With the City of Chicago hearings coming soon, it is crucial to make your voice heard about the Emanuel Congregation/Fern Hill Proposed Development.

Please email:

• CHICAGO PLAN COMMISSION (cpc@cityofchicago.org), which handles the Lakefront Protection Ordinance

• CHAIR OF ZONING, ALDERMAN GILBERT VILLEGAS (ward36@cityofchicago.org), who handles zoning changes

• MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (letterforthemayor@cityofchicago.org)

• ALDERWOMAN LENI MANAA-HOPPENWORTH (leni@the48thward.org)

Let them know your perspective on the Emanuel Congregation/Fern Hill Proposed Development at 5948, 5959, and 5965 N. Sheridan.

We suggest mentioning among your other concerns:

Fern Hill, Emanuel plans will create very different future for neighborhood

When Emanuel Congregation and developer Fern Hill announced a joint redevelopment project last June (2025), it was presented as an opportunity to build a new synagogue and revitalize the properties at 5948, 5959, and 5965 N. Sheridan. Since then, ASCO, Association of Sheridan Condominium/Co-op Owners, has remained in contact with both Emanuel and Fern Hill regularly. The ASCO Board, together with the presidents of the nearby Malibu and Thorndale Beach North buildings, has met with the project team and participated in all community meetings. ASCO supports Emanuel’s desire to remain on Sheridan Road, and we deeply value their long-standing presence. Yet at the same time, we realize the details that have emerged point to a very different future for our neighborhood.

ASCO has four main concerns regarding this proposal: zoning/height, proposing a total of 603 multi-unit residences, problems with more congestion/traffic, and a limited number of parking spaces totaling 270 for both the east and west sides of Sheridan.

At most of the community meetings, Nick Anderson from Fern Hill, the developer, refers to our high-rises with multi-units built in the 1960s and 70s as justification for their proposed massive scale. What is conveniently left out is that…

On June 29, 2026, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Neil Cohen granted the City of Chicago’s Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit filed by Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development (ERRD) and 13 individual Edgewater businesses and property owners. The lawsuit challenges the City’s indiscriminate upzoning of properties on Broadway (and its cross streets) between Devon and Foster. Judge Cohen issued a 10-page opinion with his decision.

ERRD President Patricia Sharkey provided the following statement in response to this decision:

As an organization dedicated to Chicagoans’ right to participate in government decisions that directly affect their neighborhoods and their lives, we are shocked by this decision. 

Judge Cohen’s narrow reading of who is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard and the principles governing valid zoning decisions is contrary to 60 years of Illinois law – as well as the fundamental tenets of due process and fairness.

As stated by the Illinois Appellate Court in 2020: