Construction begins on $43 million affordable housing project in Auburn Gresham
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Crews broke ground Wednesday morning on a new $43 million mixed-use affordable housing development in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
The 58-unit Auburn Gresham Apartments project along 79th Street is being funded in large part by $18 million in tax increment financing, $18 million in low-income housing tax credits, a $2.5 million city loan, and a donation of city land as part of the INVEST South/West initiative.
The project from a joint venture of Imagine Group and Evergreen Real Estate Group will redevelop two vacant sites. The first, at 79th and Green, will be a three-story building with commercial and retail space on the ground level, 28 affordable apartments, and 28 parking spots. The second, at 79th and Halsted, will be five-story building with 3,300 feet of commercial space, 30 affordable apartments, and 14 parking spaces.
All of the apartments in both buildings will have rents ranging from $925 to $1,250 per month.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the project has been a long time coming for the community.
"They are seeing the transformation that has been talked about, that we've engaged with them about, that is now happening right as we speak," she said at Wednesday's groundbreaking.
Construction on the project is expected to take about 18 months.
When the project is completed, both sites will have murals created by Chicago artist Rahmaan Statik, who also has created murals along railroad viaduct walls at 87th and Vincennes, at the Hard Rock Café in River North, Overton Elementary at 49th and Indiana, and dozens of other sites in Chicago, the suburbs, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
