CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The ribbon was cut for a new $24 million affordable housing development in the Albany Park area, and Mayor Brandoin Johnson was there to help lead the cheers.
The six-story building in the 3500 block of West Lawrence includes 50 apartments for people who don't want to be priced out of the gentrifying neighborhood.
It's named for community organizer Maria Elena Sifuentes who fought to get the project started. She died from COVID-19 last year.
Mayor Johnson paid tribute to her daughter Veronica who attended the ribbon cutting.
“When I think about Veronica and her mother, I think about Marion Stamps and Tara Stamps. These are individuals who are fighting for affordable housing and public housing in Cabrini Green, and now the legacy of Marion is carried out in her daughters, just like the legacy of the Sifuentes will be carried out in you,” Johnson said.
Concordia Place is also opening an early childhood care center on the ground floor of the building and will offer low-cost child care to residents there.
33rd Ward Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez was also on hand, of course.
The mayor recalled that the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s time in Chicago came at a request to champion fair-housing.
“Dr. King said, ‘if we ever figure it out in Chicago, the rest of the world will figure it out.’ Well, Dr. King and all of our ancestors, we are figuring it out in this city of Chicago,” Johnson said.
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