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Architecture And Design
Chicago

A.J. Patton’s 548 Capital approved for South Loop resi

The 80,000 sf project has a first-of-its-kind financing structure

A photo illustration of 548 Capital's A.J. Patton and a rendering of the South Loop Solar Lofts (Getty Images, 548 Capital, Gregory Ramon Design Studio, Inc.)
A photo illustration of 548 Capital's A.J. Patton and a rendering of the South Loop Solar Lofts (Getty Images, 548 Capital, Gregory Ramon Design Studio, Inc.)

A 47-unit mixed-income, solar-powered housing complex is coming to the South Loop.

A.J. Patton’s 548 Capital won city Plan Commission approval to move forward on the $22 million project. The firm will redevelop a printing press that was used for the first nationally syndicated African American-owned newspaper founded by Malcolm X.

Perhaps more unique is how the development is being financed: $5 million of the project’s funding comes from a deal tied to Sterling Bay’s tower at 160 North Morgan Street.

Commercial real estate development group Alter is acting as project manager.

Under changes the city made to its Affordable Requirements Ordinance in April 2021, housing developments in most Chicago neighborhoods must be 20% affordable. Under the ordinance, developers may pay to opt out of the requirements. While that money would usually go toward the city’s housing fund, Sterling Bay, 548 Capital and the city worked out a deal for that money to fund the Solar Lofts project, according to Patton, who said the agreement was among the first of its kind for the city.

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Patton said the 80,000-square-foot, mid-rise project will “be kind of planting a flag in terms of sustainability and inclusivity particularly in a neighborhood which is seeing a lot of economic pressures.” More than half of the units are affordable housing.

Gregory Williams of Gregory Ramon Design Studio, the project’s architect, said the development is “creating housing in an area that definitely needs it” and making use of a building that has long been vacant.

Patton has previously led projects city officials have viewed favorably and was picked for a $38 million industrial complex project in North Lawndale that is part of the city’s Invest South/West initiative. He also recently purchased property in the 3800 block of West Chicago Avenue in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood with plans for a $33 million mixed-use project.

The project will go before the city’s Zoning Committee on Tuesday.

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