Foundry Park Breaks Ground

Stephanie Denny

3 hours ago

2 min read

Rendering by Hartshorne Plunkard Archutecture

After beginning design less than a year ago and moving through the city approval process at lightning speed, Foundry Park has officially broken ground.

Members of the Forefront team were on site this week to celebrate the start of construction on one of Chicago’s most significant new developments. Located along the North Branch of the Chicago River on the former A. Finkl & Sons Steel property, Foundry Park will transform a long vacant industrial site into a new mixed use neighborhood connecting Lincoln Park, Bucktown, and the surrounding communities.

The overall development is ambitious in scale. Plans call for thousands of new residences along with retail, office, hotel, public parks, riverfront improvements, and a future connection to The 606. Approximately one third of the site is planned as publicly accessible open space, including new parks, plazas, and a riverwalk.

Want to learn more about the broader vision for Foundry Park? The Chicago Sun-Times recently covered the groundbreaking and what the $3 billion development could mean for the North Branch of the Chicago River. Read the full article

The first phase will begin establishing that vision with more than 725 residences surrounding a central public plaza, along with retail space, new infrastructure, and underground parking.

Since joining the design team, Forefront has been involved in the structural design of the first phase, working closely with Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and the broader project team. The pace of the project has required significant coordination and quick decision making, with the architectural and structural designs developing alongside the construction and planning efforts needed to move a development of this scale forward.

That coordination is especially important on a project like Foundry Park. This is not a single building, but a collection of buildings, public spaces, streets, infrastructure, and connections that all need to work together as a cohesive neighborhood. Structural decisions have to respond not only to individual buildings, but also to constructability, phasing, efficiency, and the long term evolution of the site.

The groundbreaking was also an opportunity to recognize how much work happens before construction begins. Seeing city leaders, the development team, designers, engineers, and project partners gathered on site made the milestone feel especially significant.

For the Forefront team, attending the ceremony was a chance to step away from the drawings for a moment and appreciate what the project represents for Chicago. A site once defined by heavy industry is beginning another chapter, one that acknowledges its history while creating new places to live, work, gather, and connect with the river.

We are proud to be part of the team bringing Foundry Park to life and excited to watch the first phase rise along the Chicago River.