Politics
Lincoln Park Apartment Complex Set for OK After Aldermanic Prerogative Fight
A rendering of Sterling Bay’s planned residential buildings at 1840 N. Marcey St. (Courtesy of Sterling Bay)
The Chicago City Council is poised to green-light a 590-unit apartment complex in Lincoln Park after a monthslong fight over the tradition that gives City Council members the final authority over housing developments in their own wards.
After the project won the unanimous endorsement of the Zoning Committee on Tuesday, the City Council is set to take a final vote Wednesday on Sterling Bay’s $350 million plan to build two 16- and 19-story apartment towers across the north branch of the Chicago River from the planned Lincoln Yards megadevelopment, which has yet to get off the ground.
Ald. Scott Waguespack, whose 32nd Ward includes the proposed development, endorsed the proposal at Tuesday’s Zoning Committee meeting, reversing course after months of opposition. Waguespack said Sterling Bay’s decision to eliminate 25 units and 213 parking spots was enough to win his grudging support.
Fred Krol, head of government affairs for Sterling Bay, called the project “a win-win for Chicago, and we look forward to bringing the project to life.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson supports the development, which would set aside 124 units for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans in one of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods.
Johnson has made expanding the number of affordable homes in Chicago a priority.
The City Council’s Zoning Committee voted to reject the development in December 2024 after Waguespack said the development was too dense, too tall and would worsen the area’s perpetual traffic gridlock.
Normally, that recommendation would have been ratified by the full City Council at its next meeting. But Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward), the chair of the Zoning Committee, declined to ask the City Council to do so, prompting an outraged Waguespack to accuse Johnson, Burnett and his allies of violating the City Council’s rules.
Had the City Council voted to confirm the committee’s rejection of the development, it would have been the final nail in its coffin.
But Sterling Bay declined to take no for an answer, and invoked an obscure part of the city’s zoning code. Developers of projects that include affordable units but fail to get an up-or-down vote by the City Council after being approved by the Plan Commission can essentially bypass the Zoning Committee and force the City Council to consider their proposal.
Elected to the City Council in 2007, Waguespack was a thorn in the side of former Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel. In 2011, Waguespack founded the Progressive Caucus and in 2019 was the first City Council member to endorse former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Waguespack did not endorse a candidate in the 2023 mayoral election, and Johnson ousted him as Finance Committee chairman when he took office. Since then, Waguespack has been an implacable foe of the mayor and frequently votes with the most conservative members of the City Council.
The tradition of aldermanic prerogative has long given City Council members the final authority over housing developments in their own wards.
A probe by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that aldermanic prerogative fuels segregation in Chicago and violates the civil rights of Black and Latino residents by limiting the creation of affordable housing.
The agency known as HUD concluded that aldermanic prerogative has created a hyper-segregated city rife with racism and gentrification.
Supporters of aldermanic prerogative tout it as the best way to ensure that Chicago residents live in neighborhoods governed by one of their own: someone who lives near them, understands their issues and is not only accessible — but also accountable to them on Election Day.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
