Months after buying the southern portion of the stalled Lincoln Yards, a Chicago construction firm has added two more land parcels near the megadevelopment site on the city’s North Side.
Former Lincoln Yards developer Sterling Bay earlier this month sold sites at 1500 W. Cortland St. and 1901 N. Elston Ave. to an affiliate of Novak Construction for just over $2.6 million, property records show.
The smaller, relatively low-dollar land deal adds to the land that Novak now controls on and along the Lincoln Park and Bucktown neighborhoods for a potential large-scale development down the line.
It also further unwinds Sterling Bay’s control of what once was viewed as a generational opportunity to redraw a large, blank slate surrounded by some of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods.
Early this year, the firm led by construction executive and real estate developer John Novak paid $34 million for the approximately 18-acre southern portion of the project long marketed by Sterling Bay as Lincoln Yards.
In the latest deal, Novak added about 30,000 square feet, or less than an acre, of land along the western edge of what once was the 55-acre Lincoln Yards site.
Since 2020, Novak has owned nearby land where the former Stanley’s Fresh Fruits & Vegetables site once stood at 1548 to 1558 N. Elston.
Novak has yet to comment publicly about plans for the former Lincoln Yards and surrounding properties. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News regarding the new acquisition.
Sterling Bay also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Land offering
Sterling Bay hired CBRE brokers to sell 1500 W. Cortland and 1901 N. Elston two years ago, as the firm still held out hope of reviving the $6 billion mixed-use project.
Since that time, the north and south portions have been sold out of financial distress to separate buyers. That came after Sterling Bay completed just one building, an eight-story life science office and research building at the southern tip of the site, before several factors — COVID-19, decreased office usage, rising construction and borrowing costs and obligations for the developer to help pay for public infrastructure — conspired to doom one of the most ambitious real estate projects ever drawn up in the city.
Sterling Bay, which was one of the hottest developers in the city before the Lincoln Yards setbacks, has since sold or looked to sell several properties around Lincoln Yards and in the fast-growing Fulton Market district.
Novak bought the larger site from Sterling Bay and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which was the Chicago developer’s partner on the southern part of Lincoln Yards.
Sterling Bay and its partner on the northern portion, Lone Star Funds, surrendered that land to lender Bank OZK last year. The bank since sold the land to Chicago firm JDL Development and Florida-based partner Kayne Anderson Real Estate for almost $84 million late last year.
Earlier this year, JDL and Kayne Anderson won zoning approval to build more than 3,200 residences along with other space in structures ranging from single-family homes to skyscrapers. That project is expected to cost $3 billion.
For the record
The seller was represented by CBRE brokers Larry Goldwasser and Tom Svoboda.