More Affordable Housing Added To Lincoln Yards Plan

CHICAGO — Sterling Bay has added more affordable housing to its $6 billion Lincoln Yards plan, a move that could help gain city approval. The plan, which was announced Tuesday morning at City Hall, was applauded by affordable housing advocates.

“This is an important change that reinforces Lincoln Yards’ positive impact on our community and throughout Chicago,” Ald. Brian Hopkins said in a media release.

The planned housing will now be the largest on-site commitment in the history of the city's affordable requirements ordinance, the alderman said.

Sterling Bay's latest plan includes 600 on-site affordable units — double that of the previous plan, which called for 300 affordable units on-site.

The developer has also agreed to pay a fee of $39 million, half of which would fund construction of about 1,000 affordable units across the city. The other half would fund 15 years of rental subsidies for low-income families through the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund, Hopkins said.

The proposal change aims to win city approval before Mayor Rahm Emanuel leaves office in April.

Diane Limas, leader and board president of Communities United, said the new Lincoln Yards plan will "allow existing residents to stay in their communities by providing significant financial resources for affordable housing.”

Other updates outlined by Sterling Bay have included increasing publicly-accessible open space and removing more than 100 floors of building height. The developer has also dropped its plan for a 20,000-seat soccer stadium and entertainment venues.

In February, the Community Development Commission, appointed by the mayor, voted in support of a Cortland/Chicago River TIF District, which would reimburse Sterling Bay for up to $1.3 billion in public funds to ramp up infrastructure in the area. The funds would go to new bridges, roads and a new multimodal Metra Station. The TIF district now needs to be approved by the City Council Finance Committee.