Politics

City Council Approves Plans for 200 Affordable Homes in Edgewater, Humboldt Park

The Chicago City Council approved plans Wednesday to build nearly 200 new homes and set them aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans in Edgewater and Humboldt Park.

Those two long-in-the-works developments will get city subsidies totaling $57.6 million, including the first large chunk of funds from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s signature economic development effort.

Both projects are also set to take advantage of city programs to borrow funds, more evidence of how complicated — and expensive — it is to build affordable housing in Chicago.

In Humboldt Park, the Von Humboldt Elementary School — shuttered by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel — is finally set to be transformed into 103 new apartments, all set aside for Chicagoans making no more than 60% of the city’s area median income, which is $72,900 for a family of four, records show.

That project relies on a $35.6 million city subsidy from the city’s Housing and Economic Development Bond. In 2024, the City Council agreed to borrow a total of $1.25 billion through 2028 to fund a wide-ranging slate of projects designed to expand the supply of affordable homes and good-paying jobs.

The $95 million project, first proposed in 2016, is central to efforts to build more affordable housing in Humboldt Park, where rents have soared and gentrification has flourished, Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) said.

The shuttered school, built 130 years ago, has become a magnet for so-called “urban explorers” who film themselves exploring abandoned buildings, creating a nuisance and making the renovation more expensive because of damage and scavenging, said Fuentes, who is running for reelection.

The complex will have studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, according to plans approved by the City Council six years ago. The Puerto Rican Cultural Center will have offices in the building, which will also include a fitness room, a dog wash station, a lounge and a party room, records show.

There will be 53 parking spots and a bike room, records show.

In Edgewater, 90 affordable units are set to be built near Broadway and Thorndale Avenue by Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., which has built several similar developments throughout the city.

That project, which includes just 16 parking spaces since it is just steps away from the CTA Red Line and several bus line, relies on a $22 million subsidy from the area’s Tax Increment Financing District.

The building will replace a Streets and Sanitation office and yard, records show.

Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th Ward) said the new homes are desperately needed in Edgewater, where rents have also skyrocketed and there are very few apartments affordable for working class Chicagoans.

The 11-story building is one of the first major developments along Broadway since the City Council approved a proposal from Manaa-Hoppenworth, who is running for reelection, to change the city’s rules in an effort to build more housing along the commercial corridor.

In addition, the City Council approved a $201.6 million subsidy for a development set to build more than 3,700 apartments and condominiums on vacant land between Bucktown and Lincoln Park. The city subsidy means Chicago’s affordable housing ordinance requires 20% of the new units, or 709 new homes, to be set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans. Plans call for 95 affordable units to be built on site with another five units set to be built close to the new neighborhood, as allowed by city ordinance. The developer is set to pay an additional $7 million into the city’s Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund to fulfill the rest of their obligation, records show.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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