A potential start date has been announced for the upcoming Foundry Park megadevelopment on the edge of Lincoln Park. The date comes as the project received full approval for its Tax Increment Financing (TIF) from the Chicago City Council late last month. This will allow developers JDL and Kayne Anderson to finalize funding for phase one.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
The Funding
The $201.6 million package reformatted the formerly approved package for the now-defunct Lincoln Yards development, which was dissolved in March of this year. Since Foundry Park will only take up the northern half of the massive former steel site, the project did not need the $487.8 million previously approved for Lincoln Yards.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Making up the package will be $70.9 million for roadways and utilities, $69 million for new parks, $33.5 million for riverfront improvements, $21.5 million for an extension of the 606 Trail, and $6.9 million for site prep and general expenses. This will be paired with $33 million from the developers for a total of $235.6 million in infrastructure alone.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Phase One
With the funding in place, the team plans to break ground on the first phase by the end of 2026. The first phase will sit within a new triangular lot formed by an extension of Southport Avenue along with Kingsbury Street and Cortland Street. This will be excavated to construct a site-wide parking garage with 777 parking spaces.
Basement – ground – tower plans of phase one of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
The garage will be topped by a new central square and public green space. The programmable space would hold year-round events and boast play areas, fountains, and more. Surrounding this will be four new buildings, including the development’s tallest at 38 stories and 520 feet tall. The remaining structures will range from eight to 13 stories in height.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
All four will sit atop activated podiums with 125,000 square feet of retail space, additional office space, as well as food and beverage options. These will all serve the 183-room hotel within the northern building and 709 residential units within the three southern structures. The units will be a mix of apartments and condos, and include 95 affordable units.
Site programing of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Future
While construction is set to commence this year, it is expected to take around a decade to build out the remaining development. In total, Foundry Park will deliver up to 3,737 units, 970,000 square feet of commercial space including a lifestyle fitness center, as well as multiple park spaces and an extensive public riverwalk. This will all cost around $3 billion in total.
Rendering of Foundry Park by HPA and Nudge Design
Per the city’s press release, the land Foundry Park will occupy currently generates around $1.5 million in annual tax revenue. Once fully completed, the project will generate around $68 million in annual tax revenue by 2036, with an anticipated 2,500 permanent jobs. Further phasing information has yet to be revealed.
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Its amazing that Sterling Bay sat on prime real estate for so long when economic conditions were relatively favorable. Now smaller developments that should’ve been the plan all along have to deal with the sky high interest rates and cost uncertainty of today’s market.
ha
If I said something incorrect here feel free to correct me.
A parking garage with public green space is a terribly triggering statement for this community…
By “this community” do you mean Lincoln Commons a mile to the northeast?
Worked pretty well for Millennium Park.
Glad to see this development moving forward! Hopefully some of that infrastructure money can help speed up the process with the Cortland bridge. Don’t get me wrong I love having that as a bike/pedestrian bridge currently, but the traffic in the area is HORRENDUS and desperately needs another bridge crossing that transit alone could not fix.
It’s fantastic as a ped bridge. Can’t wait for the 606 extension