Jim Letchinger on the Future of Foundry Park

Mar 19, 2026, 1:30 PM•crainliveevents

Crain's Chicago Business

Join us Thursday, May 7, as Crain’s commercial real estate reporter Danny Ecker sits down with Jim Letchinger, founder and CEO of JDL Development, for a candid conversation about restarting one of Chicago’s most closely watched development sites.

Letchinger is leading the effort to revive the north end of Lincoln Yards as Foundry Park — a new residential-led plan along the Chicago River.

What You’ll Learn:

What stalled the Lincoln Yards megaproject
What’s different about the Foundry Park plan
Lessons developers are taking from the project
What this means for Chicago’s next development cycle

Hear From the Developer Behind Chicago’s Biggest Projects

Jim Letchinger
Founder and CEO
JDL Development

For more than 30 years, Jim Letchinger has been behind some of Chicago’s most prominent residential and mixed-use developments, including No. 9 Walton, One Chicago and the North Union campus. Known for executing complex, large-scale projects through multiple market cycles, his work has helped shape the city’s modern residential landscape and made JDL one of Chicago’s most influential development firms.

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