Developer Sterling Bay has revised its plans for the $5 billion Lincoln Yards development following push-back from Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins, who objected to two major elements of the development — an entertainment district with large music venues controlled by LiveNation and a 20,000 sq. ft. soccer stadium.
The developer pulled both elements, while it increased park space from 3.6 to 6.2 acres, and added more streets “allow for a walkable, mixed-use district that is more pedestrian-oriented around the adjacent park space,” Sterling Bay said.
The additional park space on the 60-acre site will allow for “expanded programming, increased flexibility for youth and adult recreational activities and a wider variety of potential fields for sports such as soccer, baseball, basketball, and tennis, among others,” the developer said.
The Chicago Sun-Times quotes Hopkins as saying that these improvements are encouraging but he is looking forward to seeing a complete master plan. “When we have that document, I will share it with the community,” he said.
He said he has asked the developer to outline more sub-areas beyond the current two planned North and South zones.
“The more sub-areas you have, the more detail you can provide. … We’ve told them to sub-divide it further and give us the intention for what they want to build in each sub-area,” the alderman said.
“I want building heights, massing, design principles for the entire site, proposed structures for Phase One where they intend to begin construction within the next two years. How the site functions from a traffic-flow perspective. Intended use in the sub-areas. This is a mixed use development which is gonna contain a little bit of everything. … We need to know which sub-area is intended for what use.”
The Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to review the plan at its Jan. 24 meeting. However, Hopkins says he is not yet certain whether the project should go through then, or the final vote should be deferred.
If the master plan has a “sufficient amount of detail” and these details receive “some measure of community support” Hopkins said “I would consider allowing this to be heard on Jan. 24.
“If one of those conditions or more are not met, then I will defer it from the agenda,” he said.
