A marina at Navy Pier is expected to open in 2025 after running aground against objections from former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has reversed Lightfoot’s course and agreed to allow the 150-vessel marina to open on the pier’s north side. It’s a private investment led by real estate executive Randy Podolsky, an avid sailor and a volunteer with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Called Navy Pier Marina, it will cater to boaters who moor short-term at the pier, perhaps overnight or by the hour to have a meal and see an attraction. Podolsky said a few slips may be reserved for charter operators, but the emphasis will be on transient rentals that bring more visitors to the pier, one of Chicago’s top tourism draws.
“This will finally create access to the pier for waterborne visitors,” Podolsky said.
He’s pursued the project for years, signing a long-term deal in 2017 with Navy Pier’s governing board to establish the marina.
Podolsky wants it ready for the 2025 boating season. He has partnered with the engineering firm Edgewater Resources of St. Joseph, Michigan.
The Lightfoot administration refused to give the marina a permit, citing security concerns involving the Jardine Water Filtration Plant. The plant juts into Lake Michigan immediately north of the pier.
In 2021, Podolsky’s NPM Venture sued in federal and Cook County courts over the permit denial by the city’s Transportation Department. He said the city agreed to let the project proceed last November and that the suits were formally withdrawn Thursday because state and federal agencies signed off on it.
The Transportation Department blocked the permit, but Podolsky said the real opposition came from the Water Department. Its security worries were baseless, he said, because marina access will be controlled and there are no other security measures affecting the Playpen, a summertime hangout for party boats immediately north of the water plant.
“In all that time, the Lightfoot administration would never even talk to us,” Podolsky said. “They deliberately ordered high-profile government and business representatives out of their offices if they brought up the marina.”
Podolsky praised the Johnson administration for “getting back to basics and looking at the project’s merits.” Johnson took office in May 2023.
Erica Schroeder, spokeswoman for the city’s Transportation Department, said the agency issued the permit after the developer and Navy Pier “agreed to make additional security enhancements to the plans for the marina.”
Reached Thursday, Lightfoot said she has not kept tabs on the marina issue and promised a subsequent response. Her spokeswoman later declined to comment.
Podolsky said the agreement with the city calls for a 50-foot security barrier around the water plant, ensuring that boats cannot dock there.
His longstanding plan requires marina customers to provide their boat registrations and credit card information.
The marina promises 6,400 linear feet for side-tie mooring for vessels up to 183 feet long on a mix of fixed and floating piers. It will offer power and water hookups, Wi-Fi, pump-out service and a lounge with showers.
The delay and higher interest rates in today’s market have doubled the cost of the project to around $16 million, Podolsky said. He hasn’t worked out the marina’s rates but wants them to be comparable to those of the Chicago Park District harbors.
Podolsky said the marina will make Navy Pier a respite for “Loopers,” boaters who follow the long “Great Loop” journey from inland waterways to the Gulf Coast, Eastern Seaboard and Great Lakes.
His company provided an endorsement of the marina from Marilynn Gardner, the pier’s president and CEO. She said, “The addition of a full-service marina means a whole new way to experience all Navy Pier has to offer.”
