CDC approves $201.6 million in TIF for Foundry Park

The Community Development Commission has approved $201.6 million in TIF funding for infrastructure and publicly accessible parks for the $3 billion Foundry Park development. Planned by Chicago-based developer JDL Development and Kayne Anderson Real Estate, the 28-acre project will take over the site which was formerly planned as the northern portion of Lincoln Yards, a stalled megadevelopment planned by Sterling Bay. 

Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, the full buildout of the site will deliver 3,690 apartments and condos, 19 single family homes, 28 townhomes, 180-200 hotel rooms, approximately 420,000 square feet of retail space, and 350,000 square feet of office space.

The public infrastructure and public amenity improvements planned will enable the future vertical development of Foundry Park and are designed to improve multi-modal connectivity and improve the roadway network. Work will modernize and expand sewer, water and other public utility infrastructure, upgrade the level of service at surrounding intersections, expand public open spaces, and enhance the natural edge of the Chicago River, enabling the transformative mixed-use redevelopment along the river.

The first phase of infrastructure will build out all of the new and upgraded roadways, the riverwalk along the single-family home section of the river frontage, and the Central Square park within Subarea D, a triangular parcel bound by N. Southport Ave to the west, W. Cortland St to the south, and N. Kingsbury St to the northeast.

Subarea D will also be the first phase of vertical development. To eliminate parking podiums, the triangular parcel will have 770 stalls of underground parking. Four buildings will rise above the site, including an 11-story, 156-foot-tall hotel building, a 13-story, 170-foot-tall residential building, an 8-story, 116-foot-tall residential building, and a 38-story, 520-foot-tall mixed-use building. The four buildings will have 183 hotel keys, 709 rental and condominiums units, and 125,000 square feet of retail space. 

Set to cost $234.9 million, the infrastructure work will be funded with $33.3 million in developer funds and $201.6 in proposed TIF funding as part of the application approved by the Community Development Commission. 

With Community Development Commission approved, a redevelopment agreement for the proposed TIF funding will be finalized before seeking final approval from City Council. Construction on the infrastructure and the $800 million Phase 1 vertical development is set to start in 2026. The full buildout of Foundry Park is expected to be completed in 2034.