A Chicago developer has negotiated a deal to purchase the northern half of the stalled Lincoln Yards megadevelopment site.<\/p>\n
JDL Development said Thursday it will give the site a new name, and instead of the grandiose vision pursued by the original developer Sterling Bay, which lost control of Lincoln Yards earlier this year<\/a>, promises to build a modest-size, walkable residential community.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we build is going to be purposeful, and blend in with the neighborhood and the surrounding area,\u201d said Jim Letchinger, CEO of JDL Development, who pictures mostly mid-rise residential buildings, with perhaps one or two skyscrapers. \u201cIt will be much more appropriate, and we do hope to also create a very strong street retail environment. It\u2019s all about creating a neighborhood, not about trying to build a trophy for JDL.\u201d<\/p>\n Letchinger said the new 31-acre development, called Foundry Park, will eventually total about 2,000-3,000 units, including single-family homes, condos, rental apartments, townhomes and affordable housing. A nearly 40-story tower is also possible, but no decisions have been made.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s gambit opens a new chapter in the decadelong saga to redevelop the vast stretch of land along the North Branch of the Chicago River, sandwiched between Bucktown and Lincoln Park. Neighborhood advocates said they like the idea of scaling back Sterling Bay\u2019s original plans, and new owners mean the community now has another chance to shape the development.<\/p>\n \u201cI always thought Sterling Bay\u2019s plan was simply too big, so I\u2019m not surprised their approach did not work out,\u201d said Juanita Irizarry, a former member of the Lincoln Yards Community Advisory Council, a body of community residents, advocates, urban planners and other experts created by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019.<\/p>\n JDL Development and its partner Kayne Anderson Real Estate expect to close the deal by the end of September. They did not disclose how much they will pay for the property. The firms wanted to purchase Lincoln Yards\u2019\u00a0entire 53 acres<\/a>, but negotiations with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which controls the southern half, have so far been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s OK,\u201d Letchinger said. \u201cThirty-one acres is a lot, so we\u2019re working with city officials on the northern section. They say their No. 1 goal is to start building.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development said \u201cit would be premature for DPD to comment at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n JDL is best known for developing the Gold Coast\u2019s No. 9 Walton luxury condominium building and more recently completed the 2.2 million-square-foot One Chicago in the River North neighborhood. Its work continues nearby on the North Union development, which will have up to 12 buildings and 3.5 million square feet of space.<\/p>\n Sterling Bay\u2019s original 14 million-square-foot proposal, unveiled in 2019, called for residential and office skyscrapers, some nearly 600 feet high, thousands of apartments, riverfront parks, retail, entertainment, a high-tech science hub and an extension of The 606 trail. A project that dense would also have required costly new infrastructure, including new bridges, roads and a reconstructed riverfront.<\/p>\n The plan was controversial from the start. Sterling Bay forged a redevelopment agreement with the city in 2019, just before former Mayor Rahm Emanuel left office. The company proposed spending nearly $500 million upfront on neighborhood infrastructure before getting reimbursed from a city tax increment financing district. The strategy angered many community groups and activists, who said TIF financing is supposed to be reserved for blighted communities, not affluent areas like Lincoln Park.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted Lori Lightfoot to hold off on agreeing to what Mayor Emanuel had put together and take more time to decide if that was the right approach,\u201d Irizarry said.<\/p>\n