The city of Chicago selected a development team to turn long-vacant land at the southwest corner of 115th Street and Michigan Avenue into a residential and retail building with a grocery store, and it’s one of the first efforts to repopulate what used to be a bustling corridor in Roseland.
Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Far South Side Community Development Corp. and the Hope Center Foundation were named the winners last week of the city’s request for qualifications to redevelop the site.
Led by CNI, the $48.3 million project called 1Fifteen at Michigan Station is expected to start construction next year. CNI President David Doig said the project will take about 18 months to complete. The design group includes Gensler and Beehyyve.
“It’s a typical mixed-use development project, but … the difference is it’s going to have the larger 15,000-square-foot grocery store, which is not typical in these areas,” Abraham Lacy, president of the Far South CDC, said. “But if you’re looking at a mixed-use project, this is probably one of the larger ones that’s going to take place with retail, at this level.”
The land was once home to the Roseland Plaza shopping mall. The city started acquiring the site in phases starting in 2005, after the closure and demolition of the mall, according to the city. It still owns the land, and the parties are working out terms for transferring the property.
The city opened up RFQs for the site in December 2022, with the goal of putting a transit-oriented development near the neighboring Red Line extension. It also aligned with the city’s goal to invest more in once-booming commercial corridors that have since seen decades of disinvestment.
The majority of 1Fifteen’s funding will come from the city such as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $1.25 billion affordable housing and economic development bond and tax increment financing.
The 97,000-square-foot complex will include 23,000 square feet of retail, anchored by a locally-owned grocery store. The development team is still exploring potential grocers, Lacy said.
Having a grocer is key: The area hasn’t had a new grocery store in 40 years, according to Lacy. In November 2024, discount grocer Aldi closed its West Pullman store, at 821 W. 115 St., further limiting food options in the area.
The developers are also planning to add a “market hall” for small businesses and entrepreneurs — like fashion designers and artists — that don’t have the financial means for their own brick-and-mortar store. And the vendors will likely benefit from the grocery store’s foot traffic, Lacy said.
The development team also hopes to add a restaurant.
The project will have 58 affordable apartments, including 27 units for tenants earning 80% of the area median income, 30 for residents earning 60% of the AMI and one unit at 30% of the AMI, according to development plans.
Future phases of the development are slated to include townhomes, apartments and a community park, but Doig said the housing mix will be based on market demands.
The apartments, like other residential developments on the Far South Side, will help diversify the housing stock in a neighborhood that’s dominated by single-family homes that often prices some residents out, Lacy said.
“People need a landing spot,” Lacy said. “That mixture of apartments [at 1Fifteen] is going to help in terms of getting the population — because there is a projected growth for population.”
Doig said CNI is also developing new homes at Kensington Park, south of 1Fifteen. Separately, Far South CDC is eyeing a groundbreaking this year for Morgan Park Commons, which would bring apartments and townhomes to the intersection of 115th and Halsted streets.
The $5.7 billion Red Line extension includes plans for a Michigan Avenue station, which will be adjacent to 1Fifteen.
Lacy said 1Fifteen will be an equitable transit-oriented development with affordable housing, access to jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.
He said the Red Line extension has started more conversations about development on the Far South Side, even though projects like 1Fifteen have been in the works for years.
“How do we make the case that we matter?” Lacy said. “It’s one of those things where we know that it’s going to be successful. … There’s so many assets out here already. Just because we’re further away from the city core doesn’t mean we don’t matter.”