The trio of proposals, totaling about $ 65 million in estimated project costs, aim to serve as a catalyst for the economic development badly needed in neighborhoods that have suffered decades of divestment. Lightfoot has made this a priority through Invest South / West, which aims to channel public funds through tax incentives and other funds to reduce the financial obstacles that keep many real estate investors on the sidelines in needy communities.
The city issued requests for proposals for the three locations in August, but did not disclose which tax incentives will be used by the first three winners. Details on these incentives will be finalized through renewal agreements presented to the City Council this summer, according to the city planning department.
“Initiatives like INVEST South / West are essential to advancing our goal of increasing the socioeconomic vibration of our historic South and West Sides,” said Lightfoot in a city statement, which noted that the construction of the first projects could begin at the end this year. “Each of these winning proposals will contribute to this goal, giving residents access to new and interesting cultural resources, affordable housing and jobs.”
The largest of the three projects is in Austin, where a group that includes the popular housing builder Oak Park Regional Housing and the anti-poverty organization Heartland Alliance has been selected to revitalize Chicago Avenue’s 5200 west block with a $ 37.5 million renovation. the former Construction of Laramie Bank and development of adjacent land.
The proposal would transform the dilapidated building into a commercial building that includes a blues museum, a bank branch, a café and a business incubator. On an adjacent 20,000-square-foot lot, developers would add a mixed-income apartment building, with the total project generating up to 150 construction jobs and 22 full-time jobs, the city said in the statement. The project was chosen from seven responses to the city’s request for proposals on the website.
In Auburn Gresham, a joint venture that includes Chicago developer Evergreen Real Estate was the only bidder and chosen to develop a vacant city-owned plot along 79th Street, west of Halsted Street, with a $ 19 project. , 4 million with 56 affordable housing units, shops on the ground floor and 35 parking spaces. The venture would go across the street from an empty historic building whose owners won a $ 10 million grant last year from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation to transform it into a “healthy lifestyle center” that includes medical clinics and of welfare and a street building owned by blacks. restaurant level, among other amenities.