Lincoln Yards Meeting To Offer Full Developer Plans: Alderman

CHICAGO — Another community meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 29 to discuss the proposed Lincoln Yards development, Ald. Brian Hopkins announced. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Park Community Church auditorium at 1001 N. Crosby Street.

Hopkins said the upcoming meeting will include the long-awaited developer plans in full.

While Lincoln Yards developers said they wanted the community to take part in the creation of the proposed development, many residents and several neighborhood organizations said they weren't able to make decisions without seeing a clearer vision for the proposal.

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, and wore "No Park? No Deal" stickers to let officials know that the proposal should not move forward without concrete plans for a park.

The TIF would cover 168 acres of developable land in the North Branch Corridor. The 52-acre Lincoln Yards project represents only about one third of the land.

"The current Lincoln Yards PD application can result in building as much square footage as almost 3 Willis Towers," Ald. Michele Smith wrote in a letter to residents earlier this month. "If all the property between North and Cortland, and Clybourn and Elston is built-out under the rules of the Framework, the total square footage would equal almost 9 Willis Towers."

Smith offered a presentation that shows the analysis from a preview meeting held earlier this month.

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