Developer envisions mixed-use Teachers Village at shuttered school

RBH Group is moving forward with its plan for a mixed-used project geared toward teachers in a shuttered public school building in Humboldt Park.

The New Jersey-based developer first proposed the Teachers Village project in the old Von Humboldt Elementary School at 2620 West Hirsch Street in November 2016, DNAinfo reported at the time.

RBH formally introduced the plan to the City Council this week. It calls for a total of 116 residential units within the 103,000-square-foot complex. The firm bought the property in February for $4.9 million, Cook County property records show.

A spokesperson for RBH said Friday the firm plans 111 rental units in the building, to go along with 14,000 square feet of retail. He said future plans could include eventually adding the other five units, but those plans are preliminary.

Roughly 25 percent of the units would be set aside as affordable housing, 35 percent as workforce housing that would rent at below market rates, and the remainder market rate, he said.

Under the plan DNAinfo reported in 2017, the Von Humboldt building would be converted into apartments, shops and eateries, all geared toward teachers. The project had been delayed in part by problems securing financing, a city official said at the time.

The RBH spokesperson Thursday said there are no confirmed plans for the retail space in the project.

RBH last month announced it started a $700 million fund to invest in Teachers Village projects in Opportunity Zones. The firm already has developed a Teachers Village in Newark, New Jersey. It includes three charter schools, a daycare center, apartments and more than 70,000 square feet of retail.