Amtrak Grant Clears Path for Ishbia’s Chicago Plan
17.08.2026
USA: Railway Supply reported in March that Shore Capital was working to acquire Amtrak’s 47-acre South Loop rail yard on pure speculation; the federal money that makes the move possible has now actually arrived, and Justin Ishbia’s footprint in the area has grown even larger than first suggested.
Amtrak is putting the bulk of its $696 million share of the FRA’s Aug. 14 funding round toward a new Midwest Maintenance Facility at Union Pacific’s Canal Yard in Bridgeport, according to an Amtrak statement cited by the Chicago Sun-Times. That relocation frees up Amtrak’s current 47-acre 14th Street rail yard along the Chicago River, which Ishbia’s private equity firm, Shore Capital Partners, is under contract to purchase.
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A 70-acre footprint, not just 47
Ishbia is separately negotiating to acquire an adjacent 20-acre rail yard from BNSF, which would expand his controlled footprint in the area to nearly 70 acres, according to the Sun-Times. Canal Edge, Ishbia’s development entity, is financing and delivering the roughly $900 million maintenance facility project itself — including more than $125 million of Ishbia’s own personal capital — with Amtrak agreeing to buy the finished facility once construction is complete. Amtrak estimates the new facility will take about 18 months to build, with construction hoped to start this fall and Amtrak’s move out of the South Loop projected for spring 2029.
What the site could become
Shore Capital’s plan for the 14th Street land centers on a mixed-use development anchored by a Northwestern Medicine health facility, where Ishbia sits on the board, plus residential and office space. To finance it, Ishbia’s entity City River Holdings has applied for a $1.8 billion loan through the federal Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing program. Separately, Congress is weighing an amendment to a transportation reauthorization bill that could add property-tax exemptions for the site. Ishbia holds an option to acquire a controlling interest in the White Sox between 2029 and 2033, which is why speculation about a future ballpark keeps attaching itself to the land deal — though the announcement does not specify any confirmed stadium plan tied to the 14th Street site.
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