Amtrak has described the proposed Canal Street maintenance facility as an approximately $900 million public-private project.
We wanted to answer what seemed like a simple question:
Who is paying for it?
We found federal grants, private capital, a proposed $640 million federal loan, and a private developer that is financing and delivering a facility Amtrak will ultimately own. We also found that an affiliated company is already under contract to purchase the 47-acre Amtrak property that the new facility would allow Amtrak to vacate.
What we couldn't find was a public explanation of how all those pieces fit together.
So we followed the money as far as the public record would take us.
Amtrak's proposed Canal Street maintenance facility is an approximately $900 million public-private project.
In August 2026, the Federal Railroad Administration awarded Amtrak two federal grants connected to the project.
That sounds straightforward.
It isn't.
Amtrak received up to $572 million for what the federal government calls the “Midwest Maintenance Facilities Modernization P3.”
Federal descriptions of the project identify right-of-way acquisition at Canal Street as the purpose of the award. Amtrak's own announcement describes the grant more broadly as supporting development of the new maintenance facility.
What Amtrak has not publicly provided is the number we really need:
Until Amtrak releases the grant agreement and complete project budget, we don't know.
The second federal grant is much clearer.
Amtrak says the $87 million will rehabilitate or replace bridges, viaducts and related structures between Cermak and Pershing Roads.
Amtrak says Canal Edge LLC is responsible for financing and delivering the approximately $900 million project.
It also says federal investment will be complemented by private capital and financing led by Canal Edge, including more than $125 million of Justin Ishbia's personal capital.
And Amtrak says the completed maintenance facility will be owned by Amtrak.
Which leaves a rather large question:
Canal Edge apparently does not intend to provide all of the financing itself.
Federal records show that Canal Edge has been pursuing financing through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program, better known as RRIF.
The project has its own name:
And the borrower isn't Amtrak.
It's Canal Edge LLC.
As of August 1, 2026, the Build America Bureau listed Canal Edge as seeking a:
for a project with $640 million in projected eligible project costs.
That's not a grant.
It's a loan.
And loans have to be repaid.
The August 2026 Build America Bureau pipeline places Canal Edge under “Complete Letters of Interest,” not under closed loans or complete applications.
For Canal Edge, the columns for Application Received, Application Complete, Secretary's Notice of Approval or Disapproval, and Financial Close are all blank. The federal record projects a possible financial close in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027.
So as of August 1:
Canal Edge was seeking a $640 million federal loan.
The federal record does not show that loan as approved or closed.
Which gives us another question:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT → AMTRAK
Up to $572 million
Maintenance-facility project, including acquiring the property
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT → AMTRAK
Up to $87 million
Bridges, viaducts and related structures
JUSTIN ISHBIA → CANAL EDGE
More than $125 million
Personal capital, according to Amtrak
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT → CANAL EDGE
$640 million proposed RRIF direct loan
Sought, but not shown as approved or closed as of August 1
CANAL EDGE
Finances and delivers the approximately $900 million project
↓
AMTRAK
Owns the completed facility
This is the part of the transaction we still can't see.
If Canal Edge invests private capital and potentially borrows hundreds of millions of dollars to deliver a facility that Amtrak will ultimately own:
What does Amtrak pay Canal Edge?
When does Canal Edge get paid?
How is Canal Edge's compensation calculated?
What would repay a $640 million RRIF loan?
What return does Canal Edge receive on its investment?
Where does Amtrak obtain the money necessary to take ownership of the completed facility?
What happens if Canal Edge doesn't obtain the RRIF loan?
Those aren't accusations. They're basic questions about how an approximately $900 million public-private project works.
Here's where the arrangement gets even more complicated.
Canal Edge/Shore Capital isn't merely involved in delivering Amtrak's replacement maintenance facility.
Shore Capital Partners has a contract to purchase Amtrak's approximately 47-acre 14th Street Coach Yard.
But Amtrak needs somewhere to put the maintenance operations currently located there.
That's where Canal Street comes in.
Canal Edge finances and delivers the new Canal Street facility.
↓
Amtrak relocates its maintenance operations from 14th Street to Canal Street.
↓
Shore Capital has a contract to purchase the 14th Street property from Amtrak.
↓
The 14th Street property becomes available for redevelopment.
Reporting on Shore's plans says the purchase is expected to be contingent on Amtrak successfully relocating its operations to the proposed facility near Rate Field.
How much is Shore paying Amtrak for the 14th Street Yard?
How much does Amtrak pay Canal Edge for the new Canal Street facility?
Are those two amounts related?
What conditions have to be satisfied before the 14th Street sale closes?
How does Canal Edge's proposed $640 million federal RRIF loan fit into the arrangement?
What happens to Shore's contract to purchase 14th Street if the Canal Street facility isn't built?
And perhaps the biggest question:
The public shouldn't have to guess.
Amtrak: We're getting federal money!
Public: To build the facility?
Amtrak: We received up to $572 million for the maintenance project and right-of-way acquisition, plus up to $87 million for bridges and viaducts.
Public: Okay. So who's financing construction?
Amtrak: Canal Edge.
Public: With what money?
Federal records: Canal Edge is seeking a $640 million federal RRIF loan.
Public: Did they get it?
Federal records: Not according to the latest records we've found.
Public: So how does Canal Edge get paid, and who ultimately repays that $640 million?
Everyone: 🦗 🦗 🦗
There may be perfectly ordinary explanations for all of this.
But the public shouldn't have to reverse-engineer an approximately $900 million public-private infrastructure and real-estate transaction from press releases, FAQs, news reports, and federal financing spreadsheets.
We want to see the documents that would explain it:
The $572 million federal grant agreement and complete project budget.
The Amtrak-Canal Edge development and delivery agreement.
Canal Edge's RRIF application and financial plan.
The agreements governing acquisition of the Canal Street property.
Shore Capital's contract to purchase the 14th Street Coach Yard.
A complete sources-and-uses statement showing where the money comes from and where it goes.
Because after all the announcements, federal grants, private capital, proposed federal financing and real-estate transactions, the public still can't answer two remarkably simple questions: