01/17/2026
Chicago developer Jim Letchinger is a step closer to his $3 billion vision for thousands of apartments on the former Lincoln Yards property, winning city planning officials' sign-off despite key unanswered questions about new infrastructure needed to serve the former industrial site.
The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved a proposal from a joint venture of Letchinger's JDL Development and Florida-based Kayne Anderson Real Estate for Foundry Park, a 6 million-square-foot-plus project that would reshape 34 acres along the Chicago River between Lincoln Park and Bucktown with more than 3,200 residential units and apartment high-rises topping 450 feet.
The approval from the planning body clears the first major city hurdle for the project, which still needs green lights from the City Council zoning committee and full City Council before JDL and Kayne Anderson could begin the initial phase as planned this fall.
This first approval, however, may not be the trickiest obstacle. The developers still need to come to terms with city officials on how much public funding could be used for new infrastructure at the site, which is notoriously plagued by traffic congestion.
Under a controversial redevelopment agreement struck for Lincoln Yards in 2019, Sterling Bay would have foot the bill for major infrastructure projects on the site.
But financing challenges for such massive infrastructure projects doomed the 53-acre Lincoln Yards proposal and ultimately forced Sterling Bay last year to surrender to its lender or sell almost all of the Lincoln Yards property.
Read more here: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/commercial-real-estate/city-panel-grants-first-approval-foundry-park-megaproject?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own