CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Lightfoot Administration has selected the first three groups to launch major development projects as part its plan to bring new businesses and housing to Chicago’s South and West sides.
A development team will turn vacant land at 79th and Halsted into affordable housing and retail space. In Englewood, there’ll be a so-called eco-food hub with culinary businesses located next to the Englewood Square Shopping center. That project is expected to cost about $10 million.
And City Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox said the most expensive project will transform the former Laramie Bank building and approximately 20,000 square-feet of adjacent land in Austin on the West Side.
"Entering the bank building with your friends to find a cafe and a new bank branch and an interactive museum that celebrates Chicago's...contributions to Blues music," Cox said.
The proposed $37.5 million project will renovate the landmark structure with commercial uses that include a blues museum, bank branch, café, and business incubator. The adjacent land will be redeveloped with a mixed-income, multi-story rental building that includes a green roof, public plaza, social spaces, and outdoor art. The project is expected to generate up to 150 construction jobs and 22 full-time positions.
Tory Barrett, a lead developer on the Auburn Gresham community project said he’s a lifelong Chicagoan and this is historic.
"This is the fist time in the history of this city that a mayor made a promise to the South and West sides of the city and then kept that promise," he said. "So thank you, Mayor."
Mayor Lightfoot didn’t disagree, but did downplay it.
"Don't praise me, praise the people who have been without for way too long. Praise the work that will be done and praise the commitment of the visionaries that we have heard from today," Lightfoot said.
Valued at more than $65 million, the three projects were selected from 12 responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) issued in the fall of 2020 for three opportunity sites in Austin, Auburn Gresham and Englewood. The sites were identified by South and West Side community stakeholders through a community engagement process that started with the INVEST South/West initiative’s launch in the fall of 2019, meant to revive key commercial corridors in struggling neighborhoods.
Mayor Lightfoot said it’s just the beginning.
Each redevelopment agreement, along with and required zoning changes, will be subject to City Council approval. Groundbreakings could occur by the end of the year.
The second round of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) is open through March 30, 2021 for development projects in Bronzeville, New City - Back of the Yards, North Lawndale and South Chicago. More information at https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/invest_sw/home.html.
Related
INVEST South/West is Mayor Lightfoot’s $750 million strategy to revitalize the commercial cores of 10 undeserved community areas on the South and West Sides. To date, the initiative has invested more than $70 million in public resources into these corridors and mobilized more than $300 million in private and philanthropic commitments.