Construction started on the next phase of the redevelopment of a former South Loop public housing complex on Monday.
Developer The Community Builders was joined by project partners and city officials for the groundbreaking of Southbridge 1C, the third phase of Southbridge, a mixed-income development at the former Harold Ickes Homes site.
The new 12-story building, at 2305 S. State St. will include 80 apartments and 1,500 square feet of ground floor retail. Construction is expected to finish in June 2027.
The Community Builders completed Southbridge’s first two phases in 2021.
Funding has already been secured for the fourth phase, which will also offer 80 units, Will Woodley, senior vice president of real estate development for The Community Builders, said.
“We’re excited to deliver homes and neighborhood amenities that help residents of all incomes live, work and thrive,” Woodley said.
Southbridge, a master-planned project designed by Gensler, is in a prime location. The South Loop project abuts the Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line stop and is near schools, parks and job centers, Woodley said. It’s also a connector to other neighborhoods, like Bronzeville and Chinatown.
Keith Pettigrew, CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority (left); Lissette Castañeda, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing; Mayor Brandon Johnson; Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd); Keith Pryor, deputy director of multifamily financing at the Illinois Housing Development Authority; and Will Woodley, senior vice president of real estate development for The Community Builders
Victor Hilitski/Victor Hilitski for the Chicago Sun-Times
“As the need for housing space changes, we recognize that the South Loop doesn’t need to be an office monolith anymore,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We can transform this into a lively and active neighborhood beyond the Monday through Friday 9-to-5 hours and make this a true live, work and play community — one that people don’t just pass through but plant roots in.”
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) praised the project for its affordable units, retail and proximity to transit.
“Now that’s a trifecta of the elements of what makes a viable urban community,” Dowell said. “But you throw on top of that proximity to open space, proximity to the Downtown, proximity to Chinatown, Bronzeville, McCormick Place, and Southbridge 1C is clearly a winning location for families and singles.”
The apartments will offer views of downtown, with amenities like in-unit laundry and quartz countertops. The building will also include a rooftop lounge, dog wash, resident storage and a gym.
Units include studios up to two-bedrooms. Of the 80 units, 44 will be affordable to households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income and 29 of them will be for Chicago Housing Authority households with a right of return, according to the city.
When complete, Southbridge will have more than 800 mixed-income housing units and 65,000 square feet of commercial and community space. Rentals and for-sale homes are included in the development. Southbridge currently has just over 200 total units.
Phase three was supported by $11.9 million in tax increment financing that the City Council approved in July 2025. The CHA also contributed $10 million to the project.
Monday’s groundbreaking was also one of the first events attended by CHA CEO Keith Pettigrew, who last week started his four-year term at the nation’s third-largest housing authority.
Pettigrew said he looks forward to working with Johnson, who had been pushing for retired Ald. Walter Burnett to lead the CHA.
“Southbridge seems to be exactly the type of sustainable mixed-income, mixed-use community that will play a key part of CHA and Chicago’s future,” Pettigrew said. “So let’s work hard together and do what we’re here to do: To be creative, caring, committed in building and sustaining affordable housing for those in need in the city of Chicago.”