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Community Meeting Announcement from Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s Office on February 26th:

SAVE THE DATE:
Emanuel Congregation / Fern Hill
Community Meeting

• When: Thursday, February 26 at 6:30pm
• Where: Emanuel Congregation (5959 N Sheridan)
• Registration info coming soon

Join us for an in-person community meeting at Emanuel Congregation to discuss the proposed synagogue redevelopment. The meeting will include a presentation by the development team including a summary of the most recent community feedback, potential concept modifications under consideration based on feedback received at this time, and a Q&A session. Interested participants may enter from the north entry door. No parking is available on site at this time, so please plan accordingly.

The online feedback period for their zoning change request is now open and will remain open for two weeks after the community meeting. To view project details and submit feedback, the48thward.org/zoning/feedback-form

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Announcement from Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s Office on Proposed Development on Sheridan Road:

Below is a community announcement in Alderwoman’s Weekly posted on Jan.30, 2026 from Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s office about the proposed development on Sheridan Road.

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.

The online feedback period for the project has now begun and will remain open for 2 weeks after Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s community meeting sometime in February. You can send your feedback (concerns, comments, questions,etc.) now, or after the community meeting. It is important to respond. You can use link below in Alderwoman’s January 30th announcement, or send an email info@the48thward.org or use this link:  https://the48thward.org/zoning-feedback-form

They keep a database of all responses through this form, so this is the best way to provide feedback. Please share.

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Legal Update: Lawsuit Filed over Broadway Upzoning

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Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth has asked ASCO to publish the letter below to provide more information regarding ongoing work and plans in the 48th Ward

A Message from Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth:

Dear Neighbors, 

Sheridan Road is one of the densely populated streets in Chicago, and home to a number of vulnerable populations including older adults. Pedestrian safety on Sheridan Road is a top priority of our office, and we are collaborating with neighbors, community leaders, and CDOT on a number of initiatives to slow down cars, create pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, and organize our streets to improve safety for all users. We appreciate ASCO’s collaboration on all of these efforts, and hope that you are seeing the impact of the improvements!

New Speed Camera

Decorative Cross-Walks

In 2024, the 48th Ward voted to add decorative cross-walks to five intersections on Sheridan Road. These cross-walks encourage drivers to slow down and reduce the number of vehicles blocking the cross-walks. They give the street a pedestrian-friendly look and feel. This $240,000 project was on the ballot during the first ever 48th ward participatory budgeting vote, and was the most popular project on the ballot. The decorative cross-walks have been installed at the locations listed below. 

• Sheridan & Rosemont
• Sheridan & Granville
• Sheridan & Glenlake
• Sheridan & Thorndale
• Sheridan & Ardmore

Decorative cross-walks on Bryn Mawr including Sheridan & Bryn Mawr were voted on in 2025, and will be coming soon. 

Increased Walk Time at Sheridan & Glenlake

At the request of residents, we worked with CDOT to review and design a new timing plan at Sheridan & Glenlake. This resulted in increasing the “walk” time for crossing Sheridan by 3 seconds (12 to 15 seconds). This was done by shifting 3 seconds of green time from Sheridan to Glenlake.

Audible Cross-Walk at Sheridan & Balmoral

In 2025, the community voted to add an Audible Cross-Walk at Sheridan & Balmoral through the Participatory Budget process. The total cost of the improvement is $180,000. The audible cross-walk is expected to be installed in 2026.

Traffic Light at Sheridan & Balmoral

In March 2025, we replaced the missing traffic light that hangs over the street at Sheridan and Balmoral.

Improvements at Catalpa & Sheridan

We worked with CDOT and community members on a traffic study at Catalpa and Sheridan which resulted in the following:

• “Stop Ahead” Pavement Markings in the approach to Catalpa for north and southbound traffic
• Decorative cross-walks
• New “Stop Ahead” signage for northbound traffic
• Re-positioning of the “Stop Ahead” sign for southbound traffic to enhance visibility

The new signage and re-positioned signage was implemented in 2025, and the pavement markings will be implemented in 2026. We are coordinating the timing of the pavement markings with DWM and CDOT based on other projects on the block.

Thank you to all of our Sheridan Road neighbors for your partnership on these pedestrian safety improvements. Read about these projects as well as upcoming 2026 projects on our blog: Pedestrian Safety Improvements on Sheridan Road.  

In Community,

Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth

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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.

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