The former Halsted Indoor Mall, a strip mall that has sat vacant in Chicago’s Far South Side for more than 10 years, is being transformed into a mixed-use complex.
The 12-acre site at 11444 S. Halsted St. is being developed by the Far South Community Development Corporation and the Preservation for Affordable Housing, two local nonprofits, according to the Chicago Business Journal. The Preservation’s Bill Eager said he expects city and state grants and tax credits to subsidize the $117 million project and that construction could begin by the second quarter of 2023.
The Morgan Park Commons, as the site has been dubbed, will include 250 rental units, 140 single-family homes and up to 20,000 square feet of ground retail space, according to the Business Journal, which cited Eager. It will also include three acres of outdoor space, according to a press release from Far South.
“We just got involved last year when they came to us seeking an affordable housing developer to help jump start the project,” Eager told the Business Journal.
He said Far South owns half the land and can buy the rest from Albertsons Companies, the parent company of Jewel Osco, the supermarket that once anchored the mall.
Far South said in a statement that the development will increase area and intersection density by almost 1,000 people daily.
“The development sits at a busy intersection at the corner of 115th and Halsted Street, and while putting housing there may seem like an odd location for such a huge housing development, in the end I think it will benefit the community,” Eager said.
[Chicago Business Journal] – Harrison Connery