Sterling Bay Reveals Latest Lincoln Yards Plans To Community

CHICAGO — Sterling Bay revealed the latest plans for its Lincoln Yards proposal Thursday night at a community meeting in the Park Community Church auditorium. Hundreds of people packed into the space, and many arrived prior to the 6 p.m. meeting to attend the launch of the Chicago Independent Venue League, a group that's calling for the delay of the proposed North Branch TIF until the next mayor and city council are seated.

"The Lincoln Yards plan includes several new performance venues in its mega-complex to be 'exclusively operated' by Live Nation/Ticketmaster," the group said in a statement. "CIVL was formed by Chicago independent venue owners concerned about current urban development trends favoring tax-payer supported developments that leave out, disregard, or even stifle smaller, independent, often historic performance venues and businesses."

The group said it "seeks official recognition of the value of Chicago's 'creative economy' and will introduce a platform and set of recommendations."

Earlier this month, the city's Department of Planning and Development hosted a public meeting at Park Community Church to discuss a proposed tax increment financing district that would support Lincoln Yards. Hundreds of people showed up for the meeting, many of whom loudly objected to tax dollars being used to solely benefit private development. Many residents wanted to know why the TIF was presented without a clearer vision for Lincoln Yards.

During Thursday's meeting, Sterling Bay outlined the following updates to its proposed plan:

• Publicly-accessible open space has been increased from 13.4 acres to 20.88 acres or approximately 38 percent of the site;
• More than 100 floors of building height have been removed;
• Building heights have been "significantly reduced" — Sterling Bay said that originally, the tallest-planned building was 800 feet, and now the tallest building will now top out at 650 feet, which is approximately 50 stories;
• The plan includes several open-air plazas and a Riverwalk running along the North Branch of the Chicago River:

Top renderings credit: Sterling Bay/James Corner Field Operations