CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM I MARCH 25, 2024
CRAIN’S
DNC PUTS CHICAGO ON CENTER STAGE UNITED CENTER
The political convention could cast the city in a bright light — or leave it with a black eye | PAGE 11
Investor mulling plan to kick-start Lincoln Yards A Florida-based firm is exploring whether to become the primary financial backer of Sterling Bay’s stalled $6 billion campus project By Danny Ecker
A Florida-based real estate investor is kicking the tires on a plan to bankroll Sterling Bay’s Lincoln Yards megaproject on the city’s North Side, a potential breakthrough in the Chicago developer’s effort to jump-start the stalled $6 billion development. Boca Raton, Fla.-based Kayne Anderson Real Estate is exploring the prospect of becoming a primary financial backer of the
planned 53-acre campus and recently met with top Chicago planning officials to discuss the project, according to people familiar with the matter. Sterling Bay has spent much of the past year hunting for a new financial partner for the 14.5 millionsquare-foot development, which would reshape a swath of the city’s North Side between Lincoln Park and Bucktown with high-rises and generate thousands of new jobs.
It’s unclear how close Sterling Bay and Kayne Anderson may be to finalizing a partnership for Lincoln Yards, or how much money Kayne Anderson would contribute to the project. Sterling Bay disclosed the scale of its financial need last summer when it made a pitch to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund about backing the project, hoping to win an investment of as much as $300 million. See LINCOLN YARDS on Page 20
A rendering of buildings planned at Lincoln Yards | STERLING BAY/GENSLER
VOL. 47, NO. 12 l COPYRIGHT 2024 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
BEER BUZZ Illinois craft breweries are venturing into the murky waters of THC. PAGE 3
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CRAIN’S LIST See our annual ranking of the Chicago area’s largest money managers. PAGE 6
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