Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives Wins Roseland Development

The South Side’s future Red Line stop just got its first major neighbor.

Mayor Brandon Johnson tapped a team led by Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives to redevelop a city-owned site in Roseland, Urbanize Chicago reported. City officials say the selected proposal, with a cost of $48.3 million for the first phase, reflects decades of community input and will anchor future investment around the planned Red Line Extension.

Dubbed 1Fifteen at Michigan Station, the winning proposal includes a four-story, 97,000-square-foot complex with 58 affordable apartments and 23,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, with a grocery store, market hall for small businesses and a restaurant.

The project was designed by Gensler and Beehyyve and will rise at the corner of 115th Street and South Michigan Avenue, on 2 acres of vacant land adjacent to a planned CTA Red Line stop.

Of the 58 apartments, 27 will be priced at 80 percent the area’s median income; 30 will be reserved for renters at 60 percent AMI, and one unit to serve a tenant at 30 percent AMI. The project will be led by Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Far South Community Development Corporation and the Hope Center Foundation.

The city narrowed the field to two finalists earlier this year, with the 1Fifteen team edging out a competing bid from P3 Markets and The Michaels Organization. That proposal, called Mosaic on Michigan, called for a five-story building with 46 mixed-income apartments and 7,500 square feet of retail, including a community art center and pop-up shops.

The city awarded stipends to both teams to develop final designs, which prioritized sustainability features like solar panels, green roofs and rain gardens.

The first phase of 1Fifteen could be funded through a mix of tax credits, bond proceeds, government subsidies and philanthropic contributions. A redevelopment agreement and zoning package could head to City Council later this year, with construction possibly starting in 2027. City incentives may also include Tax Increment Financing and a land write-down.

— Judah Duke