GARFIELD PARK — An all-affordable apartment complex has been picked to take over what’s long been a vacant lot in Garfield Park, city officials announced Monday.
Hub32 will be a seven-story, 78,000-square-foot apartment building at 132 N. Kedzie Ave. near the Kedzie Green Line station. It’ll have 63 units. The $47.2 million proposal was the finalist in a city competition to pick a development to reimagine the land, which the city has owned since the ’90s.
“This building has been vacant for 50 years. Fifty years of people thinking their community wasn’t worth investing in,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a Monday news conference. “Any investment in affordable housing is a direct investment into our quality of life.”
The transit-oriented development will help keep families in Garfield Park as the area begins to experience gentrification, the mayor said.
The Michaels Organization, KMW Communities are TruDelta Real Estate are partnering on the venture.
Rendering of Hub32 in East Garfield Park.
The building will have 14 one-bedroom, 34 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom apartments that all will be affordable for households earning up to 60 percent of the area’s median income for a family of four, or roughly $62,520, according to Chicago’s Department of Housing.
The building will also feature 5,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 16 exterior parking spots and a public plaza for outdoor dining and community gathering. There is expected to be a Jerky Jerk Caribbean Restaurant and Vietfive Coffee on the first floor, officials said.
Lightfoot, who lost her reelection bid, urged West Siders to follow the development after her term. It’s slated to begin construction in 2024.
“I won’t be here, but you will be,” Lightfoot said. “Be sure to hold us accountable and make sure it gets done.”
The planning department solicited plans for development in the area last year, with 30 proposals sent in. Hub32 will be eligible for tax-increment financing funds, tax credits, zoning, a land write-down and other forms of assistance.
“For so long, these transit-oriented sites were overlooked in this area,” planning Commissioner Maurice Cox said. “To hear these stories, this is what it means to build within our own communities at the highest level.”
Jim Webb, of TruDelta, has lived in the area since he was a child, playing in basketball tournaments with Bill Williams, another developer on the project. He said he made a pact as they got older to develop something in the community.
“As a West Side resident, I stay within walking distance of this site,” Webb said. “I’m just proud to be apart of this village. The impact of this will resonate for decades to come.”
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