Woodlawn Central developer hires Transwestern

The team behind the planned $895 million Woodlawn Central project on Chicago’s South Side tapped Houston-based Transwestern to handle commercial real estate services for the megadevelopment.

The 18-acre project, referred to as a “cultural complex” with an emphasis on workforce housing and minority-owned businesses, aims to keep residents in the mostly Black neighborhood from being displaced by gentrification and calls for 870 housing units, a 154-room hotel and up to 215,000 square feet of commercial space. 

Transwestern has the right expertise in development, project management, investment services and public engagement for the project’s scope, developer J. Byron Brazier said. 

Transwestern’s J.C. Griffin will be the owner representative through all phases of the project’s development and will coordinate brokerage activities, marketing and research, project capitalization and financing and construction services, according to the announcement from Woodlawn Central.

The project is centered on the Apostolic Church of God at 6320 South Dorchester Avenue, where Brazier’s father, the Rev. Byron Brazier, is pastor. The church will retain ownership of the land and allow structures to be built on ground leases.

Due to inflation, project costs have risen by more than $200 million since the developers first laid out the details of the project in early 2022. Still, the higher cost estimate hasn’t scared off parties interested in joining the project, Brazier said last summer.

The Braziers previously said they planned to start construction in 2023 and complete 85 to 90 percent of the project by 2026.