Make Your Voice Heard – Deadline is March 13th.
Critical Update on the Sheridan Road Proposal for the Emanuel Congregation Development
ASCO remains closely engaged with the developers, but the most powerful tool we have is community consensus.
Submit your feedback immediately. It is critical that your questions and concerns are on the official record with Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth. Please do not wait, please submit your feedback by March 13th –> click here.
Read the summary below from ASCO:
ASCO has been in contact and conversations with the developer Fern Hill and Emanuel Congregation. On Thurs, Jan. 22 Nick Anderson, Fern Hill and his team presented the proposed plan for 5959, 5948, 5965 N. Sheridan. The overview is traffic, congestion, site access, zoning change & land use, and architecture design. It is possibility a total of 400 to 600 units. EAST SIDE of Sheridan : The building is in a “U” shape, 12 stories with Emanuel Congregation occupying the SE corner, overlooking the lake, with residential above. Retail will also be on the ground floor with residential over.. Site access to both residential, Emanuel Congregation, and parking will be at Thorndale and Sheridan. There will be a service/delivery area on the north side of the buildings. WEST SIDE of Sheridan: This will be 5 stories, and the main entrance to the building will be via the alley off of Thorndale. CDOT will not allow a curb cut on Sheridan Road.
Fern Hill and Emanuel are requesting a zoning change from RS-1 & RM-5.5 to B3-5. At this time, parking is 1 single floor roughly 140 spaces of which at least 40 will be reserved for Emanuel, the rest (100) will be for residents.
Here’s the link to the video.
Legal Update: Lawsuit Filed over Broadway Upzoning
Note to ASCO Members: ASCO is sharing this report to keep our members informed of local developments. This post serves as a summary of publicly available information regarding the lawsuit filed by ERRD and does not constitute a formal endorsement of the litigation.
On January 12, 2026, the Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development (ERRD), along with 13 local residents and business owners, filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court.
The legal challenge centers on the City of Chicago’s October 16 decision to upzone approximately 1.5 miles of the Broadway neighborhood shopping district—a move the plaintiffs describe as “unprecedented” in scope and scale.
Primary Legal Allegations
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Violation of Due Process
The complaint alleges that the city enacted sweeping rezoning without the legally required public study, notice, and planning process.
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Neighborhood Impact
Plaintiffs argue the upzoning encourages demolition of historic buildings and alters the long-standing fabric of the shopping district.
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Request for Invalidation
The suit asks the court to invalidate the upzoning and restore the properties to their prior zoning classifications.
“Edgewater’s Broadway is a vital district with historic buildings housing beloved small businesses. The City’s upzoning targets these for demolition. We were left with no other recourse.”
— Patricia Sharkey, ERRD President
Related Documents
Matching Gift Challenge
Recognizing the costs of litigation, several Broadway small businesses have offered a $15,000 Matching Gift Challenge to support ERRD’s legal efforts through the end of January.
ERRD@baliozian.com
@ERRD1
ERRD, 6236 N. Lakewood, Chicago, IL 60660
Information provided by ERRD. Not an ASCO managed fund.
The Win-Win Roadmap
ERRD has proposed an alternative set of planning principles for responsible development on Broadway, currently supported by over 650 residents.
The Greenest, Most Affordable Housing
Is the Housing We Already Have
By Jack Markowski
As Chicago debates the future of Broadway in Edgewater, one simple truth is being overlooked: the greenest housing is the housing we already have. Every time we demolish an existing building and replace it with new construction, we incur an enormous carbon cost. The embodied energy in brick,wood, and concrete — all the materials that went into our older buildings — is lost, and the emissions from producing and transporting new materials are added to the atmosphere. Preservation isn’t nostalgia; it’s climate policy.
But environmental impact is only half the story. Existing housing is also our city’s most affordable housing; it’s called Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing. The one to three-story buildings that line Broadway provide naturally affordable homes for working families, seniors, and young people; they also house a vast array of locally owned businesses. When those buildings are replaced by upscale new developments, the result isn’t a wider range of choices — it’s higher rents and fewer options for current residents and businesses…
Supporters of upzoning claim that allowing taller, denser private developments will eventually lower rents on Broadway and throughout Edgewater. That theory — a “trickle down” approach to housing — depends on an unrealistic assumption: that private developers will build so much market-rate housing that supply vastly outstrips demand. In fact, in Chicago this has never proven to be true. There is not a single instance where development has led to price reductions in a local housing market. In Edgewater, a thriving and desirable community, this will never happen. Prices won’t drop until the neighborhood loses the very qualities that make people want to live here…
Preserving existing housing and protecting local businesses isn’t just about saving old buildings. It’s about protecting affordability, reducing emissions, and keeping neighborhoods like Edgewater strong.
Jack Markowski is the former Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing and former President /CEO of the Community Investment Corporation, the Chicago area’s leading lender for affordable rental housing.
