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Chicago developer aims at Amazon with $10B vision for former steel plant site

By Ryan Ori
Sterling Bay's massive development planned for the former A. Finkl & Sons steel plant site has a name, a high-powered planning team and one big target: Amazon's second headquarters.

About two years after it struck a deal to buy the North Side parcel along the Chicago River, the Chicago developer is disclosing new details, including the name: Lincoln Yards.

The mixed-use development could take up as much as 100 acres of land along Lincoln Park and Bucktown, cost as much as $10 billion and take a decade to complete, said Sterling Bay managing principal Andy Gloor.

Sterling Bay is sharing its first detailed description of Lincoln Yards at an ideal time to be in possession of a sprawling, well-located development site. Seattle-based Amazon last week announced it will search North America for a city where it can create a second headquarters for up to 50,000 new employees.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing for that city to be Chicago, and Gloor said Sterling Bay plans to court Amazon. A few prominent Chicago developers have sites that could potentially accomodate Amazon, but Sterling Bay is the first to publicly describe plans to land the deal.

"Chicago is a strong tech market," Gloor said. "Chicago as a city has a lot to offer someone like Amazon. If you're looking at Chicago and trying to build a second headquarters, 100 acres of riverside land between Lincoln Park and Bucktown feels like a good place to start.

"We think it's the best infill site in the U.S. today."

Lincoln Yards is expected to include a new Metra train station, an extension of The 606 elevated trail, a water taxi stop, office and residential towers, a riverside brewery, shops and restaurants. The project also could include other uses, including a school or a theater, Gloor said.