Two new affordable apartment buildings are now open in Auburn Gresham, as part of a larger citywide strategy to bring more development to Chicago’s South and West sides.
City officials and project partners celebrated the opening of the Auburn Gresham Apartments on Wednesday, after nearly three years of work on a project that replaced vacant city-owned land.
The development, a joint-venture between Evergreen Real Estate Group and Imagine Group, started under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West program. The project partners won a request for proposals that was managed by the city’s Department of Planning and Development.
The project consists of a five-story building at 757 W. 79th St. with 30 units and a three-story building at 838 W. 79th St. with 28 units. Both properties have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The rent is priced for households earning at or below 60% the area median income. A one-bedroom apartment rents for $995 a month, according to Evergreen. A two-bedroom unit is $1,195 a month, and a three-bedroom unit is $1,600.
The real estate firm, which also manages the buildings, said the project is already 75% leased.
Both buildings also have commercial space with tenants such as the Italian restaurant The Auburn, development and property management firm KLEO Enterprises and youth development nonprofit K.L.E.O. Community Family Life Center.
DPD Commissioner Ciere Boatright grew up on 79th Street. She said the experience made her aware of the opportunities and challenges in the corridor, including a lack of investment.
The land where the apartment building at 838 W. 79th St. stands was vacant since 1997, Boatright said during Wednesday’s ribbon cutting. The other site, 757 W. 79th St., was vacant until 2012.
“To see this $47 million project … replace more than an acre of city land is incredible and a sign of more investment to come,” Boatright said.
The development was originally pitched as a single building at 79th and Green streets. But after neighborhood roundtables with city officials and community stakeholders, the developers pivoted to two shorter, less-dense buildings.
David Block, Evergreen’s director of development, said the team’s priority was listening to the community.
“We went to our first roundtable meetings there, and the community said no,’” Block said. “We really scaled the building down on this site so that the building … is more in keeping with the scale of this community.”