29-Jan-21 – Construction of the first building in the Lincoln Yards development will begin this year, according to the developer of the 55-acre, $6 billion project along the north branch of the Chicago River.

It will be an eight-story facility for bio-tech and health care companies that need laboratory space. The 320,000 square foot building will be at the south end of Lincoln Yards at North Dominick Street & West Concord Place once those streets are extended.

An existing 120,000 square foot medical research facility, also developed by Sterling Bay and located on North Halsted Street, is 50 percent leased, according to Fred Krol, Senior Counsel for Sterling Bay.

“Chicago’s medical research community is growing rapidly, and there is demand for quality lab space,” said Krol (left) at a January 7 virtual meeting hosted by 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins and Sheffield Neighborhood Association. “We’re excited to grow this portion of our portfolio.”

Sterling Bay says the Lincoln Yards residential/office/retail project will take ten years to complete, create 23,000 permanent jobs and at least 10,000 construction jobs.

Construction will also start this year on a new Dominick Street Bridge and extension of the Bloomingdale Trail east of the Kennedy Expressway to the Lincoln Yards riverwalk.