A $300 million mixed-use development will bring housing, retail and a hotel to Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, near where the new Obama Center will be built.
Developer Byron Brazier II will announce the planned development at the Apostolic Church of God at 6320 South Dorchester Avenue on Dec. 17, the Chicago Business Journal reported.
During the Obama Center’s groundbreaking, housing advocates rallied to call for affordable housing protections in the neighborhood. They expressed concerns that the new presidential center could bring investments and higher home prices and rents that could drive out longtime residents.
“I think each project will complement each other and benefit Woodlawn in its own unique way,” Brazier told the Business Journal. “Both projects will bring people to the community and add to the local economy.”
Brazier’s father, Rev. Byron Brazier, pastor of the 20,000-member church, is partnering with his son on the project in an effort to make the neighborhood a cultural destination with more arts and theater options. “He is as passionate as me about seeing Woodlawn reach its potential when it comes to economic development, education and healthy living,” Brazier II said.
The development will use seven acres of the church’s property to build multifamily buildings with space for senior housing, retail and office space and a 153-room hotel. The project also will support local minority-owned businesses.
“There will be incubator space at this indigenous location dedicated to Black-owned businesses because one of the best ways to build out the Black community is from the inside out,” Brazier said. “Part of this process is to help build up Black businesses and by doing so it leads to more economic development and more jobs.”
The project will be built across all but one of the church’s parking lots, so a replacement nine-story parking garage will be built as a part of the development.
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