A group of Edgewater residents is calling on the Chicago Park District to purchase what many consider to be the largest and only parcel of developable lakefront property left in the North Side neighborhood.
The site at 5959 N. Sheridan Road is where Emanuel Congregation plans to redevelop into retail, residences and a new synagogue with developer Fern Hill.
Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development issued a call last week for the park district to acquire the property and “complete the lakefront park system.” The group said in a news release it’s opposed to the project, which in its latest form calls for three lakefront towers, the tallest of which would rise 23 stories.
Patricia Sharkey, president of ERRD, said it’s not the coalition’s place to tell Emanuel Congregation what to do with its land, but the group wants the congregation — and public — to know there’s another possibility for the parcel.
“All we’re saying is we would like to see that conversation happen, and we believe the city and the park district have a duty to actually acquire these kinds of properties when they become available,” Sharkey said.
The group has asked Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s (48th) office, Emanuel Congregation and the park district for meetings.
The congregation and park district didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Nick Anderson, founder and president of Fern Hill, declined to comment.
Emanuel announced last year that it would build a new synagogue. When it was built in 1954, DuSable Lake Shore Drive was expected to be extended north to reach some of Chicago’s suburbs — but that never materialized.
Andrew Degenholtz, co-president of Emanuel’s executive committee, said during a 48th ward development meeting last week that the congregation’s numbers have shrunk over the years. Emanuel’s membership includes about 250 households, and it only uses about half of its Edgewater building.
The synagogue was built when the congregation had about 1,000 households in its membership, according to Degenholtz.
“We called Edgewater our home for more than 70 years, and we hope to continue doing that for another 70 years,” Degenholtz said. “We want to continue to thrive as good neighbors here, but our building is expensive and difficult to maintain. … Things have really changed dramatically since we built this building.”
Degenholtz said the congregation’s goal is to add as much inclusive housing as possible in the project. Fern Hill and architecture firm Eckenhoff Saunders expect to share a third design proposal with congregants and said they would have a better estimated unit count and housing type then.
At an April meeting for the development, one community member asked if the proposed redevelopment went against the city’s Lakefront Protection Ordinance.
Anderson said in the meeting that the project’s 25-foot setback from the lake makes it compliant with the ordinance, which aims to protect the lakefront and steward responsible development. The land is also located in land designated as the “private zone” under the ordinance.
The ordinance also says an appropriate public agency — such as the park district — should “acquire such properties or rights as may be necessary and desirable” along the lakefront. And the ERRD argue that Emanuel’s land falls under that purview.
“We know how it’s supposed to be done,” Sharkey said. “When the lakefront protection ordinance was passed, there was a recognition that the park system wasn’t complete.”
Meanwhile, the Edgewater group sued the city in January after a hotly contested development framework for Broadway was approved in October, which includes more than 20 ordinances impacting what could be built along the central commercial corridor. The ordinances cover a 1.5-mile stretch of Broadway and hundreds of properties.
The new zoning classification allows for buildings up to 80 feet and “a series of uses that are incompatible with the existing neighborhood,” according to the complaint, such as gas stations, hotels, large entertainment venues, recycling facilities and crematoriums.
The city filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in March. Oral arguments on the motion were heard Thursday. Circuit Judge Neil Cohen, who’s presiding over the case, is expected to issue an opinion in July.
