The Chicago Plan Commission signed off Thursday on an affordable housing development in East Garfield Park that includes a three-restaurant food hall, which could bring more eateries in a neighborhood lacking sit-down restaurants.
The project, Harvest Homes II, will build off the first phase completed by the People’s Community Development Association of Chicago and the National Housing Partnership Foundation.
The first phase of Harvest Homes, next to People’s Church of the Harvest at Fifth and St. Louis avenues, has 36 units but received more than 1,000 renter applications. The NHPF said it was also the first new housing development in East Garfield Park in the last 15 years.
“This is a pressing need — not just in the East Garfield Park community, but across our city as a whole — that people are looking for affordable spaces,” Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) said.
PCDAC is an offshoot of People’s Church, which is led by Pastor Michael Eaddy. Eaddy bought two of the Harvest Homes II lots, according to the development team. The project’s other two lots will be purchased from the city of Chicago and the Cook County Land Bank Authority. The development team didn’t specify who is purchasing the additional two lots.
Harvest Homes II will be a larger development than its predecessor, with 50 apartments and the food hall. All of the units will be affordable, with the bulk priced at 60% the area median income, according to the development team. Twelve units will be for those making 50% the AMI, and five units will rent at 30% AMI.
The land where Harvest Homes II will sit includes 3415-3449 W. Jackson Boulevard and 3414-3456 W. 5th Ave. The wedge-shaped parcel has been vacant for 40 years and is down the road from People’s Church, Ervin said.
The three-story building will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, development plans show. Residents will have a community room. A roof deck will top the 4,000-square-foot food hall, with three restaurants in a space that can seat up to 150 people. It will become one of two sit-down eateries within two miles of Harvest Homes, according to the project’s team.
“The food hall is really a great amenity,” Steve Friedland, an attorney representing the development team, said. “This really provides a missing use and need within the community.”
PCDAC and the NHPF expect to complete the project in October 2027, once it has full City Council approval. Funding will draw from a combination of sources, including low-income housing tax credits that were awarded in March 2024.
Harvest Homes II is a $39 million project, according to NHPF Assistant Vice President Veronica Gonzalez.
Planning commissioner Andre Brumfield praised the project, calling it a “much-needed” addition to East Garfield Park. About 62% of households in the neighborhood are considered rent-burdened, meaning they put more than 30% of their income toward housing.