New home sale in Chicago’s Woodlawn tops local record

A new home became the priciest sold in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood – though not by much.

The Greenwood Avenue home sold last week for $769,500, topping a 2020 record by $10,000, Crain’s reported. It’s among five contemporary homes developed on the same block by KMW Communities, the second phase of its Inspire Woodlawn project. A home built during the first phase, sold for a then-record $600,000 in 2018.

The second-phase homes, designed by Studio Dwell, measure 3,000 square feet and have five bedrooms. The other four homes sold late last year for $749,000.

KMW Founder Bill Williams told Crain’s that rising raw materials costs are helping push up home prices. “A piece of wood that used to cost $3 costs me $14 now,” he said.

Many of the record-setting homes are in the northern part of Woodlawn, near Hyde Park and the University of Chicago’s campus.

Woodlawn residents are concerned the gentrification could accelerate, citing the imminent opening of the Obama Presidential Center. Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced an ordinance in 2020 that required developments built on city-owned lots to offer 30 percent of their units available to people earning 30 to 50 percent the area’s median income, according to Crain’s.

Construction on a mixed-use development with affordable housing near the presidential library is set to begin in 2023.

Williams told Crain’s he wants to build 12 affordable homes in Woodlawn.

“They’ll be half the size and half the price, but with the same contemporary aesthetic,” he said.

[Crain’s] – Harrison Connery