Lincoln Yards Development Raises Concerns About Traffic, Density

CHICAGO, IL — Plans for the $5 billion Lincoln Yards development include a soccer stadium, skyscrapers, residential units, hotels, shops and 13 acres of park space, Chicago developer Sterling Bay outlined at its first public meeting Wednesday. Hundreds of people attended the meeting, and many had to be turned away after the building reached capacity.

Ald. Brian Hopkins established a Lincoln Yards Community Advisory Committee in the spring so that community groups could address their concerns, which include traffic congestion, density issues, strains on local resources and other challenges. But the groups said those issues haven't been acknowledged.

"To date, the community groups have been totally excluded from the process despite representations to the contrary made at Wednesday evening's meeting," said Kenneth Dotson, president of the Lincoln Central Association. "When misstatements like that are made, we are going to correct the record."

Jim Gramata, president of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, said he too was taken aback at Wednesday's meeting when Sterling Bay said it had been receiving community input.

"Not only have the community associations and residents not been driving the process, we have not been in the car at all," Gramata said. "The first and only meeting we had with Sterling Bay was on March 8, 2018. The content of their presentation at that meeting was lacking in any kind of substantive detail to make two way communications possible."

Gramata said the community groups and residents have been "operating in a vacuum."

"We wrote them our concerns about the process and sent them questions but we never heard any reply or response," Gramata said.

Both Gramata and Dotson said they hope that moving forward, Sterling Bay will engage in "meaningful dialogue" with the communities who will be most affected by the development.

"The neighborhood groups are working together to try and speak with one voice so that we can provide input in a consistent and constructive manner," Dotson said. "I am hopeful that Sterling Bay will engage with us, but only time will tell."

Dotson said that representatives of the development team reached out to him Thursday morning to schedule a meeting to solicit feedback on the first public presentation.

"Hopefully, they will listen to the feedback with an open mind," Dotson said.

Gramata said the Lincoln Yards development so far is a "tabula rasa pipe dream."

"This might look great on a developer's proforma but their pretty pictures were lacking so much in details and realistic content that we could not begin any kind of substantive conversations from a community perspective," Gramata said.

Ald. Brian Hopkins agreed that the preliminary plans lack detail and strategies to address the North Side's biggest concerns.

"We believe that not only do we have a voice, but ultimately the community has the final say in whether this project happens, and if it does, what exactly does it look like? We're here to negotiate on behalf of the residents of Chicago, really, because it affects more than just my ward."

Hopkins said that it's a slow process that has just "officially begun."

"Sterling Bay has just presented their initial vision — we start from there, and we can accept what they've presented so far as a good beginning, and reject the elements of it that don't pass muster and alter the elements of it that require change — that's all about to happen," he said.

The development is planned for at least 54 of the 70 acres along the river between Bucktown and Lincoln Park on the former Finkl & Sons steel site, which was one of ten locations proposed to Amazon for its second headquarters.

The preliminary plan for the site includes around 12 million square feet of buildings, half of which would be residential space: 5,000 homes and up to 500 hotel rooms.

Sterling Bay is seeking zoning approval for buildings up to 800 feet tall, the developer said. Master plans for the site are conceptual and can change based on input from the public, Sterling Bay said.

"Lincoln Yards is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform an underutilized former industrial site into a vibrant community that will finally connect Bucktown and Wicker Park to Lincoln Park," Sterling Bay said in a statement. "This week’s meeting was the first of many opportunities for feedback, including community meetings, the email address set up for commentary (info@lincolnyards.com) and we are excited to meet with stakeholder groups to get their feedback."

The developer plans to formally introduce the preliminary plans to the City Council next Wednesday.

Top image: a rendering of the proposed Lincoln Yards development. Image credit: Sterling Bay.