Kayne Anderson Real Estate, the real estate private equity arm of Kayne Anderson, and JDL Development (“JDL”), one of Chicago’s premier residential developers announced the firms have entered into an agreement to acquire a development site located at 2001 North Southport Avenue in Chicago (“the Property”). The joint venture will acquire the 31-acre portion of the development formerly referred to as Lincoln Yards North, located prominently on the Chicago River. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Kayne Anderson and JDL are moving quickly to reimagine and rebrand the Property. The new development, which will be heavily focused on the creation of a residential community, will be officially renamed Foundry Park, paying tribute to over 100 years of history at this location. Chicago has deep industrial roots and Foundry Park will respect the past while creating a community for the future. Kayne Anderson and JDL are excited to work with the City of Chicago to create a plan that can be executed and will quickly turn a long vacant site into a beautiful new neighborhood. It’s time to bring this land to life.
Foundry Park will provide critically important infrastructure for this new location, its neighbors and the city of Chicago. This new scaled down development will offer homes, condos, apartments, as well as mixed and commercial uses designed with the community in mind. Foundry Park also plans to increase the affordable units offered on site from what is currently required. The community will be a walking neighborhood, with tree lined, low traffic streets and new open green space that engages the river and offers a four-season recreational opportunity. Foundry Park will be a gathering and recreational place for all.
“At Kayne Anderson Real Estate, we seek to partner with industry-leading developers to identify and invest in assets with strong fundamentals and demographic tailwinds,” said Al Rabil, Co-Founder and CEO of Kayne Anderson Real Estate. “Bringing together our extensive experience and deep industry relationships with JDL’s unparalleled legacy in the Chicago market, we are ideally positioned to deliver on this best-in-class property’s potential. We are pleased to diversify our existing portfolio as we continue to scale our business and capitalize on what we view as one of the strongest buying opportunities in our firm’s history.”
“As a real estate investor, Foundry Park is an incredibly rare opportunity to design a large-scale project from scratch that is adjacent to two coveted neighborhoods in a world class city like Chicago,” said David Selznick, Chief Investment Officer of Kayne Anderson Real Estate. “We look forward to forming a lasting partnership with JDL and the City of Chicago to create an extraordinary neighborhood that serves its urban community with much needed housing attainability, parks and recreation, and mixed-use spaces for residents and local businesses.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Kayne Anderson to execute on our shared vision for this iconic Chicago property,” said Jim Letchinger, Founder and CEO of JDL. “We see incredible potential to establish this site as a place that thousands of Chicago residents can call home and create a shared space that brings together members of the Bucktown, Wicker Park and Lincoln Park communities for years to come. As dedicated investors in Chicago, our goal and legacy has always been to leave Chicago neighborhoods better than we found them for residents and visitors alike, and we look forward to working closely with Kayne Anderson and the City of Chicago to bring our vision for this renowned property to life.”
“I am pleased to see progress on the site with JDL and Kayne Anderson. We will be working closely with the surrounding communities and city officials to revitalize the area with new housing and development that will help grow our local economy,” said Alderman Scott Waguespack (32nd).
Kayne Anderson Real Estate is a leading real estate investment firm, managing approximately $18 billion in assets under management across opportunistic equity, core equity, and real estate debt, with sector expertise in medical office, seniors housing, off-campus student housing, multifamily housing, and self-storage. Kayne Anderson Real Estate is part of Kayne Anderson, a $38 billion alternative investment management firm with more than 41 years of successful experience across real estate, infrastructure, energy, and credit.
Founded in 1993 by Jim Letchinger, JDL has become Chicago’s premier residential developer. For over three decades, JDL has earned a reputation for developing dynamic residential developments that exceed expectations in the discerning luxury market, resulting in some of the most significant real estate sales in Chicago. By focusing on residential, mixed-use development, JDL creates living environments of the highest quality that complement the existing urban landscape. The company’s legacy properties stand tall among the crowded skyline.
