around a two-acre central plaza featuring retail patios, fountains, gathering areas, and a large central green designed for seasonal programming such as farmers markets and winter ice skating.
Section of phase one of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
The buildings will be clad in a mix of brick, glass, cast stone, and metal panels. Phase One also includes construction of the project’s primary roadways and a portion of the riverwalk along the northwest edge of the site. As with other projects, 20 percent of the residential units will be required to be affordable, with the developer planning to include a large portion on-site.
Future Phases
Phasing details for the remainder of the site have not yet been revealed; however, future phases will add additional acres of parkland and complete the remainder of the riverwalk. Another small underground parking garage will be constructed on the southern end of the site, south of Cortland Street.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Foundry Park massing and program diagram by HPA and Nudge Design
An additional 11 mid- to high-rise buildings will be developed, most ranging between 250 and 450 feet in height. Six of these will be apartment buildings with ground-floor retail and some additional parking, including one on the western side of the river featuring a multi-story lifestyle fitness club. Two additional towers along the southern edge of the site will be condominium buildings, while two smaller low-rise structures will house office space and additional parking.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
On the northern end of the site, along West Dickens Avenue, 28 multi-story townhomes will be built around a central park space, along with 19 riverfront single-family homes featuring large backyards. In total, the project is expected to create 2,500 permanent jobs and generate more than $1 billion in tax revenue over the next 20 years.
What’s Next?
With the Plan Commission expected to approve the plans this week, the development team would receive an amended planned development from the original Lincoln Yards approval. This amendment would separate the southern half of the megadevelopment under its own planned development, allowing JDL to move forward independently. If all goes according to plan, a groundbreaking is scheduled for October 2026.
As we previously reported, the southern half of Lincoln Yards—and its only completed building, 1229 West Concord Place—recently found a buyer: local contractor Novak Construction, as of late last year. Novak does not have experience developing projects of this scale, and no details have been revealed regarding their plans for the property.
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The street level renderings look really really nice. I hope it allows for much wider sidewalks and street level activation that a lot of the city is missing
Would be nice to have bump outs in that very last street level rendering. Why are we still anticipating cutaway curbs in the year of our lord 2026, I’ll never understand.
The central plaza is really nice – this is how megadevelopments should be done.
Love the use of red brick and good old stone materials–hope it turns out as warm as the renderings.
Perhaps Sterling Bay did us a favor by creating a framework from which others could start when their plans fell apart. I think it shows that “mega developments” like Lincoln Yards may not be the way to go. Break them down to make them more financially feasible and provide more architectural variety. We haven’t had a great track record with these in Chicago over the years. Huge projects like The 78, One Central, and South Works have stalled due to various reasons. Perhaps approving a framework and allowing multiple developers to come in to finance and implement the projects is the better way to go. Maybe the framework is “making no little plans” while breaking them down into pieces that can be realized is the secret sauce.
Absolutely refreshing to see buildings at street level that *fully* engage the street with zero dead-walled parking podiums. These are all active, human uses for all buildings and the difference is immediately visible even in renderings! Other developers take note please.
Pretty funny/sad to include the bloomingdale trail in all the renderings and plans but make sure to not commit to actually providing a pedestrian bridge unless the city makes the push for it. Seems like it will not be happening
Simply reserving land for future expansion is more of a commitment than the city has put forward.
Sure, they published HOW they could maybe get the trail across the highway, but that study was published ages ago. Getting that major infrastructure to connect to the other side… no private developer is going to fork over millions to get a bridge connection, trail pavement, etc etc until that tunnel/underpass is built. The good vibes of dedicated space for the expansion is just as trivial as the city’s current word. As it stands now… everything is wishful thinking.
Amazing project!! Given how nice One Chicago and completed North Union buildings-, I’m super excited, this would be a perfect location to live in Chicago, removed from the noise, no L stops nearby, close to the highway, to downtown, 606 trail and Midtown gym. Glad to see condo portion in the tallest tower. I’d love to live there.
Any plans for transit in the area, or is this just going to be an island that only accessible via car traffic?