A $47.2 million proposal of exclusively affordable housing units has been chosen out of 30 bids by the city to revitalize a vacant Garfield Park property.
The team behind the project, dubbed Hub32, comprises the Michaels Organization, KMW Communities are TruDelta Real Estate, and the plan calls for a seven-story, 78,000-square-foot apartment building at 132 North Kedzie Avenue near the Kedzie Green Line station, Block Club Chicago reported. The city has owned the land since the 1990s.
Outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot has made a push to initiate a number of affordable housing ventures as her term nears its end. Another city competition called LaSalle Street Reimagined resulted in three selected plans to redevelop underutilized Loop office buildings into mixed-income housing projects. Those would be much more costly, though, each totaling more than $100 million in development costs.
With the runoff election between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson scheduled for April 4, it’s unclear if Lightfoot’s successor will follow through with her development initiatives on the South and West sides.
“I won’t be here, but you will be,” Lightfoot said at a news conference. “Be sure to hold us accountable and make sure it gets done.”
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Hub32 will have 63 units, ranging from one- to three-bedroom floorplans, and all of them will be priced within 60 percent of the city’s area median income, which is $62,520 for a four-person household. The site will also contain 5,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 16 parking spots and a public plaza for outdoor dining and community gatherings.
Akin to the LaSalle Street Reimagined plans, Hub32 is eligible for tax-increment financing, tax credits and other forms of government assistance. The project has also been labeled as transit-oriented, meaning it’s ideal for residents without personal cars.
TruDelta’s Jim Webb and KMW Communities founder Bill Williams both grew up in the area and have committed to developing the Garfield Park community.
— Quinn Donoghue