Don’t Be Fooled by Emanuel’s Cash Grab
or: How a Dwindling Synagogue’s Congregation Traded its Non-Profit Status so a For-Profit Private Developer Could Cash In on Lakefront Property
Should remaining private lakefront parcels be preserved as public open space? Or should they be developed?
Emanuel Congregation has fewer than 150 families remaining.
They want to trade in their non-profit status and re-zone their lot so a for-profit private developer can build a small synagogue alongside a 25-story multiplex with the remaining land.
Know your local history: the 10th Policy of 1972’s Chicago Lakefront Protection Plan exists to “ensure a harmonious relationship between the lakeshore parks and the community edge, but in no instance will further private development be permitted east of Lake Shore Drive.”
Instead, the City of Chicago should purchase the land while continuing to give Emanuel Congregation its necessary smaller home on the lot.
The Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance of 1973 is meant "to insure that the lakefront parks and the lake itself are devoted only to public purposes and to insure the integrity of and expand the quantity and quality of the lakefront parks."
Let’s make this land work for the BENEFIT of ALL.
Alderperson Manaa-Hoppenworth Failed Edgewater
In July 2026, Alderperson Manaa-Hoppenworth failed her constituents by approving this application and moving it to the next phase of the Planned Development process.
Across the street, (5948 N Sheridan located on the west side of Sheridan) the zoning is RM-5.5, which allows for a maximum building height of 47-60 ft.
This property (5959 N Sheridan and 5965 N Sheridan) is zoned RS-1, which allows for one single-family detached house, a church, or a school. There is no height restriction for a church or school in RS-1.
In her post publically approving the proposal, Manaa-Hoppenworth seems to think she got plenty of concessions from the private developer. Unfortunately, Manaa-Hoppenworth measures success by what the developer agreed to give back, not by what the public gave up.
The city received a handful of concessions worth a few hundred thousand dollars and some design commitments, but lost the once-in-a-generation opportunity to add this property to Chicago's continuous public lakefront. Those two things are not comparable in scale or permanence.
Manaa-Hoppenworth presents the negotiation as a choice between this Proposal A, or Proposal B. It never addresses the larger alternative: whether this lakefront parcel should remain in private hands at all.
For the BENEFIT of ALL
Chicago’s Lakefront Protection Ordinance of 1973
prohibits new construction of buildings “east of Lakeshore Drive”.
The City Should Be Allowed to Purchase the Property at Fair Market Value
Using this land
FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL
Affordable Housing is a False Argument
1) Emmanuel Congregation trades in its religious non-profit status in exchange for new zoning, to give to a For-Private Private Developer
2) For-Profit Private Developer gives them a tiny footprint and makes literally keeps all of the revenue
Who Keeps the Cash?
While they hope to stay humble on their website, Emanuel Congregation tells the truth: the for-profit, private developer keeps all the revenue—while they try to turn the synagogue into an events space.
Read it for yourself: (from Emanuel Congregation’s FAQ page, July 2026)
TRANSLATION: We’re getting a free new space, in exchange for giving our land to a private developer!
TRANSLATION: The for-private private developer is the only one making money off of this… and we want to use our synagogue to host parties!