By The Chicago Defender
The Chicago Housing Authority and its partners officially opened an innovative mixed-use development Thursday that has brought a new Target and affordable/market-rate apartments to Rogers Park.
The result of a partnership between CHA, Three Corners Development/Iceberg Development and the Lightengale Group, the Concord at Sheridan is a transit-oriented development located near Sheridan Road and Devon Avenue steps from the CTA’s Loyola Red Line Station
The seven-story development includes 111 apartments, 30,000 square-feet of retail space and 133 below-grade indoor parking spaces. Sixty-five of the apartments are supported by CHA’s Property Rental Assistance program to guarantee long-term affordability and will be leased to renters from the CHA wait list; the remaining will be market-rate rentals. A new CHA senior center and community room have also been built that include a private rooftop deck with terrace and seating that provides outdoor green space for the more than 500 residents at the adjacent Caroline Hedger Senior Apartments.
Commemorating the event Thursday were CHA Chief Development Officer Ann McKenzie; 49th Ward Ald. Maria Hadden; representatives from the City of Chicago Department of Housing; Christine Moran, Managing Director of Multifamily Financing for the Illinois Housing Development Authority; Lightengale Group President Virginia Pace; Jim Bergman, Principal of Iceberg Development; Dan Levin, founder and Chairman of the Habitat Company; and Mirko Jokanovic, Vice-President of Credit Capital LLC.
“The Concord at Sheridan reiterates CHA’s commitment to providing mixed-income housing opportunities across the City of Chicago,” McKenzie said. “We are excited to bring this development to Rogers Park, where residents will benefit from a thriving, vibrant community.”
Pace said: “As much as we know the great need for affordable housing in our communities, we sadly know that there are just not enough funds to fill the need. Importantly, this wonderful project could never have come to fruition without the Chicago Housing Authority’s vision to think more creatively and use its resources assets to leverage more affordable housing. What used to be a parking lot is, today, an underground parking lot, and above that is new retail and affordable and market rate housing – greatly benefitting and complementing the diverse community of Rogers Park.”
The project broke ground in late 2017. It replaces a parking lot and the outdated senior center community room at Hedger. Hedger residents also have 25 percent more parking spaces available in the newly-constructed garage.
The Concord at Sheridan created 450 construction and related jobs, as well as 80 permanent jobs. The project estimates that more than $650,000 will be generated annually in new property and sales tax revenue. Target serves as the anchor tenant in the retail space with a 23,000-square-foot flexible format store. Target is committed to hiring locally and seeks input from the community and local business on items it stocks.
This article originally appeared in the Chicago Defender.
