Last March, Vancouver-based Onni Group agreed to pay $50 million for a former Greyhound bus garage on the southern tip of Goose Island. Though that deal ultimately fell apart due to affordable housing regulations, the transaction was renewed at a cheaper price as the developer has reportedly acquired the property for $38 million.
Encouraged by deregulation that opened up parts of the North Branch to non-manufacturing development, Onni Group originally struck a deal with Greyhound Bus Lines that would have put approximately 1,000 new units on the 190,555-square-foot site along the Chicago River. But a different regulation—the Affordable Requirement Ordinance that mandates 20 percent affordable housing in select areas—scuttled the plans when 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett refused to allow Onni to pay an in-lieu fee for the remaining 10 percent.
The North Branch has been a flurry of activity and planning since the city opened up the area to new development in 2017. Tribune Media’s 37-acre River District master planned site is right across the river, while 1.5 miles to the north, Sterling Bay is planning the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project that would connect the Lincoln Park and Bucktown neighborhoods.
JLL international director Tom Kirshbraun and vice president Dan Reynolds represented Greyhound in the sale.
