Ground breaks on $43M city-funded South Side apartments

Mixed-use development will include affordable housing and retail

A photo illustration of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Auburn Gresham Apartments along with a rendering (City of Chicago)
A photo illustration of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Auburn Gresham Apartments along with a rendering (City of Chicago)

Affordable housing and retail is coming to Auburn Gresham.

Ground broke on Wednesday for a joint venture between Imagine Group and Evergreen Real Estate Group for a two-building apartment complex on vacant land on the city’s South Side, the Chicago Business Journal reported. The developments will have 58 total units of housing and 8,500 square feet of retail.
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2022/08/24/groundbreaking-for-auburn-gresham-apartments.html

The $43 million Auburn Gresham Apartments project will be funded by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, including $18 million in Tax Increment Financing, $18 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, a $2.5 million Home Loan and a $180,000 land write-down.

The first phase of the project calls for a five-story building with 30 apartments ranging in size from one- to three-bedroom units and 14 parking spaces. There will be 3,300 square feet of commercial space that will be home to the nonprofit K.L.E.O. Community Center as well as a second location for The Park Supper Club restaurant.

A second, three-story building with 28 apartments and parking spaces will rise at 838 West 79th Street. AYO Foods will occupy the 5,200 square feet of commercial space that will be included in the building.

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“This development is another Invest South/West initiative project by the mayor and a combination of minority-owned developers coming together to help revitalize the 79th Street Corridor,” Alderman David Moore, who represents the 17th Ward where the buildings will be located, told the outlet. “After Save-A-Lot closed, this neighborhood took a hit, so now I am hoping a full-service grocery store will come to the area.”

A Bank of America branch is moving back to the South Side after leaving the neighborhood three years ago. It will occupy the ground floor of the Auburn Gresham Healthy Lifestyle Hub building, which is under construction across the street from the new project.

The Auburn Gresham Apartments development is being designed by Nia Architects and Ross Barney Architects. Construction is expected to be completed in 2024.

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