A proposal to transform Emanuel Congregation’s lakefront property in Edgewater into a mixed-use development with a new synagogue has sparked a battle between neighborhood groups and Friends of the Parks have now joined the fray.
Emanuel announced last year that it would partner with Chicago-based developer Fern Hill to build a synagogue at its current location, 5959 N. Sheridan Road. The latest plans show the site would include three towers, with retail and an estimated 600 units of housing, including affordable.
The congregation will own its portion of the project, and it’s not paying for the construction. Instead, it’s giving the land for free to Fern Hill, who will pay for and oversee the development, alongside two additional parcels the developer purchased.
Many consider the site as the only developable lakefront property left in Edgewater and housing advocates said Edgewater desperately needs more housing, as it becomes an increasingly attractive neighborhood for renters. But some residents and local businesses fiercely oppose Emanuel’s project, calling for lakefront protections. Friends of the Parks joined their call earlier this month.
The groups came head-to-head Sunday when the Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development held its “Rally for our Lakefront” to oppose Emanuel and Fern Hill’s project. The rally was held at the intersection of Thorndale Avenue and Sheridan Road, near the synagogue, and drew a counterprotest that included members of the Jewish Council of Urban Affairs and Neighbors of Edgewater and Uptown, who support the project for its family-sized and affordable units.
Emanuel didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Chicago Department of Planning and Development Deputy Commissioner Peter Strazzabosco said the agency doesn’t anticipate the project will be heard during the Plan Commission’s September meeting.
The ERRD said it represents more than 600 Edgewater residents and small businesses. Its president, Patricia Sharkey, said the rally came together because they felt it was shut out of conversations about the project by Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th).
Sharkey said they support affordable housing, but it doesn’t believe Emanuel’s site is the right place. In June, the group issued a call for the Chicago Park District to purchase the site to “complete the lakefront park system” and convert it into a park, saying the synagogue could move to another location.
The ERRD believes the property falls under the city’s Lakefront Protection Ordinance. The ordinance says an appropriate public agency — like the park district — should “acquire such properties or rights as may be necessary and desirable” along the lakefront.
“If this goes the wrong way, if the Plan Commission and our alderwoman and [the] congregation don’t wake up to this … they will be making the Lakefront Protection Ordinance into something that’s simply toothless, that has no meaning,” Sharkey said.
The park district said that it’s “in communication with the Alderwoman, who indicates that she supports the community benefits associated with [the] current proposal. Any acquisition would require significant resources and funding. The District will continue to assess all opportunities related to acquiring and developing future, public parkland at the Edgewater site.”
In July, Manaa-Hoppenworth allowed Fern Hill’s proposal to move forward because the developer agreed to key changes, including more family-sized units and guaranteed public access to the lakefront through a public access easement. Under the easement, Fern Hill would provide free, publicly accessible restrooms, storage facilities for nearby beaches and parks, a $100,000 donation for Max Pastin playground improvements and additional donations to promote public safety, including for bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
But Friends of the Parks wants Fern Hill to also dedicate a strip of the shoreline to the park district, maintain public access to the shoreline during construction and conduct a full environmental and shoreline investigation for the site, among other requests.
“This is possibly the only chance the public will have to secure the final piece of the city’s northern shoreline. The 1.9-acre lakefront parcels at the center of the proposal sit between two existing public beaches, making this a rare and possibly final opportunity to close the gap,” Brian Gladstein, executive director of Friends of the Park, said in an Aug. 26 news release. “Elected officials need to do what’s right by the people of Chicago and help create more public park space for everyone that’s accessible to all.”
Manaa-Hoppenworth said in a statement Monday that “the land in question is not undeveloped and not for sale.”
“There appears to be an attempt to erase the synagogue, its history, and its people from our community by those who oppose building new homes,” she said. “Friends of the Parks was approached by the same anti-housing organization currently suing the city over other pro-housing policy changes, and this is that group’s latest attempt to block new homes being built in Edgewater.”
Neighbors of Edgewater and Uptown support Emanuel’s redevelopment plan. The parcel, two blocks from the Red Line and close to multiple bus routes, is “exactly where Chicago should be building more housing,” Neville Hemming, the nonprofit’s president, said in a news release.
“Chicago cannot say we have a housing shortage and then fight new homes every time somebody proposes building them,” Hemming said. “If we aren’t willing to add housing two blocks from the Red Line in one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the city, where exactly are we supposed to build it?”
As of July, Chicago’s rent growth was the fourth-fastest among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, according to Zillow. And the Chicago area is short nearly 225,000 affordable rental units for its poorest residents, according to a 2026 report from the Housing Action Illinois and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.