Humboldt Park residents will soon see an affordable housing development that will also help spur homeownership with a new center operated by the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and other elected officials joined partner organizations Preservation of Affordable Housing, developer KMW Communities and Neighborhood Housing Services at a groundbreaking for the project on Friday.
“It’s proof positive that when we come together with a common goal, which is to repopulate the West and South sides of the city of Chicago … great things happen,” Johnson said.
The groundbreaking comes a week after a big win for Johnson, when the City Council approved his “green social housing” plan to encourage developers to build affordable, environmentally-friendly housing.
Designed by Gensler, the 52-unit affordable housing development, called The Ave, at 3601 W. Chicago Ave., will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The units will be for households that make 30% to 60% of the Chicago area’s median income.
Amenities include gathering spaces, a fitness center and at least 1,000 square feet of retail space. Julie DeGraaf Velazquez, vice president of Preservation of Affordable Housing, said the organization aims to rent to businesses from the area. The project will also have a homeownership center by Neighborhood Housing Services, which offers services such as homebuying classes, home improvement grants and new home loans.
A plaza dubbed “The Stoop” will also be at The Ave and will host farmers markets and outdoor activities.
The $44 million development was funded with $18 million in tax increment financing, $4 million from the Chicago Recovery Grant and tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits from the Department of Housing, as well as $19 million in investor equity through Bank of America.
The project is expected to be completed by fall 2026.
“The West Humboldt Park community is [a] dynamic, cultural, vibrant neighborhood, but it is also a neighborhood that needs more housing, more small businesses, more supportive services and more places for us to just be able to gather,” Johnson said.
DeGraaf Velazquez said The Ave aligns with the organization’s mission of providing high quality, environmentally sustainable, affordable housing that contributes to the broader community’s revitalization.
There’s also a high concentration of vacant land in Humboldt Park, in addition to population loss, said Bill Williams, founder of KMW Communities.
“We want to create some stability,” Williams said. “We’re going to create wealth. We want to create a hyperlocal economy there, but we need people. We need density. This project is a catalyst to help attract more investment.”
Williams hopes The Ave is the start of encouraging developers to help reduce the number of vacant lots in the neighborhood. KMW Communities also plans to build single-family homes and two-flats on vacant land in the area. So far, eight homes are being built.
“It’s really not a community unless we are able to get some of the vacant parcels filled in with homes,” Williams said. “Without people, there’s nothing. And that’s why one of our goals is to attract investment and get homeowners in place of vacant lots.”