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An artist's rendering of 43 Green, a mixed-use development coming to Bronzeville. Credit: Provided.

BRONZEVILLE — The city is investing in three affordable housing developments on the Near South Side.

City officials announced last week they’ll invest $1 billion in 24 affordable housing developments across Chicago. Their goal is to ensure there are more affordable units for residents who are struggling with gentrification and housing instability.

The projects will need to go through regular approval processes. But of the three slated to get cash on the Near South Side, two will add to existing developments, and one — 43 Green — will create a transit-oriented development.

Here’s a look at what’s coming:

43 Green

A rendering of the 43 Green Project at 43rd Street and Calumet Avenue. Credit: Provided

The $35 million mixed-income development coming to the corner of 43rd Street and Calumet Avenue calls for 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail under a 10-story, 99-unit residential building with a rooftop deck and adjacent parking structure. Fifty units will be set aside as affordable.

The Habitat Company and P3 Markets received $5 million in tax increment financing for the project earlier this year, and the developers are on schedule to break ground in the coming weeks.

Upon completion, 43 Green will be one of few equitable transit-oriented developments on the South and West sides.

Legends South

Legends South, the CHA development that replaced the Robert Taylor Homes, plans to expand its efforts with a new building slated for the State Street corridor. Credit: Jamie Nesbitt Golden

Legends South, a mixed-income development raised from the rubble of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Robert Taylor Homes, will add another building to its collection in the next two years, replacing a vacant lot on the corner of 45th and State Street.

Plans call for two walk-up 12-flat buildings with a larger, four-story, corridor-style building with a small retail store on the corner. There would be 61 apartments: 24 public housing replacement units, 25 low-income units and 12 priced at market rate.

With the Chicago Botanical Garden community farm two blocks away, the team behind the project — Brinshore PL, Michaels and Imagine Group — is exploring the possibility of putting a farm stand on the property.

Part of the Taylor Redevelopment Plan, the addition will put Legends South one step closer to fulfilling its goal of providing 2,400 mixed-income and affordable homeownership units across 92 acres of land on the South Side.

Greg Olson, regional vice president for Michaels, said construction could begin in late 2023 or early 2024.

Prairie District Apartments

The Studios, a supportive housing development managed by Mercy Housing Lakefront will be part of the Prairie District Apartments. Credit: Jamie Nesbitt Golden

Not much has been publicly released about the proposed Prairie District Apartments, and Mercy Housing, the organization leading the project, declined to be interviewed.

But two of Mercy’s developments — The Studios at 1801 S. Wabash Ave. and South Loop Apartments at 1521 S. Wabash Ave. — will be joined by a yet-to-be-constructed affordable and family-friendly development to form the collective, according to a recent LinkedIn post from the organization.

Mercy Housing operates 34 affordable sites across the city, ranging from supportive housing to senior and family housing — including the Rosenwald Courts, which reopened in 2016.

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