Developer Sterling Bay has put up for sale the only building it completed at the massive Lincoln Yards site on Chicago’s North Side.
The 285,000-square-foot riverfront tower at 1229 W. Concord Place, meant to be the centerpiece of a vibrant life sciences complex, sits empty on the southern end of the mostly vacant Lincoln Yards. Sterling Bay completed the building two years ago amid high hopes for both Lincoln Yards and the city’s life sciences industry, but failed to attract any tenants.
Commercial real estate firms Savills and Eastdil Secured were brought aboard to market the eight-story property, according to a sales brochure. The brokers tout the building’s Class A life sciences infrastructure, but add it’s also fit for a wide range of tenants, including commercial and medical offices and research and development.
The potential sale is just the latest example of Sterling Bay’s struggle to develop the 53 acres of former industrial land along the North Branch of the Chicago River. The company originally planned a $6 billion complex, packed with thousands of residences, towers more than 600-feet tall, restaurants and retail, the life sciences complex and 21 acres of open, public land.
But fulfilling that vision meant crushing expenses. The developer would have needed to spend nearly $500 million upfront reconstructing neighborhood bridges, roads and the riverfront to prepare the site, and few investors seemed willing to back that risk.
A slump in the life sciences industry meant even more trouble. The industry was riding high when Sterling Bay and other Chicago developers launched new life sciences towers in several neighborhoods, including Fulton Market and Hyde Park, but post-pandemic, venture capital funding started to dry up and some new spaces went unused. The vacancy rate in Chicago life sciences hit 20% by the end of last year, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
The future may be looking up at Lincoln Yards. After Sterling Bay surrendered control of the site’s northern half to its lender earlier this year, developer JDL Development and its partner Kayne Anderson Real Estate stepped in and said they were in negotiations to buy that section.
JDL Development CEO Jim Letchinger said he plans to rename the development Foundry Park, and create a smaller, more walkable version of Lincoln Yards. The 31 acres could eventually total about 2,000 to 3,000 units, including single-family homes, condos, rental apartments, townhomes and affordable housing.
Letchinger said he had also been negotiating a possible purchase of Lincoln Yards’ southern section, but had not been able to strike a deal.
Sterling Bay and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the developer’s partner on 1229 W. Concord Place, said they had no comment about the potential sale.
CoStar News was the first to report the listing.