Edgewater residents protested a proposed lakefront high-rise development Sunday at the site of a synagogue, a plan that has divided community members over the use of public lands and the environment, property values and tax breaks, traffic congestion and alleged antisemitism.
Near the intersection of North Sheridan Road and Thorndale Avenue where the development of around 600 units is planned, people opposed to the project gathered at the entrance to George Lane Beach. Beachgoers walked by as the protesters — led by Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development and the Association of Sheridan Road Condo and Cooperative Owners — said the city should acquire private property up for redevelopment along the lake to complete the lakefront park system.
They say a high-rise would reduce public access to Lake Michigan, violating the 1973 Lakefront Protection Ordinance meant to protect the lakefront and complete the publicly owned and locally controlled park system along the Chicago lakefront.
“It’s going to be massive. It’s going to be overshadowing all of this,” said Pat Sharkey, president of the Edgewater Residents Association, gesturing to Lane Beach and Park. “But it’s more than that. It’s a tremendous lost opportunity, and it does mean the lakefront protection ordinance doesn’t work anymore; it’s broken, if this is allowed to happen.”
On the other side of the road, at Interfaith Park, some members of the Emanuel Congregation — the aging synagogue on the site of the proposed development at 5959 N. Sheridan Rd. — gathered alongside organizers from the Jewish Council of Urban Affairs and other current and former Edgewater residents.
Supporters say it’s important that the 20% of units will be reserved for affordable housing, and also argue that the development would preserve accessibility to the beach and beautify the area.
“The project that we’re going to build on this location is going to be an incredible force of energy and increase the value of property in this neighborhood,” said the congregation’s Senior Rabbi, Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi. “We own this property, and we have the right to build something that’s going to be an incredible place for gathering and a place for worship on a site that has been ours since the 1950s.”
Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, center, rallies with community members during a counter demonstration in support of redevelopment plans Aug. 30, 2026, by Emanuel Congregation at 5959 N. Sheridan Rd. in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Developer Fern Hill is proposing high-rise housing and a new place of worship on the lakefront parcel. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The latest project proposal includes a wide, multistory passageway that would cross underneath the site, providing pedestrians along Sheridan with views of and access to Lake Michigan.
A new stakeholder has recently emerged: Advocacy group Friends of the Parks is now urging Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, 48th, to give part of the lakefront property to the Chicago Park District to deal with lake erosion and create more public space.
“Your letter commits (developer) Fern Hill to record a written, binding Public Access Easement across the east-west pedestrian mews and along the lakefront setback, to permanently preserve lakefront access,” wrote Brian Gladstein, the organization’s executive director. “Two things that commitment does not specify. How deep the protected shoreline will be. And whether the public will own that shoreline or merely be permitted to cross it. Those two questions determine whether this becomes parkland or a walkway.”
The lakefront parcels at 5959 and 5965 N. Sheridan Rd. comprise almost 2 acres total. The organization is asking that a 100-foot deep strip, measured from the high-water mark along the coast, be dedicated to the park district to ensure 0.6 acres of permanent public shoreline while still leaving about 2⁄3 of the site available for development. It also asks that the strip be connected to Lane Beach and the street grid through Thorndale.
Friends of the Parks is also requesting the city conduct a full environmental and shoreline investigation into coastal vulnerability to erosion, possible effects on fish, birds and other wildlife, and stormwater management and discharges into the lake.
“These requests concern shoreline treatment and the instrument used to secure public access,” Gladstein wrote. “They are not directed at the residential program, and nothing in them targets the affordable housing component of this development. They do not require Emanuel Congregation to relocate.”
The original plan, presented at a public meeting in February, called for a 15-story, horseshoe-shaped apartment complex, including a new lakefront synagogue. After receiving additional feedback from neighbors, synagogue members, city planning officials and Manaa-Hoppenworth, Fern Hill announced a new plan in May.
Community members rally in opposition to redevelopment plans Aug. 30, 2026, by Emanuel Congregation at 5959 N. Sheridan Rd. in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Developer Fern Hill is proposing high-rise housing and a new place of worship on the lakefront parcel. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
The latest proposal, from July, consists of one five-story building west of Sheridan Road. On the other side, two apartment buildings, 12 and 25 stories, would be placed next to the 39-story Malibu Condominiums, the synagogue’s neighbor at 6007 N. Sheridan Rd.
Previously, Emanuel Congregation’s Co-President Andrew Degenholtz told the Tribune the new development was necessary. The synagogue has about 250 member families, not enough to afford upkeep for the existing 34,000-square-foot structure, completed in 1955 when Emanuel had 1,000 families.
Emanuel Congregation will own the new synagogue building, and will not have any ownership interest in the development’s residential and commercial spaces.
A point of opposition from residents concerns $40 million in property tax breaks over 30 years for the developer even as they claim property taxes for neighbors and businesses have doubled in the last decade.
New restaurants and retail shops in the development, besides more residents, would also increase congestion on an already major north-south thoroughfare, according to those opposed to the project. Manaa-Hoppenworth has said a traffic study and travel demand management plan conducted by the Chicago Department of Transportation would be published before the plan reaches the Chicago Plan Commission.
“This is the ideal location to build more housing. We have transit here. We just got done having $2.1 billion spent on the Red Line here,” said Maiko Lehman, a longtime resident, referring to the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red and Purple Modernization project. “We have a million and a half buses. The lake is right there. Bottom line is, people are moving to this neighborhood because it’s desirable, because of the lake, and because of the Red Line, the excellent transit, and we need to have housing to absorb those people.”
Others are not convinced the area and its current transit options can sustain the growth.
“Has it helped with congestion?” Sharkey said about the Red and Purple Line project, shrugging. “The problem with the CTA is a lack of reliability, lack of safety and lack of cleanliness, and people do not want to use it because of that.”
The controversy has also veered into religious and cultural issues, as accusations of antisemitism have been flung at those opposed to Emanuel’s proposed project. Those protesting have strongly denied such claims.
To some, the issue reaches far beyond religious differences.
“We all have our ways of worshiping and our traditions, but this is more about the general picture. Love your neighbor as yourself,” said Fred Kinsey, a retired Lutheran pastor who on Sunday showed up to support the congregation and its proposed development. “We want to make sure that people live in peace, and they have a right to be here as much as anybody. So we have to support one another and make sure that that happens.”
Chicago Tribune’s Brian Rogal and Bob McCoppin contributed.