Synagogue unveils updated proposal for apartment complex

A North Side synagogue has reworked its proposal for a new apartment development along the lakefront after listening to concerns from neighboring residents.

Emanuel Congregation and its developer Fern Hill said that their new plan to replace the aging Edgewater synagogue at 5959 N. Sheridan Road would mean more light and air for neighboring condos, and offer better public access to Lake Michigan.

“We’ve been taking a lot of community feedback from all angles,” said Nick Anderson, Fern Hill’s founder and president.

The original plan, presented at a public meeting in February, called for a 15-story, horseshoe-shaped apartment complex, including a new lakefront synagogue.

Condo owners in adjacent buildings complained at the February meeting that the new tower would block out sunlight and eliminate open space near the synagogue, located just north of Lane Beach and one of the few relatively clear spots on the congested lakefront.

Some congregation members also voiced concerns, saying that by incorporating their new synagogue into an apartment building, the original design didn’t do enough to preserve its sacred character.

Fern Hill spent the past two months garnering additional feedback from neighbors, synagogue members, city planning officials and Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, 48th, Anderson said.

The new plan, announced Thursday at a meeting for Emanuel Congregation members, consists of three apartment buildings east of Sheridan Road, including one on the property’s north side with 11 stories. Two others of 13 and 23 stories would be placed 175 feet away from the 39-story Malibu Condominiums, the synagogue’s next door neighbor at 6007 N. Sheridan Road. That’s about double the distance planned for the main building in the original design.

“It opens up the views east and south to the lake,” Anderson said. “It’s a more strategic solution to where that density is located vis-à-vis our neighbors.”

Both the February plan and the updated design include a five-story, 60-unit apartment building just west of Sheridan on a plot owned by Fern Hill. The developer plans to set that building 60 feet away from the road, in line with the historic Colvin House at 5940 N. Sheridan Road, creating neighborhood green space with enough room for a sidewalk cafe and restaurant.

Neighbors and other community stakeholders were able to attend Thursday’s meeting virtually. Several were upset about the proposal for a 23-story building. They suggested that the developer could better preserve the lakefront’s open space by placing any massive apartment buildings on Fern Hill’s land west of Sheridan.

Anderson said that wasn’t possible. Drivers can quickly access the east side through the intersection, which has traffic signals, at Thorndale Avenue, but the west side only has an alley and can’t accommodate a large volume of cars.

The updated design gives the synagogue a new, largely separate lakefront structure. The new proposal also includes a wide, multistory passageway that would traverse underneath the entire site, providing pedestrians along Sheridan with views of and access to Lake Michigan.

The proposal has a long way to go before it can get underway. Emanuel Congregation and Fern Hill still need approvals from Ald. Manaa-Hoppenworth, the Chicago Plan Commission and the full City Council, including a zoning change.

Dozens of apartment and condo buildings, most built in the 1960s and 1970s, including some more than 300 feet high, already line Sheridan in the Edgewater neighborhood. The zoning change sought by Fern Hill would allow the construction of around 600 units on the synagogue site, Anderson said, with 20% of the units being reserved for affordable housing.

Fern Hill is also planning to develop Old Town Canvas, a 349-unit apartment tower at 1600 N. LaSalle Drive in the Old Town neighborhood. City Council approved that project in April 2025.

Andrew Degenholtz, Emanuel Congregation’s co-president, said the new development is necessary. The synagogue has about 250 member families, not enough to afford upkeep for the existing 34,000-square-foot structure, completed in 1955 when Emanuel had 1,000 families.

“It’s not holding together well,” Degenholtz said on Thursday. “It’s not sustainable and we only use about half the building. We hope this (new project) will help us attract new members.”

Emanuel Congregation will own the new synagogue building. It will not have any ownership interest in the development’s residential and commercial spaces.

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Anderson said Fern Hill plans to get more feedback from the community, refine the plan and hold more public meetings open to the entire community.

“We expect a version three,” he said. “We’re not done.”